Life on the Thai-Burma Border—Resistance, Refugees, and Resettlement

For the past two decades, Burmese refugee camps have become a fixture of daily life on the Thai-Burma border, and they are now the second longest standing refugee settlement in the world.

The Karen ethnic group who dominate these camps have long awaited safe resettlement to their homeland of Burma. In 2005 resettlement suddenly became a viable option—not to Burma—but to Western countries, including the United States. This new plan has been met with questions by refugees and activists alike: What will resettlement mean for Burma's refugees? Is it the best option? What impact will the resettlement have on the democracy movement and resistance to the military junta? And will resettlement perhaps benefit the Burmese junta and the Thai government by sweeping its refugee problems under a carpet of Western generosity?

Outer Voices has been working since 2003 to create an hour-long radio documentary that attempts to answer some of these difficult questions, focusing on women leaders among the Karen refugees.

OSI hosted a forum with Outer Voices' producer Stephanie Guyer-Stevens and photographer Kristofer Dan-Bergman. They shared their work, played audio clips from the documentary, showed photos of the border area, and brought their perspective to the questions and controversies swirling around the resettlement issue. They also provided insight into the processes involved in creating this particular radio documentary and explained the mission behind Outer Voices' planned six-part documentary series.

Outer Voices is an independent media organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its core program is the production of six radio documentaries focused on women activists involved with nonviolent social change in the Pacific Islands and the Asian Pacific Rim. Their profile of Karen refugee women is the third program in the series.

View the Outer Voices Photo Gallery.

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