REVIEWOFHUMANRIGHTSVol.2,No.1,Winter2016,65-86http://eoi.citefactor.org/10.11223/2.1/8

UnevenHumanitarianism:AbandonedRefugeesalongtheThai-MyanmarBorder

TaniSebro∗

Introduction

If theystophelping immediatelyandabsolutelyalongtheborder, itwillbecomeabigproblem.Wetrytosurviveonourown,butwehave

*TaniSebroisanAssistantProfessorattheDepartmentofGlobalandInterculturalStudies,MiamiUniversity,Ohio,USA.Email:sebroth@miamioh.eduISSN(Print):2520-7024;ISSN(Online):2520-7032.www.reviewhumanrights.com

AbstractThisessayconsiders thecaseofunevenhumanitarianaiddistributionalong the Thai-Myanmar border, where forcibly displaced migrantsfromMyanmarhavebeenabandonedbytheUNHCRandinternationalhumanitarian organizations.Based upon long-term ethnographicfieldworkalong theThai-MyanmarborderamongstTaimigrants fromthe Shan State in Myanmar, I attend to the effects of the inequitabledistribution of rights and privileges in an international humanitariansystem that is predicated on the neoliberal logic of unevendevelopment. After two centuries of British colonial occupation andlaterBurman authoritarian rule, the ethnicminority groups along theThai-Myanmar border are now facing another crisis – that ofabandonmentasNGOssearchfornewandmorepressinghumanitariandisasters elsewhere.The essay addresses a concept I callunevenhumanitarianismas a neocolonial condition for peoples living in theThai-MyanmarborderlandsbyspecificallyfocusingonTaipeopleswhoarelivinginunofficialrefugeecampsthatlostforeignfundingin2017.Iargue that the ad hoc treatment and eventual abandonment of thesevulnerablegroups–thatarecurrentlyinthemidstoftheworld’smostprotractedcivilwaranddisplacementsituation–constitutesafailureofthe“responsibilitytoprotect”humanitarianproject.KeyWords:Migration,humanitarianism,NGOs,Thailand,Myanmar.

T.Sebro66 verylimitedopportunities.[…]Wecannotchangetheworld.InShan

we say– “takeahand”– takeahand toyou to let theworldknowwhat is happening, what is really happening along the border andamongtherefugees.1

–LungSaiLeng[…]humanitarianneedsaremoreurgentinotherpartsofMyanmar,nottomentionglobally.2

–DuncanMcArthur

In the remote village of PiangLuang, Thailand,a small unofficialrefugeecampcalledKoung Jor isnestledonly500meters fromtheThai-Myanmarborder.KoungJorisoneofsixunofficialrefugee-andIDPcampsalongtheborderthatdoesnotreceiveaidorrecognitionfromtheUnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugees(UNHCR),or any other international or non-governmental organization. Forover twenty years, the residents of Koung Jor have relied on foodrations from NGOs such as The Border Consortium (TBC) andeducational assistance from local grassroots organizations.3InFebruary of 2017, the residents of Koung Jor camp, and theremainingsix IDPcampsalong theborder learnedthat thesupportonwhichtheyreliedforfoodrationswouldendwithinafewmonths.DuringmyvisittothecampinJulyof2017,campleaders,likeLungSai Leng, expressed their fear of starvation, a health crisis, and forthesafetyofreturnees.Therefugees’homevillagesremainlocatedinthemidst of theworld’smost protracted civilwar that rages on intheperipheralstatesofMyanmar.Furthermore,thecampresidents’villages in Myanmar have been razed, agricultural areasappropriated for opium production, and much of their lands areoccupiedbytheBurmanmilitaryforces,calledtheTatmadaw.Campresidents lament that migrants from Myanmar are not allowed tolegallyworkinThailand,andtheypossessnolandtocultivatecrops.The road from Thailand to Myanmar is overgrown with jungleunderbrush. Forest paths are littered with landmines. There is noway out of the refugee camp and no means of subsistence if theystay.Theyhavebeenabandonedandsoon, it is feared, theywillbeforgotten. This paper attends to the increasing number ofmigrants alongthe Thai-Myanmar border who are systematically left behind byinternationalfundingnetworksthatprivilegecertainbodies,groupsand peoples over others, leading to what I calluneven

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humanitarianism. Humanitarianism, as an ideology, came about inthe 1960s and 1970s following widespread civil wars andhumanitarian crises in the postcolonies. These crises weremismanaged and exacerbated by states that were ill-equipped todeal with unfolding famines, civilwars,and health emergencies informerly colonized nations. In response to this, theDoctorsWithoutBorders organization, and other early aidorganizationswereformedtoprovidemuch-neededaidwherestateshadfailed.4Thehumanitarianconsensuswastobringaboutaglobalsystem of charity and emergency response to crises that wentbeyond theWestphalianideals– the idea that states are sovereignuntothemselvesandthatactorsinonestateoughtnottointerfereinanother’saffairs.Humanitarianismpromulgatedtheideathatactors,especially ones that are in a position of privilege, have aresponsibility to come to the aid of peoples in need.5 Numerousscholars have criticized the humanitarian consensus as racist andethnocentric,6 while others have called it a “neocolonial project”7that leads to underdevelopment as a component of “dependencytheory.”8 Drawing upon two years of ethnographic research withBurmese migrants and NGOs along the Thai-Myanmar border, Iarguethatthedoctrineofhumanitarianismoftenfailstoaccountfora) the long-term and changing needs of peoples in the midst of ahumanitarian crisis, b) the problem of uneven and ad hocimplementation of humanitarian projects, and c) how peripheralstatesremainatthecenterofMyanmar’spoliticalandhumanitariancrises. Whilerecognizingthefraughtpower-relationsbetweenwealthyforeign donors and theneocolonialunderpinnings of NGOs, Imaintain that the problemwith humanitarianism is not thewill toact when others are suffering, but the unevenness with whichhumanitarian action is implemented and the powers of foreigndonorstostipulatehowandwhensupportisgiven,andcrucially–asin the case of Koung Jor –when it is suddenly taken away. As theNorwegian peace theorist Johan Galtung argues, human rights arenorms that do not simply apply, but rather, they must protect thebasisforhumanexistence.9So,ahumanitarianregimethatstatesitsresponsibilitytoprotectthemostvulnerablewithoutalsoproviding

T.Sebro68enduringmechanismstodosoinanequitableway,isafailedregime.ThegeographerDavidHarveywritesabouttheneedfortheorizationofwhathecalls“unevengeographicaldevelopment”inthecontextofneoliberalism’sunfulfilledpromisetoeradicatehunger,poverty,andinequality,andhearguesthattheneoliberalorderhasonlyservedtoexacerbate global inequality.10 This essay explores the failures ofhumanitarian rights regimes along the Thai-Myanmar border andsuggests alternative ways of structuring sustainable long-termhumanitarian aid. I argue, using Koung Jor as a case study, that ifNGOstrulywishtobe instrumentsofhumanitarianism,rather thanneocolonialism, they need to employ segmented and sustainablemeasuresforpullingoutofconflictzones.Muchinthesamewaythatcolonialregimesoftenleftwholenationsinastateofdisarrayuponleaving, NGOs, when searching for new and more pressinghumanitarian disasters to attend to, can leave in their wake chaosanduncertaintywhenforeigndonorssuddenlypulltheirfunding.

DisplacementCyclesThepeoplesofMyanmarhavefacedapastcenturymarkedbycyclesof harrowingupheavals, including theworld’s longest ongoing civilwar, authoritarian military rule, widespread poverty, and forceddisplacement.The first cycleof forceddisplacement cameafter the1962militarytakeoverofwhatwasthencalledBurmabyGeneralNeWin,who implemented an authoritarian socialist program.11 In thefirst displacement cycle, from 1962-1988, Burmese migrants wereprimarily economic migrants; often of Chinese descent; merchantsandwell-educatedpeoplewhonolongersawafutureforthemselvesinBurma.ThoseearlymigrantsfromBurmawereoftenabletomakea life for themselves on the “outside”. However, this was not thefortuneofthefamous“’88generation”–thestudentswho,afterthedevaluationoftheKyatin1988,tooktothestreetsinprotest.12Thiscitizen’suprisingresultedinGenNeWinsteppingdownfrompowerand elections tobe called.But a substantive change in governmentnever materialized as the military persecuted the winner of theelection, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party, theNationalLeagueforDemocracy,whileleadingabrutalcrackdownonprotesters that resulted in thousands dead and many moreimprisoned.13Duringthistime,protestingstudentsfledtowardstheThai border to escape further maltreatment by the military and

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many still remain in refugee camps or have sought asylum inWesternnations.14 The last wave of forced migration, from 1990-present, hasaffected the peripheries of the country in dramatic ways. Themilitary, as the supreme power in politics, sought to auto-colonizethenationbyquellingtheethnicrebellionsthatwereswellingintheperipheralstates.This ledtooneofthe largest forceddisplacementsituations in modern Asian history, with 4.25 million Myanmarnationals living abroad and 9.39 million internally displacedmigrants or approximately 20% of the population.15 With over700,000 migrants fleeing the Rakhine State in Myanmar followingthe genocidal crimes committed by the Tatmadaw in 2017 and asteady stream ofmigrants that continue to flee from the NorthernStatestowardsThailand,thequestionlingersoverwhyhumanitarianagenciesare leavingtheborderareasinfavorofdoingworkwithinthecountryorinotherregionsaltogether? The mass-exodus of NGO’s and IO’s from the Thai-Myanmarborder-zone has been well-documented and predicted sinceMyanmar’shistoric,andhighlycontroversialelectionsin2010.16Aidorganizations,afterhavingspentovertwodecadesalongtheborder,are under new directives from foreign donors to move theiroperationsfromtheThaisideofthebordertoinsideMyanmar.Thistransfer of aid will, arguably, bring much-needed succor to theinteriorofMyanmarandwillbringrelieftohighlyrestrictedregionsthathave,upuntilrecently,beendeniedforeignaid.Butthehumancost of suddenly ceasing aid toone group inorder to give toothergroups within Myanmar will have a heavy toll on the refugeepopulationthat is leftbehind.Donorsmustquestionwhytheyseekfundingto flowtowardsthecenterandawayfromtheperiphery inMyanmar,whenthemajorconflictsandhumanitariancrisesremainin theperipheries.All estimates show that thenumberofmigrantsfrom Myanmar into Bangladesh and Thailand have, instead ofdeclined, risen precipitously since the 2010 Myanmar elections.17Given the increased needs of migrants, it is puzzling that aidorganizations are fleeing the border, and instead, focusing on thecenterofthecountryandthefollowingsectionarguesthat inorderto understand and ultimately be able to solve themigrant crisis in

T.Sebro70Myanmar, humanitarian organizations ought to re-center theperiphery.

Re-CenteringthePeriphery

TheoristsofMyanmar’sregimetransitionfromautocraticmilitaryto“disciplined democracy” have emphasized that in order tounderstandMyanmar’sdemocratictransition,wemustalsograpplewiththerelationshipbetweenthecenterofthenation–markedbythe rule of Burman ex-military bureaucrats located in Naypyidaw–and the periphery, or the ethnic minority-ruled governments andmilitary rebel groups.18 These scholars argue that Myanmar’s longandmired history of successive authoritarian regimes can best beexplainedbyrecognizinghowarmedseparatistgroups, like theTai(Shan),19Karen,Kachin,Mon,Wa,andRohingya,continuouslyposeathreattoacentralizedstatethatneverheldlegitimatepowerinthefirst place. Even subsequent to the 2010 and 2015 elections inMyanmar, when the National League for Democracy (NLD)procedurally gained seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly ofthe Union), tensions between the Tatmadaw and the armed ethnicgroupshaverisenmarkedly,especiallyintheextremeperipheriesofthe state. In 2015 the Tatmadaw launched offensives against rebelforcesinKokangforcinganestimated40,000-50,000civilianstofleeto the Chinese side of the border.20 Since the 2010 Myanmarelections, theShanStateArmySouth (SSA-S)has rejected ceasefireorders from Tatmadaw and the ongoing bloody civil war in ShanStateescalated,leadingtoamassiveinfluxofmigrantsandrefugeesfleeing to Thailand to avoid further violence and displacements.21Morerecently, intheRakhineState,whatappearstobea“textbookcase of ethnic cleansing” ormore likely an alleged genocide of theRohingyaMuslimminorityreacheditsapexinthefallof2017whenover700,000civilianscrossedtheborderintoBangladeshfollowinganattackonMyanmarmilitaryoutpostsbythelargelyunarmedanduntrained Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).22 Despiteconsensus amongst scholars and observers that the peripheries ofMyanmar continue to bemired in conflict, civilwar and constantlyfluctuating refugee populations, many NGO’s such as The BorderConsortium have lost funding and are pulling resources from IDPand refugee camps located in Thailand in order to focus theirresourcesoninternalissuesinMyanmar.

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As international aid organizationsmove from the periphery tothe center ofMyanmar,23 they risk the survival and subsistence ofthe nearly 120,000 official refugees, the 8,257 refugees residing inIDPcampsandanevenhighernumberofunofficialrefugeesthatlivealong the border. The Shan Human Rights Foundation reports in2017 that the groups most severely affected by the aid-flight intoMyanmar, are the six unofficial IDP camps located along the Thai-Myanmarborder.24These six camps represent themost vulnerableand precarious victims of the Myanmar military’s decades-longscorchedearthcampaign.Manyofthemhaveexperiencedfirst-handthehorrorsofthelongest-runningcivilwarintheworld.Thecampscontainapproximately70%womenandchildren,manyofwhomlivewith visible and invisible injuries from years of abuse, gunshotwounds, landmine wounds and PTSD following the Myanmarmilitary’s reign of terror against the ethnic minority groups. Nowthey face the additional hurdle of being left behind in remote andunofficial refugee camps that receive no support from the outsideworld. InSeptemberof2013,The Irrawaddy reports that “Ricerationsformanyof themore than120,000Burmeserefugees livingon theThai-Burmaborderwillbereduced,duetoareductioninfundingfora humanitarian organization that has provided food for them formore than two decades.”25 TBC says that its funding will now beredirected towards projects dealingwith the return ofmigrants toMyanmar, as well as other projects within the nation. So far, it isunclearhow theywillprovideaid to returnees,when there is littleevidence to show that refugees are indeed able to return safely.Many unofficial refugees I spoke to in Thailand cited fear ofimprisonmentupon their return toMyanmar, in addition to fearoftortureandlackofanymeansofsurvivaliftheyweretoreturn.Oneelderly female resident of Koung Jor expresses incredulity at theprospectofreturningtoMyanmar:

We live here, we are happy, we don’t think about to going back.We’re afraid that the Burmese military will torture us again; wedon’twanttogobackanymore.Inthisvillage,weallarerefugees;weallexperiencedescapingfromgun.26

T.Sebro72Besidesthewidespreadfearofmilitarypersecution,iftheunofficialrefugeesshouldattempt toreturntoMyanmar, theyruntheriskofbecoming mired in legal troubles if they get caught having“defected.” For the vastmajority of themigrants and refugeeswhohave fled from Myanmar to Thailand return is not an option thatpromises to provide any realmeasure of human security. As, LungSai Leng, a leader in the Koung Jor camp laments: “If we have toreturnwewillnotbeallowedtoliveinourvillages.So,thefirstthingwe think is: ifwe have to live there,who can guarantee that therewon’tbe fighting […]andhowwillweworkandearnmoneywhenour land is filled with landmines?”27 For the IDPs and resident ofbothofficialandunofficial“temporaryshelterareas”alongtheThai-Myanmar border, the issue of land-loss, lack of any means forsubsistenceandtheveryrealdangersofongoingfightingintheShanState make the prospects of return an impossible option imposedupon them by policymakers, foreign donors, and the internationalcommunity.

The Border Consortium (TBC), the non-profit humanitarianorganizationthathasbeensupportingrefugeesintheThai-Myanmarbordersince1984,hasbeenthemainsourceofdonatedgoodsandfinancial support to approximately120,000 refugees innine campsand 8,257 IDP’s living in temporary shelter areas along the Thai-Myanmar border.28 In 2016 however, TBC experienced a sharpdeclineinforeigndonationsfromapproximately$23millionin2015to only $18 million in 2016.29 The drop in bestowments to theirorganization is attributed to the perceived national “reforms” inMyanmar and the idea thatMyanmar is now a democracy, an ideathat many camp residents refute. One camp resident commented,“The Burmese government wants to show that a lot of things inBurma are normal, but it is not true. They haven’t done anything.Theyhaven’tmadeanypreparationsforourreturn.”30Donationsarealso exacerbatedby a dramatic increase in globalmass-migrations,particularly in the Mediterranean, where the Syrian refugee crisishascontributedtoarise inglobalrefugeepopulations. In theyears2015and2016,theglobalmigrantcrisisreachedanapexwith65.3million people forcibly displaced worldwide.31With approximately40millionpeopleinternallydisplaced,thesearethehighestnumberofforciblydisplacedpersonsseensinceWorldWarII.

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Theconsequenceofthissharpdeclineininternationaldonationsto humanitarian organizations along the Thai-Myanmar border, or“aid-flight,” has been a gradual lowering of rice and supplementalfood rations and finally, a complete termination of the food-aidprograms.32 TBC’s own personnel point to aid flight not just awayfrom the peripheries and towards the interior of Myanmar, but tootherregionsthatareexperiencingintensecrisis,suchastheSyrianrefugeecrisis.DuncanMcArthur,TBC’sMyanmarProgramDirector,is quoted saying that, “The local impact is that USAID and DfID[Britain’s Department for International Development]funds, whichTBC has been channeling to support these IDP camps for the pastdecade, are no longer available,” and instead aid is being cut orredirected towards Syria, Iraq, Yemen or to the interior ofMyanmar.33 The villagers of Koung Jor alongside refugee and IDPpopulations are now calling for foreign donors to continue theirsupportuntil“agenuinenationwideceasefireisreached.”34Yettheirpleasforcontinuedsupporthaslargelyfallenondeafears.

LeftBehind:TheStoryofKoungJor

Today small children dash and run about the Koung Jor camp’stemporary bamboo structures, chasing dogs and relishing the coolafternoon breezes that come over the Shan Highlands from theBurmesesideoftheborder.Totherightofthecamp,loomingatopagreenmountainside, isaThaimilitaryencampment.Tothe left, theMyanmar army, or Tatmadaw’s, military outpost. Further uplandinto the hills the Shan State Army struggles to maintain theirstrongholds against the impending threat of the Tatmadaw’s army.Themilitary garrisons are always visible to the camp,with turretsliningthehillsidesandtheflagsofthethreenations–Myanmar,Tai,and Thai – planted firmly into the soil to territorialize and makeconcrete imagined linesdenoting their claims to sovereignty. Theirpresence is always felt, sometimes with a sense of safety, and atother times with a sense of unease, but always as a constantreminder of the violence that awaits them should they attempt tocross the borderline. The border check-point is lined with metershigh barbedwire and the thick underbrush conceals the unknownnumberoflandminesplantedalongwhatoncewasavibranttrading

T.Sebro74route that connected Chiang Dao and ChiangMai on the Thai sidewith Kengtung and Taunggyi on the Myanmar side. The road haslongsincebeenabandonedandnowthejunglehasreclaimedasphaltand fencing into its dense underbrush. The camp residents areeffectively trapped between three armies, they remain citizenless,andrightness,andsoon, theywill facemalnutritionas the lastbagsofricearebeingdeliveredthismonth.

Fig. 1 The Lak Teng border crossing in Vieng Heng, ChiangMaiProvince,Thailand.Photobyauthor.

The residents of Kong Jor have experienced a harrowing pastdecadeandahalfofwaranddisplacement.Villagersresidingclosetothe Myanmar border, in Bang Mai Soong and Huay Yao villages,awoke one fateful night in 2002 to heavy shelling and fightingbetweentheShanStateArmy-South(SSA-S)andtheTatmadaw.TheMyanmarmilitary suspected villagers of supporting the SSA-S andbeganshellingdirectlyintothevillages,resultinginthedeathsofsixcivilians, includinga twelve-year-oldboy,and the injuryofanother12villagers.35Subsequently,thevillagerswereforcedtofleeinhasteand during the cover of night towards the Thai side of the border.Muay Sai, a mother who has been living in Koung Jor since 2002recalls that terrifyingnight: “We fled toThailand in thenight–andhadtogoliveinarefugeecamp.”Shewasalonewithherthree-year-

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old daughter – her husband had been captured by the Burmesemilitary.Shesays, “Theygaveus20minutes topackupeverythingandflee.Ipushedher[herdaughter]upthemountainasshecried.”SixhundredTaiciviliansfledtoWiangHengDistrictinThailandduetothe32-daylongwarthatravagedtheironcepeacefulvillage.Thegroups took shelter in theWat FahWiangHeng temple across theborder.Those who did not flee were reportedly killed, tortured,imprisoned,orforciblyrelocated.WhileThaiauthoritiesallowedtherefugees access to shelter temporarily on the monastery grounds,theydeniedthegroups’applicationstostaypermanentlyinacamp.TheKoungJorcampthusexistsunofficially,asitisnotregisteredbythe UNHCR, leaving residents unable to apply for third-countryresettlement.Approximately350peoplecontinuetoofficiallyresidein the camp, although this number fluctuates. Most of the campresidents,likeMuaySaiandLungSaiLeng,areinthetwilightoftheirlives and as elderly and undocumented peoples find it nearimpossibletosecuretheirlivelihoodswithoutoutsidesupport.

Oneoftheconfoundingissuesconfrontingmigrantsandrefugeesfrom Myanmar’s frontier areas is the difficulty that documentinghuman rights abuses inMyanmar entails. There are vast swaths oflandmass, such as the Shan State, where foreign and even somedomestic observers may not travel. This presents a number ofserious challenges. It is clear thatwithout thoroughdocumentationof human rights abuses there is little impetus for humanitarianorganizationstoact.ThelackofaccessandoversightiscompoundedbyrampantincidencesoftheMyanmarmilitarycoveringuphumanrightsabuses.Somehumanrightsabuseshavebeenuncoveredusingsatellite imagery of Myanmar’s Rakhine State where dozens ofvillages have been found razed, destroyed and villagers displaced,despite the Myanmar government denying such abuses takingplace.36TheseimageslegitimizereportsfromsubsistencefarmersinShan Statewho describe systematically being forced off their land,where they cultivate rice and other crops, into larger cities wheretheir onlymode of survival is in the cash economy. Often it is thedispossessedandlandlessvillagerswhohavebeenforciblyrelocatedto cities that flee to neighboring Thailand. There they work in

T.Sebro76factories along the Thai-Myanmar border, toil in the agriculturalfields,dodangerousconstructionwork,domesticworkorsexwork.

UnevenHumanitarianism

There is an unacknowledged and inadequately addressedhumanitarian crisis underway in the Northern Shan State ofMyanmaranditsborder-zonewithThailand.Aidhasbeenappliedina highly discriminatory way, benefitting some “deserving” victimsandexcludingmanyotherswhohavealsobeenforciblydisplacedasa result of Myanmar’s scorched earth campaign against its ethnicminority groups and political dissidents. Uneven humanitarianism,which can be defined as the irregular, imbalanced and ad hocimplementation of humanitarian aid programs to regions andpeoplesincrisis,istheruleratherthantheexceptionalongtheThai-Myanmar border, where entire ethnic groups, such as the Tai, aresystematically excluded from receiving aid or even being able toapply for refugee status. Uneven humanitarianism is the result ofconditions of possibility that render some bodies undesirable andunderserving of life-saving relief. It is the result of processes thatworktoamplifysomevoiceswhilesilencingothers. Intheworldofhumanitarianism,notbeingheard,ornotbeingseen,canbeadeathsentence. A slow structural death, a necropolitics of aid-flight cannowbewitnessedintheIDPcampsalongtheThai-Myanmarborderwhereresidentsarefacingduressandstarvation.37

Inthelate1980stheworldturneditsfocustowardsBurmaandinitialattentionwaspaidtoBurmanstudents,protesters,andhumanrightschampionsinthecitiesofYangonandMandalay.Later,inthe1990s, as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)commenceditsreignofterroragainsttheethnicminoritygroupsinthe peripheries of the state, the world fixed its eyes on the Karenpeoples,whobecameemblematicof theongoing civilwarbetweenthe many ethnic minority groups and the Tatmadaw. The Karenpeople,manyofwhomhaveconvertedtoChristianityhavereceiveddecades-long support from faith-based missionary organizations,which has led to a stabilization of the KarenNational Army (KNA)and support for refugees residing in temporary shelter areas alongthe Thai-Myanmar border.38 Today, the focus resides on theoppressed Rohingya, who, according to numerous UN reports, arecurrentlyinthemidstofwhatcanonlybedescribedasasystematic

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attempt to ethnically cleanse the Rakhine State of its Muslimdenizens.39Throughouthowever,littleattentionhasbeenpaidtotheTai peoples who have been forcibly displaced from the Shan andKachin states of North-Eastern Myanmar. This, despite themundergoing one of the bloodiest andmost protracted civil wars intheworld.

What accounts for this mode of actively not seeing? For thiswillful abandonmentof theTai, oneof theworld’smostvulnerableminorities? The UNHCR and the Thai government has precludedforcibly displaced peoples from Myanmar from lodging refugeeclaims,placingtheminaprecarioussituationof livingeitherinoneof Thailand’s “temporary shelter areas” or risking life as aclandestinemigrantworker inThailand’s shadoweconomies.40TheTaihaveneverbeengiventhekindsofinternationalsuccorthattheKaren, ethnic Burman or the Rohingya have been given. There arethree main explanations for Tai people’s exclusion from receivinghumanitarian aid. Firstly, the Tai are Theravada Buddhist andethnicallysimilartotheThai,thereforeperceivedaslessvulnerableand more easily assimilative to Thai culture. Tai is the progenitorlanguage of Thai and theTai Yai (Great Tai), as they are called inThailand,havebeenlivinginUplandSoutheastAsia,includingintheLanna territories, long before colonial boundaries arbitrarilydelineatedaThai-Burmaborder.Secondly,theirrefusaltoconverttoChristianity and lack of strong ties to international relief agenciesandreligiousmissionaryorganizationshavekepttheirplightoutsideof the purview of international donors.41 Lastly, a strong ethno-nationalistarmedseparatistmovement in theShanStatesmayalsohave contributed to their exclusion from aid. As a nation that has,even before colonial times, seen itself as separate from ethnicBurmans, Thai, or any other group, the Tai have fostered a robustethno-nationalistmovement organized around the imaginednationthey call Merng Tai. The myriad Tai groups that live throughoutUplandSoutheastAsiaaremilitarily,aestheticallyandaffectivelytiedto the common project of self-governance and self-determination,and this desire to not be governed by others and instead live self-sufficiently, has affected their ability to receive foreign aid.42 TheongoingcivilwarinShanStatehascuttheregionofffromtheworld,

T.Sebro78wherebynotravelforeithertourism,researchorhumanitarianaidispermitted. All this has led to an active forgetting and eventualabandonmentofapeoplewhosehumanitarianneedsaredire.

Conclusion

Myanmar is currently recovering from a harrowing past century,marred by the horrors of British imperialism, Japanese militaryoccupation,and latertheascensionofanautocraticmilitaryregimeprimarily made up of the Burman ethnic majority. Since thenotoriouslyauthoritariannationheldelectionsinthefallof2010,theworld heralded Myanmar as suddenly and mysteriously open.ForeignPolicypublishedanarticleentitled“WaitingfortheMyanmarMiracle”whichclaimedthatthe2010electionoftheNationalLeagueforDemocracy,morethantwentyyearsaftertheir1990victorywasstolenfromthembythemilitaryjunta,“rightsahistoricalwrong.”43The final “opening” came September 14th, 2016,when The UnitedStates announced it would lift most trade sanctions againstMyanmar. After the freeing of the nation’s political symbol ofdemocracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Southeast Asian nation isundergoing a contentious ‘reconciliation’ phase.44 As majorhumanitarian organizations shift their focus towards the center ofMyanmar,thepeopleslivingonthemarginsofthenation,suchastheTai inShanState,arecontendingwiththesuddendisappearanceofmulti-million dollar NGO support organizations, leaving in theirwake destitute populations that become vulnerable to trafficking,military recruitment, illicit andexploitative industries,malnutritionandlackofeducation.

AsNGOsandIOsleavetheThai-Myanmarborderforother,morepressing humanitarian crises, they leave in their wake chaos andwidespreadhuman insecurity. Iargue that ifNGOs trulywish tobeinstruments of humanitarianism, rather than neocolonialism, theyneedtoemploysegmentedandsustainablemeasuresforpullingoutofconflictzones.Thewhimsofforeigndonorsimperillivesandhavedangerous impacts onnon-governmental organizations.NGOsneedto have long-term strategic plans for leaving vulnerable andprecariouspopulationsbehind inwar-zonesandborder zones.Themodelofgrassrootsorganizationhereprovidesastrongerresiliencyto the shock of a volatile foreign-aid-industrial complex, which isaligned with Arjun Appadurai’s vision of a “grassroots

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globalization”45thatcontainsanarchitectureofmutualandconstantcommunication between communities, academics, researchers,NGO’s, IO’sandgovernments to identify, in real time,humanitarianneedsandsustainablelong-termmethodsforaid-implementation.

In2005,allmembercountriesoftheUnitesNations(UN),alongwith key international relief and aid agencies, agreed to sign adocumententitled“TheResponsibility toProtect”or theR2Pat theUN General Assembly meeting. The document called upon “theinternational community” to “commit ourselves, as necessary andappropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect theirpopulationsfromgenocide,warcrimes,ethniccleansingandcrimesagainst humanity and to assisting those which are under stressbefore crises and conflicts break out.”46 In lieu of the R2Pcommitment, the uneven humanitarianism we observe along theThai-Myanmar border should be considered wholly unacceptableandan indictmentof a failedhumanitarianproject that swayswiththe winds of political fashion and leaves in its wake humancatastrophe. The UNHCR, governmental and non-governmentalorganizationscannotselectivelyprioritizegroupsbecausetheyhavestrong advocacy networks, or due to their religious orientation orbecause of globalmedia sentiment at the time. Theymust provideassistance, relief and asylum to groups due to observed needs andthey must provide aid sustainably, though fostering independentlivelihoods, securing land and by fortifying a means of survivalbeforefoodrationsaresuddenlydisappeared,asitnowhasbeenfor8,257 IDPs along the Thai-Myanmar border. If humanitarianorganizationscontinuetoimplementaidunevenlyitwillconstituteafailureofthe“responsibilitytoprotect”projectanditwillconstitutea failureofus all to, as they say inTai, “give ahand” to thosewhoneeditthemost.

Notes:1 Lung Sai Leng. Interview by the author. Tape recording. Chiang MaiProvince,Thailand,July16,2017.2McArthur,Duncan.(ProgramDirector,TheBorderConsortium’sMyanmarDivision), interviewbyBrennanO’Connor.August16,2017. “LoomingEndof Rations Leave Thousands with Uncertain Future.” Frontier Myanmar.

T.Sebro80https://frontiermyanmar.net/en/looming-end-rations-thousands-uncertain-future.3 The primary grassroots organizations providing educational support forKoungJoraretheShanWomen’sActionNetwork(SWAN)andTheBranchFoundation.4Belloni,“TheTroublewithHumanitarianism,”July2007.5Walzer,“OnHumanitarianism.”6 Minear, Scott, andWeiss, The News Media, Civil War, and HumanitarianAction.7Belloni,“TheTroublewithHumanitarianism,”2007.8Frank,“TheDevelopmentofUnderdevelopment.”9Galtung,Menneskerettigheter.10Harvey,SpacesofGlobalCapitalism.11 Fink, Living Silence in Burma, 29. Following the student uprisings of8/8/1988,themilitaryjunta,callingitselfTheStatePeaceandDevelopmentCouncil (SPDC),changedthenation’snamefromBurmatoMyanmar.Mostnationsandorganizations,includingtheUnitedNations,nowuseMyanmar.Both terms are arguably historically correct as Bamar/Myanmar arecognatesofoneanother. I refer toBurmawhenspeakingof the statepre-1988andMyanmarpost-1989.However,itshouldbenotedthatamajorityof my research collaborators from Shan State still refer to the nation asBurma.12ZawOo,“Exit,VoiceandLoyaltyinBurma:TheRoleofOverseasBurmeseinDemocratisingTheirHomeland,”235.13Fink,LivingSilenceinBurma,55.14ZawOo,“Exit,VoiceandLoyaltyinBurma:TheRoleofOverseasBurmeseinDemocratisingTheirHomeland,”236.15InternationalOrganizationforMigration,“Myanmar.”16Norum,Mostafanezhad,andSebro,“TheChronopoliticsofExile.”17ShanHumanRightsFoundation,“AsConflictEscalates inShanState,AidMustNotBeCutoff toShan-ThaiBorderRefugees”;MigrationPolicy, “TheOpening of Burmese Borders”; Gebhart, “Reacting to Reforms in Burma,Donors Leave Refugee High and Dry”; Aw, “6,000 Shan Refugees Left inLimboasInternationalFundingEnds”;Aung,“TheFrictionofCartography:On the Politics of Space andMobility amongMigrant Communities in theThai-BurmaBorderlands.”18 Jones, “Explaining Myanmar’s Regime Transition”; Woods, “CeasefireCapitalism.”19 Scholars referring to the Tai peoples of Upland Southeast Asia mostcommonly use the word Shan. Shan, however, is an exonym that the Taipeoples themselves largely reject. TheBurman ethnic groupuse thewordShan,acorruptionofthewordSiam,torefertotheSiamese(Thai)people,withwhich theTai are linguisticallyandculturally similar,buthistorically

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distinct.ThetermTaireferstotheheterogeneousgroupofpeopleswhoaredescendantsorspeakersoftheproto-Tai languageandincludetheTaiYai,TaiLue,TaiDamandmanyotherTai/Daiethnolinguisticgroups.IuseTaiinordertohonorthewishesofmyresearchcollaboratorsfromtheShanStateinBurma,avastmajorityofwhichrespondedthattheypreferforeignerstouse the endonymTai, rather than the exonymShanwhen referring to thepeoplesofShanStateanditsdiaspora.20Hui,“TensofThousandsFleeWar,AirstrikesinKokangRegion.”21 Some estimates indicate that there are approximately 1 to 2 millionBurmese migrant laborers working in Thailand, but this figure does notaccount for thepotentiallyhighernumberof forcedmigrants andmigrantworkerslivinginThailandclandestinely.McGann,“TheOpeningofBurmeseBorders:ImpactsonMigration.”22PeelandReed,“UNCallsMyanmarViolence‘Textbook’EthnicCleansing”;Lintner,“TheTruthbehindMyanmar’sRohingyaInsurgency.”23LarkinandDunlop,“Burma’sForgottenRefugees.”24 The Shan Human Rights Foundation’s report also indicates that thevillages of origin for the refugees have been razed, occupied by Burmesesoldiers and Burmans from the lowlands or are threatened by massiveinfrastructure projects, such as dams, mines and oil pipelines that theBurmesegovernmentisorchestratinginconcertwithChina’sOneBeltOneRoadInitiative.SharmaandKundu,China’sOneBeltOneRoad;ShanHumanRightsFoundation,“AsConflictEscalatesinShanState,AidMustNotBeCutofftoShan-ThaiBorderRefugees.”25 SawYanNaing, “NGO toCutRations for ‘Self-ReliantRefugees’ onThai-BurmaBorder.”26 Anonymous. Interview by author. Tape recording. ChiangMai Province,Thailand,July,2017.27LungSaiLeng.Interviewbyauthor.Taperecording.ChiangMaiProvince,Thailand,July16,2017.28ThuThuAung,“ContinueAidforDisplacedCamps.”29IRIN,“ShouldIStayorShouldIGo?”30Ibid.31UNHCR,“GlobalForcedDisplacementHitsRecordHigh.”32IRIN,“ShouldIStayorShouldIGo?”33 O’Connor, “Looming End of Rations Leave Thousands with UncertainFuture.”34ThuThuAung,“ContinueAidforDisplacedCamps.”35ShanHumanRightsFoundation,“AsConflictEscalates inShanState,AidMustNotBeCutofftoShan-ThaiBorderRefugees,”August30,2017.36Bhattacharjee,“Myanmar’sSecretHistoryExposedinSatelliteImages.”

T.Sebro8237Sebro,“Necromobility/Choreomobility:Dance,DeathandDisplacementintheThai-BurmaBorder-Zone.”38 Horstmann, “Ethical Dilemmas and Identifications of Faith-BasedHumanitarianOrganizationsintheKarenRefugeeCrisis.”39 AlHussein, “OHCHR |Darker andMoreDangerous:High CommissionerUpdates the Human Rights Council on Human Rights Issues in 40Countries”; Cumming-Bruce, “Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar Is ‘EthnicCleansing,’U.N.RightsChiefSays.”40Yang,“LifeandDeathAwayfromtheGoldenLand:ThePlightofBurmeseMigrantWorkers inThailand”;Vermaetal., “Between ‘VoluntaryMigrants’andWarRefugees.”41 Comparatively, the Karen, Akha and other animist or non-TheravadaBuddhist groups weremore likely than the Tai to convert to ChristianitySchendel, “Christian Missionaries in Upper Burma, 1853–85”; Horstmann,“Ethical Dilemmas and Identifications of Faith-Based HumanitarianOrganizationsintheKarenRefugeeCrisis.”.42 Sebro, “Dancing the Nation: The Politics of Exile, Mobility, andDisplacementAlongtheThai-BurmaBorder.”43GreenandTwining,“WaitingfortheMyanmarMiracle.”44Gallo,“Myanmar’sSuuKyiHoldsFirst ‘NationalReconciliation’Meeting,”November 19, 2015; Myoe, “The National Reconciliation Process inMyanmar,”2002.45Appadurai,“GrassrootsGlobalizationandtheResearchImagination.”46 United Nations General Assembly, “Responsibility to Protect in theOutcome Document of the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the GeneralAssembly.”

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