Scattered but connected: Karen refugees' connections in and beyond the Thailand-Burma borderland

Abstract

Cross-border movements of Karen people in search of asylum have been taking place sporadically in the Thailand-Burma borderland in particular since the mid-1990s. Unlike existing literature which exclusively confines its focus to the refugees inside a particular refugee camp, this paper seeks to look into how refugee camps are connected, how a central camp and a nearby town play key roles in linking the refugee camps, and how the linkages extend to both sides of the Thailand-Burma borderland. My findings reveal that although the Karen live a precarious life in refugee camps, they devise and maintain connections with other refugees in other camps and with other kinds of people beyond the scope of refugee camps. This study suggests that being a refugee does not necessarily connote spatial incarceration. Paying attention to the mobility that refugees have gives a better understanding of the makeup of refugees' lives.