Further Information
The story of Ah Lay and his family is not unusual. According to Inter Pares counterpart, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, approximately 76,000 people were forced to leave their homes in eastern Burma in 2007 alone, as a result of, or in order to avoid, the effects of armed conflict and human rights abuses.
In efforts to address their own needs, displaced people from Burma have created organizations such as the BPHWT to deliver support programs and to represent the interests of their communities. Inter Pares is proud to collaborate with these organizations, and with those here in Canada, working to promote change in Burma.
In 2006, BPHWT released a report entitled Chronic Emergency, the first systematic documentation of the health status of internally displaced people living in the eastern conflict zones. According to Chronic Emergency, one in five children in displaced communities will die before their fifth birthday, and over 15% of children suffer from malnutrition. Forcibly relocated families were 2.4 times more likely to experience the death of a child under five, and families whose food supplies were confiscated or destroyed by the military were 50% more likely to suffer a death in the household. Estimated maternal mortality rates were 1000 to 1200 per 100,000 live births – among the highest in the world. The BPHWT report concluded that without addressing the factors that drive this health crisis – the human rights abuses and lack of health services – this chronic emergency will continue unabated.
For further information on Inter Pares’ work on Burma please see our September 2008 Bulletin, “Bearing Witness: The Struggle for Democracy in Burma,” which can be viewed online at www.interpares.ca/en/publications/bulletins/html/bul-sept_2008/index.php
The BPHWT has produced a short video documenting their work which can be viewed online at www.interpares.ca/en/publications/multimedia/health_security.php
Both the Back Pack Health Worker Team and the Mae Tao Clinic have their own websites which can be viewed at www.bphwt.org and www.maetaoclinic.org ; Chronic Emergency can be downloaded from the BPHWT website.
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| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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