Fifty-four Burmese suffocate to death: "It's far from the first time"

10/04/2008 / BURMA - THAILAND

Fifty-four Burmese suffocate to death: "It's far from the first time"

Burmese stowaways step out of a police van in Thailand. Photo from the Human Rights and Development Foundation. Date unknown.

Fifty-four Burmese people have been found suffocated to death in a freezer truck on its way to the Thai tourist resort of Phuket on the other side of the border. The incident has shocked the world, but it's hardly an isolated case according to our Burmese Observer. Read more...

The victims were part of a group of 121 people crammed into the six by two metre cold storage container, which was normally used to transport frozen seafood. When the air conditioning system failed the stowaways started to run out of oxygen, trapped for a long time at a Thai checkpoint. According to AP, when he discovered what had happened, the driver of the lorry fled the scene. It was nearby villagers, hearing distress calls, that came to the rescue of the Burmese captives, most of whom were women.

Contributeurs

Nang Aye

"There are deaths along the route all the time"

Nang Aye, 28, left Burma as a stowaway to work in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. She tells us her account of escape. You can ask her questions on her profile page.

"I lived in Mong Ton, a village in the east of Burma. I come from a family of five children. My parents are farmers. They earn 300,000 Kyats (60 euros at the current exchange rate) a year, which is not enough to feed a family. Plus, we pay a lot of tax in Burma and the government can force you to work for them without paying you. So in 2003, my parents decided to leave, and I came with them.

I bargained with Thai-based Burmese runners to smuggle me to Chiang Mai. That cost me 3000 Bahts. They made me pass the Thai border by foot. I walked for five hours through the forest. Then, I had to get into a van with a dozen other people. We changed vehicles a number of times before we arrived in Chiang Mai, and I had to walk on several occasions. But the trip went well compared with what happened today.

At that time the Thai put up with us. For 3500 Bahts you could get a residence permit for a year. But now there are a lot more illegal immigrants. The Thai authorities are stricter and have put checkpoints in the places where people try to sneak across the border. The Burmese take advantage of the increased risk by putting up the price to get across. This time the media have taken notice, but there are deaths along the route all the time."

Nang Aye