forgotten victims of tsunami
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Workers from Myanmar are forgotten victims of tsunami in Thailand
Got no aid after disaster, migrant builders say
Associated Press
Originally published June 26, 2005
TAKUA PA, Thailand - Migrant workers from Myanmar were the cheap labor that built Thai resorts where 2,000 foreign tourists died in the tsunami. Now, for $3 to $6 a day, they're rebuilding bungalows and hotels on this splendid beach to lure back tourists.
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Despite their economic role, they say they are the forgotten victims - having received little or no aid from either Thailand or their own government in the six months since the disaster.
As foreign governments helped Thailand search for tsunami victims, nobody looked for the Myanmar workers.
The laborers say they watched from their shanties and cinderblock homes as food and supplies were handed out to their Thai neighbors.
"When I come here to help do construction work for them [the Thais], I make them happy, but when something happens to me, they don't help me," 56-year-old Aung Than said, holding two photos of his son and nephew, who were killed in the Dec. 26 tsunami along with his niece.
Only the body of his nephew was found; the other two are still missing.
Some Thai officials estimate 1,000 migrants from Myanmar died. The Tsunami Action Group, a nonprofit organization that helps the workers, puts the toll at 6,000 to 7,000.
The exact number is unlikely to ever be known because of the many undocumented workers from Myanmar, also known as Burma. Many Burmese workers refused to go to mortuaries to identify colleagues, fearing police would arrest them for not having work permits.
Before the tsunami, there were more than 31,000 Burmese workers registered in Phang Nga province, north of the resort island of Phuket. Afterward, their numbers fell to 23,000, the Tsunami Action Group said, but added the actual numbers might be twice those.
While the Thai government handed out $500 to each Thai survivor, most of the Burmese, who have contributed greatly to Thailand's economy, received nothing and were afraid to ask for fear of being arrested or harassed by authorities.
Thai police publicly accused Burmese workers of looting after the tsunami, worsening discrimination against them.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.tsunamiworkers26jun26,1,6444812.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true
