Teaching OT in faraway places

Here are some interesting “Reflections from Mae La refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border” from June last year that I had not spotted before. Among the bits I would draw your attention to are these:

Over the past 10 years, Burma’s army has destroyed more than 3,000 villages. Forced labor, rape, torture, and summary executions are among the humanitarian atrocities perpetrated by the regime against civilians. As a result, an estimated 500,000 ethnic civilians currently are internally displaced in eastern Burma, and there are believed to be more than 2.5 million Burmese, including migrant workers and refugees, in Thailand.

…

I believe resettlement is the appropriate option for some of the people in the camps. But third-country resettlement will not “clear out” the camps or end the atrocities in Burma. The military regime continues to force tens of thousands more civilians into Thailand every year.

Therein lies the real tragedy of this situation: the failure of the world to stand up against one of the world’s most repressive regimes and most flagrant violators of human rights. Villages are burned, ethnicities are displaced, and innocent people are forced to run or be killed. Yet, how often do we hear about the situation there?