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Difficult to Breathe
Saw Tha Khu, Saw T'Kee Koh, Saw Ba Blut, Saw Lucky
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Excerpt from artists' narrative account
In the drawing, we see the Thai flag. It signifies that we are living under Thailand’s rule. The Thai government does not recognise us as a refugee camp; they only recognise us as temporary. We are allowed to live only in this place, and for us, it feels like being in jail. But it’s not that we are criminals, it’s more like Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest. We use the colour black in our drawing to represent the suffering we experience in this place.
We face many problems and difficulties. We are losing our culture here. In the circle, you will see people playing; this represents a home and a school. It means that we are still alive. Even while facing these challenges, we are surviving. The reason we use the image of a home is that we receive support from other countries. They have come to help us, such as UNHCR. The home symbolises safety and mutual support. Then, we see a school; despite the hardship, we still have to study to gain knowledge.
We have also drawn the security guards, which symbolises how we are constantly watched. We cannot leave the camp to work or visit freely. They keep strict control over us.
On the other side, outside the camp, is our dream—our future. We have two dreams. The first is that the Thai government will officially recognise us as refugees and acknowledge this as a refugee camp. We hope they will grant us rights similar to those in Western countries, including the right to work and the right to reside. We want to have those kinds of rights. In the future, we want to live like this: to have our own home, a job, and a car.
Audio
“It means that we are all living under the same sky. We live on the same Earth, the same world, but the opportunities we receive are different. It means that some people have a lot of food, while others don’t have any food to eat. Some people are healthy and have a good salary, but some are praying to get a job. These are different rights.”