Update: 23rd June 2021

FTH partners on the border have been able to send pictures from one of the first distributions undertaken to refugees hiding along the river in Thai. Without support from the government these people are left to fend for themselves. Local pastor reports:

“Villagers have made temporary shelter in caves and in the jungle. Since April we have made short trips back to the village, finding many of our homes destroyed. Every time we travel, we have to hide for our safety because the planes come every week and drop the bombs.

Life has been difficult for the women and children as we have to care for our families in the jungle locations. Most of the able men have been called to help our defence forces to keep the Burmese soldiers away. We thank God the Burmese ground troops have not yet come to our village, but we live in fear because of the constant bombing – at least once a week now.

We now rely on the supplies that come to us from the boats on the river. They brought us medicine and things we needed especially food. I worry because many people are now suffering from malaria and other problems. Please pray for us to stay alive in this terrible situation.

Weekly supplies from FTH are ferried along the river to five temporary villages to thousands of refugees. One group is located 100 miles down the river, and is located 2 days walk inland. FTH relies on the men from a camp of 20,000 refugees to help backpack supplies down some the 40 jungle paths to get food to those who need it most.

The rice, medicine and supplies being delivered have become the lifeline these villagers depend upon for their lives.

“There are over 2000 people that live in our district. For many years we lived a peaceful lifestyle. We grew our rice and vegetables and were able to catch fish in the river. In April we had to run for our lives when planes came over our village and dropped bombs. We had heard of the unrest in Burma and now it had come to us.”

These photos are provided by local Pastor’s team:

“I want to thank our leaders who have organized help for us. We had to escape our villages to find safety. We don’t have enough food. We thank those in Thailand or wherever the food is coming from that they help send us rice, salt, fish paste and other supplies that are necessary for us. Thank you very much for helping us. God bless you.” – video translation.

Previous Updates
22nd Sep 2021
23rd June 2021
16th April 2021
9th April 2021
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