Lack of doctors for sick children in Nordthailand by Trump's auxiliary shortcut

Lack of doctors for sick children in Nordthailand by Trump's auxiliary shortcut

MAE SOT, Thailand-Rosella, a 9-year-old girl, is dependent on continuous medical care. Hoses connected to an oxygen tank that is larger than itself lead to her nose, while she leaves with her drawings in a book: a flower, a house, a chicken. Rosella suffers from a bone disease that she has with a breath problem because her ribs press on the lungs and one of her lungs does not work properly.

difficult living conditions for refugees

"She can't breathe properly," says her mother Rebecca, 27, via video call. "She needs a constant supply of oxygen." It remains uncertain how long this is possible. Rosella and her mother live as refugees in one of nine remote camps that are along the mountainous border of Thailand to Myanmar. Around 100,000 people live in these camps and have decades of war between the Myanmarian military and ethnic rebels. The situation on the border has further intensified by the military coup and the following civil war in recent years.

The largest refugee camp Mae La

The largest camp, Mae La, houses over 37,000 people, mainly from ethnic karen minority. The only health system in this camp is operated by a US-financed hospital. But when the Trump administration is a 90- day, almost all international help had to be arranged close the camp hospital. This caused great unrest in the refugee community.

panic and despair in the camps

Videos posted by refugees on social media show how patients are carried out of the hospital beds in hammocks. Rosella was moved to an improvised health center together with other patients with chronic diseases, but there are no more doctors who can treat them. Aid organizations reported widespread panic and confusion after the sudden suspension of help.

survival care of refugees

refugees in the Thai camps live under precarious and isolated conditions. You must not work legally and need approval to leave the camp. The Thai government sees the camps as temporary settlements, but some communities have been living there for generations. Basic services such as health care, education, sanitary care, water and food are provided by international aid organizations.

Medical emergency in the camp

in Mae La and six other camps, the funds come almost exclusively from the USA, the world's largest donor from development aids, via the International Rescue Committee. Camp hospitals are more like field clinics, with sheet metal roofs and irregular power supply, but they are the only health facility for tens of thousands of people. "If it is an emergency, how can we cope with the situation? It burdens many here," says Ni, 62, which suffers from heart failure and kidney diseases.

tightening of the food subordination

In addition, the refugees face the high costs of treatments such as dialysis - an enormous burden if there are many difficulties in feeding their families. A spokeswoman for the IRC reported that they were forced to close outpatient departments and other facilities in the camps. While the management of medical facilities, equipment and water supply to Thai authorities was transferred, the IRC continues to strive to procure medication and fuels with non-US means.

The influence of the AID-Freeze on refugees

"We still have a month and a half months and a few months to provide tens of thousands of people," said Saw Bweh Say, secretary of the Karen Refugee Committee, which represents the refugees in the Thai camps. The main concern is not to be able to provide the refugees food and fuss. So far there is no alternative to the US subsidies, ”says Leon de Riedmatten, Managing Director of the Border Consortium.

bottlenecks in Thaiidian hospitals

The closure of the US financed hospital services has led to Thai hospitals had to fill the gap. Tawatchai Yingtaweesak, director of the Thale Song Yang Hospital, reports on the takeover of refugees with serious and urgent illnesses, since no doctors are available on the camps.

consequences for humanitarian aid

The reports of pain about the effects of the US aid stop go beyond the refugee camps. Many NGOs reported that basic services were interrupted and employees had to be released. "We only use this money for endangered people and those who really need help," says Saw Than Lwin, deputy director of the MAE Tao Klinik. By freezing the funds, clinics have to switch off parts of their budgets to maintain their services.

Understand the human consequences

in Myanmar, the needs are huge, while millions of people with hunger, trauma and constant threats fight from attacks. "How do we explain why this happens?" Asks Salai Za Uk Ling, founder of Chin Human Rights Organization, and emphasizes that rural communities often know little about international politics, but mainly worry about their daily existence.

in Mae la Camp, Rosella needs a new oxygen tank every two days. Her mother Rebecca, who is fifth month pregnant, is concerned about medical care for her daughter and herself, since all treatments were stopped by closing the hospital: "I don't know what to do. Access to doctors for my pregnancy is no longer available."