Living off Rubbish in the Mae Sot Dump

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Description

This photo gallery provides a window into the daily life of Burmese refugees and migrants living in a rubbish dump in the outskirts of the border town of Mae Sot on the Thailand-Burma border. People in the dump are recyclers who live off from the material waste they find, earning barely enough to survive for a whole family’s work.

The people in the dump form a close community of about 400 people, about half of whom are children. They show an amazing spirit of resilience and dignity in desperate circumstances, struggling day and night to meet their basic needs. Even with hard work, they often remain unable access enough food, clean water, and medical care. Fortunately, the nearby migrant school gives the opportunity for some of the children to attend school, although many still cannot go; they need to help their family earn a living off the rubbish. One organisation, Eyes to Burma, provides regular support for the people in terms of clean water, clinic runs, clothes, and shelter. Nevertheless, dump residents pay a heavy price of widespread illnesses and harassment from authorities.

For many people in the dump, living off rubbish is still better than living inside Burma, where chronic poverty, armed conflicts, and human rights violations have forced hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to flee with the hope of a better life in Thailand. Once in Thailand, they face serious challenges and many end up having no choice but to live in dangerous and adverse conditions such as those at the Mae Sot rubbish dump.

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Photos by Burma Link. © by Burma Link.