Understanding Karen women's experiences in refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border and in Canada

Abstract

In the 1980s, the Karen people began arriving on the Thai-Myanmar border as they fled the ongoing ethnopolitical conflict in Myanmar. Since then, the refugee situation in the border region has become one of the most protracted refugee situations in the world. As there was no clear indication of if and/or when the Karen people could return to the Kayin State, their home state in Myanmar, they began to resettle in third countries. In the mid-2000s, Canada began resettling Karen refugees from the Thai-Myanmar border across the country. This qualitative study explores the experiences of Karen refugee women living on the Thai-Myanmar border and in Canada. The study analyzes how gender impacted the lived experiences of three Karen refugees and their families. This research is concerned with shedding light on the stories, lived experiences, and resiliency of Karen refugee women on the Thai- Myanmar border and in resettling in Canada. Karen women are not simply passive victims of violence and conflict but are actors for change and peace.