Do you ever stop and wonder; how did I wake up in this life?

Today I walked through settlements of refugees and illegal immigrants that have fled their oppressive countries in order to survive and yet their “survival” is working in a factory for 21 hours straight with abusive managers watching their every move to make sure they are productive or worse sent out on fishing boats for 3-6 years at a time where they are tossed over as shark bait if they are weak or less useful.

We met with the Labor Rights Promotion Network; essentially a group of people that advocate for the rights of immigrant workers that cross the boarders into Thailand. Before you sigh and click to another blog post with more interesting pictures or a youtube video that will make you laugh in 20 seconds or less, I dare you to be uncomfortable for a second.

I don’t know what the solution is. There is no easy out. But there are people in our world that are forced to run to another borderline because military coups have over thrown their country’s government countless times and set up corrupt regimes that make life torturous for the citizens just trying to get by. Thailand is packed with desperate people in these circumstances. 70% of the immigrants in Thailand are from Burma (Myanmar). Typically they are brought over by a broker that will charge them about $400 USD per person and then sell them to a factory or boat owner that will work these people to death. Kids as young as 7 are slaving away next to their parents.

Where are the police or boarder control you ask? Oh they perform raids on the factories here and there but their only job is to remove the people again and because kids are under age, they are often separated from their parents and thrown right back over on the other side in danger of being trafficked again.

Where do we even start to help? These people don’t have a home and just because they are vulnerable and desperate people delight in making money off of their exploitation.

My only take away of you taking time to absorb this information might just be that you understand when you think your life is hard, I guarantee you wouldn’t complain to these people.

I will try to post my videos and pictures of these beautiful people later. rushin around.. more later.

<3 kb