Class dismissed? Refugee children face hunger as aid dries up
Schoolkids head back to classrooms but empty stomachs threaten learning in border camps
More than 28,000 refugee children are returning to school along Thailand’s border with Myanmar but as food rations are slashed and funding dries up, many face a harsh lesson in survival before they even crack open a book.
In Mae La, the largest of nine refugee camps hugging the Thai-Myanmar border, families say food aid cuts are making it harder than ever to keep children fed, let alone focused on learning.
“I used to take food to school and eat it with my friends,” said 18 year old Tida, who was born in the camp and has studied there since the age of five. “There was more chicken before, now there isn’t enough food.”
The camps, home to more than 100,000 people, are made up of tightly packed wooden homes perched on jungle hillsides, their narrow, muddy paths winding just metres from the Myanmar border. Most residents have no legal right to work in Thailand and rely almost entirely on aid.
Now, as the Border Consortium, a coalition of non-government organisations (NGOs), slashes monthly digital food top-ups due to plummeting donor funds, inflation and growing demand, over 80% of camp residents will feel the squeeze at mealtimes.
Su, a 33 year old mother in Mae La, said her family is already struggling.
“Because of the food allowance cuts we must find more work. My sister is selling vegetables to support her family. I’m worried.”
Despite the hardship, children like Su’s eight year old daughter Cherry are trying to prepare for the new school year, dodging monsoon puddles to stock up on school supplies in the camp’s ramshackle lanes.
Save the Children, which provides training, materials, and wages for around 800 teachers in the camps, says education is at risk unless urgent funding arrives.
Guillaume Rachou, Executive Director of Save the Children Thailand, highlighted the problems.
“Education is not something that is nice to have. It’s a must-have and a basic right… When we ask children and their parents what matters, they mention food cuts, but they also overwhelmingly worry about the schools closing. The two go hand in hand.”
Save the Children is urging international donors not to abandon the children of Thailand’s refugee camps, warning that without fresh support, even the most basic services, like education and nutrition, could collapse.
Some families have been in these camps since the 1980s, with little hope of resettlement or local integration. And for the children born and raised here, the classroom may be the only shot at a better future, provided they don’t go hungry before they get there.
(Names have been changed to protect identities.)
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