Myanmar refugees leave Thai camp to resettle in Japan+

MERA, Thailand, Sept. 22 Kyodo -
Five Myanmarese families who will be taken in by the Japanese government under
the ''third country'' refugee resettlement program next week left Mera refugee
camp in northwestern Thailand on Wednesday.
After undergoing medical checkups at an International Organization for
Migration facility in Mae Sot, Thailand, the 27 ethnic Karen people will leave
Thailand for Japan on Sept. 27.
The families are the first group of 90 Myanmar refugees whom Japan will accept
over the next three years under the third-country refugee resettlement pilot
program.
The Karen families bid farewell to their relatives and friends in Camp Mera,
where they have lived for over 10 years, as they boarded the bus to Mae Sot
earlier Wednesday.
A 36-year-old man who will be heading to Japan with six family members said he
could not sleep the previous night because of nervousness, adding that he would
miss the people at the camp but is happy that he is going to Japan.
The five families completed a 20-day training course on Japanese language and
customs in August. After arriving in Japan, they will stay initially in Tokyo
for six months to learn Japanese and receive job training.
It is up to them to decide where they will eventually resettle and what jobs
they will do.
Camp Mera, the biggest refugee camp in Thailand, is home to about 50,000
Myanmar refugees who have fled their country, mainly due to armed conflicts
between the Myanmar military and Karen National Union rebels.
==Kyodo
2010-09-22 19:53:29


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