At 11 AM in the morning of Tuesday the 7th of April a fire broke out in section 12 and section 1 of the Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. Fortunately there were no casualties, but 185 houses and 2 community buildings – a school and a psycho-social clinic – were totally destroyed by the flames. A video filmed by one of the residents can be seen here

TBC is responding in coordination with The Royal Thai Government, UNHCR, international NGOs, civil society organizations and the camp committee. TBC’s role is to ensure adequate food and shelter for the effected families.

The camp Ban Mai Nai Soi is located 26 KM North of Mae Hong Song and 4 KM from the Thai-Burmese border. The camp is home to more than 11,000 Burmese refugees, the vast majority of Karenni origin which fled from oppression in Myanmar. Some of the people have been residents here for almost 20 years.

TBC response

TBC will – in close cooperation with the camp committee – be providing food and shelter to the affected community and support the families getting back on their feet. The people that have lost their homes are being located into temporary shelters, in community buildings and with families and friends in the camp. TBC will provide building materials in order to have the destroyed and damages houses rebuilt and will provide food rations to the affected community. Moreover many of the families were involved in livelihoods activities such as small businesses, gardening and animal raising. TBC aims to support the families to re-establish their livelihoods.

Emergency Funding Appeal

In order to obtain the necessary funds to assist the community affected by the fire in Ban Mai Nai Soi TBC has issued an Emergency Funding Appeal where institutional donors and private individuals can donate funds ensuring that the affected families receive the necessary support. The Appeal can be found here and you can donate directly to the Appeal here.