BURMESE ORPHANS IN THAILAND

The Asia-Pacific Initiative, in partnership with the Win Rescue Committee, a Thailand-based private relief agency, is providing support to 200 orphaned children of the Burmese Karenni hill tribe who are languishing in emergency refugee shelters in the mountainous jungle of Thailand's Mae Hongson border region.

The orphans, who are Christians by birth, are survivors of brutal campaigns by the forces of the Burmese military junta, who are incidentally supported by China. Many of these young survivors -- ranging from toddlers to adolescents -- have witnessed their entire families murdered and raped by junta forces. The Government of Thailand has permitted the orphans and thousands of other tribal refugees to have shelter in Thailand, but only temporarily as they lack the funds necessary to provide adequate housing and medical and educational care for the orphaned children.

In response, the Asia-Pacific Initiative is contributing a monthly stipend-donation of between $500 and $1,000 to the Win Rescue Committee in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which will help pay for the orphans' food, shelter and educational materials. Win Rescue and the children's care-givers regularly send photographs documenting their progress and the distribution of aid.