Paper details
| Paper authors | Anne Meike Fechter |
| In panel on | Everyday humanitarianism |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
|
Abstract
In the borderlands between Thailand and Myanmar, ethnic armed organisations (EAO) have long played a pivotal role in the administration of areas under their control, including the provision of social welfare. Given the decades-long histories of displacement and forced movement of people in these areas, humanitarian efforts have become part of their routine activities, including provision of food, shelter and education to internally displaced people. This has only intensified since the military coup in February 2021, and the violence that was inflicted on civilians. At the same time, such armed organisations appear at odds with more conventional understandings of who humanitarians actors are and what they do. Based on data gathered as part of a large-scale project on protracted displacement, this paper explores what ethical and practical issues arise, and in what ways EAO carrying out humanitarian relief may challenge and change our understandings of what it means to be an (everyday) humanitarian actor.
Back