Clinic helps Myanmar refugees process the trauma of war

A clinic in a Thai border town provides mental health care for people fleeing the conflict in Myanmar.

MAE SOT, Thailand — For people fleeing the conflict in Myanmar, the injuries are often more than just physical.

Four years after a military coup that has morphed into a grinding civil war, experts say there is a growing mental health crisis in the Southeast Asian nation, made worse by the junta’s atrocities against civilians and a humanitarian disaster that has left more than 3 million people displaced.

They find some relief at the Mae Tao Clinic on the outskirts of Mae Sot, a border town in neighboring Thailand.

Each morning, hundreds of Burmese arrive at the clinic, waiting to see a doctor, receive vaccinations or get a prenatal checkup. Some are living in refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, while others have jobs as migrant workers or have crossed into Thailand illegally.

The donor-funded clinic, which opened in the 1980s with only four beds, has since evolved into a full-fledged primary health facility that offers a range of free services, including psychiatric care. It says its 700 doctors, nurses, medics and volunteers treat 120,000 people a year, a number that may increase after a freeze on foreign aid by the Trump administration that threatens to close U.S.-supported health care facilities treating Myanmar refugees in Thai border camps.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/clinic-helps-myanmar-refugees-process-trauma-war-rcna186737

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