Border Childhoods

Karen guerrilla soldier children belonging to Battalion 101 of the Karen rebel army
KNLA stand guard at their post in the front line near to Wally township in Karen
state, southern Burma (Narciso Contreras)

Karen guerrilla soldier children belonging to Battalion 101 of the Karen rebel army<br> KNLA stand guard at their post in the front line near to Wally township in Karen<br> state, southern Burma (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee girls play in one of the ground fields in Nu Poh refugee camp as they
smile to their other refugee friends. Thai/Burma border, northern Thailand
(Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee girls play in one of the ground fields in Nu Poh refugee camp as they<br> smile to their other refugee friends. Thai/Burma border, northern Thailand<br> (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese migrant children play in a pile of plastic garbage at the dumpsite in Mae Sot
border town, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese migrant children play in a pile of plastic garbage at the dumpsite in Mae Sot<br> border town, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

Two Burmese migrant boys pass by Thai factory buildings on the outskirts of Mae Sot in
northwest Thailand, where many migrant Burmese workers live (Narciso Contreras)

Two Burmese migrant boys pass by Thai factory buildings on the outskirts of Mae Sot in<br> northwest Thailand, where many migrant Burmese workers live (Narciso Contreras)

A Burmese refugee child cries in pain from severe malnourishment during medical
treatment in the pediatric ward at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, northern Thailand
(Narciso Contreras)

A Burmese refugee child cries in pain from severe malnourishment during medical<br> treatment in the pediatric ward at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, northern Thailand<br> (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee family sleep on a ward floor as they wait for their turn to get medical
assistance at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot border town, northern Thailand
(Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee family sleep on a ward floor as they wait for their turn to get medical<br> assistance at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot border town, northern Thailand<br> (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese children monks chat among them after have taken lunch in a Burmese
monastery outskirts of Mae Sot border town, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese children monks chat among them after have taken lunch in a Burmese<br> monastery outskirts of Mae Sot border town, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

A Burmese refugee child walks through a deserted crossroads in Nu Poh refugee
camp, Thai-Burma border, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

A Burmese refugee child walks through a deserted crossroads in Nu Poh refugee<br> camp, Thai-Burma border, northern Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee children play war games as piles of garbage and tires burning
around them emulating a battlefield at the dumpsite in Mae Sot border town, northern
Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

Burmese refugee children play war games as piles of garbage and tires burning<br> around them emulating a battlefield at the dumpsite in Mae Sot border town, northern<br> Thailand (Narciso Contreras)

When you go to cover a conflict, you already know what kind of situations you will face in the day-by-day working shoots, but harder to acknowledge is the truth that lies behind your images.

Since I began covering the ongoing conflict in eastern Burma I realised that during the 60 years of civil war different sorts of approaches have been made to explain its nature. Throughout the years of conflict the sense of reality has changed deeply, including what the characters involved in the conflict accept as part of their daily life, such as violence, prosecution, exploitation, exclusion and misery, but also hope. Children along the border are a reflection of this reality.

To choose a job, a house and goods, or even to choose a life, is a luxurious benefit enjoyed by the west, but in this corner of the world these benefits are reduced to a dream that might never come true. Life for these children along the Thai-Burma border is fragile – many end up smuggling drugs into Thailand, or being trafficked to work in Thai factories; others join ethnic armies to fight wars in Burma. Any choice is an attempt to realise their dream, no matter how high the risks are.

Despite the daily dangers they face, their deep eyes and charming smiles carry the hope of getting closer to their dream. Often, however, it collides with reality, for these smiles are worn by the teenagers fighting on the frontline, or who are smuggled into Thailand to live as sex workers or to toil away in never-ending days at the factory. Life for the border children is a precarious adventure.

To see more work by Thailand-based photojournalist Narciso Contreras, visit here.