Children who fall victim to the southern insurgency war
"He likes to be hugged while we are sleeping together. We have never been far from each other," said a grieving Mrs Sobriya Sama-ae as she watched her two-year old boy, Muza, fall asleep on a bed in Pattani provincial hospital’s intensive care unit.
There are several tubes inserted into his mouth and nose and his hands were tied to the bed. “The doctor had to tie up his hands for fear that he would pull all the tubes – one for feeding and the other to help him breathe,” said the 31-year old teacher at Municipal 3 school in Sai Buri district of Pattani.
Muza was riding on the pillion of a motorcycle driven by his father, Manusee Sama-ae, a former para-military ranger, when gunmen, suspected to be separatists, opened fire at them. The incident took place on December 11.
Both were shot. Manusee was declared dead shortly after he was rushed to Pattani provincial hospital. But the boy was seriously injured and had to be operated on immediately.
Doctor at the hospital said Muza was out of danger but he had to be kept under close surveillance at the ICU.
Mrs Sobriya has just finished with the funeral for her husband. Then she has to rush to the hospital to tend to her wounded boy.
The teacher said she was very close to Muza because her husband came home only once a month for 6-7 days. Just three months ago, Manusee resigned from his job as a para-military ranger and returned home to be with his family.
"He (Manusae) did every odd jobs at home. The only job he disliked was laundering. I went to teach at school every week days and he cooked at home. It was our happiest period of time since our marriage. Meanwhile, Muza became acquainted with his father and they often went together – to the mosque and to the market," recalled Mrs Sobriya.
Muza is the latest child who fell victim to the insurgency war in the deep South which has been raging for almost ten years without anyone knowing for sure when the war will come to an end.
Many children and youths were wounded – several of them were disabled with some still in comatose. Sadly though, their plight has not been properly taken care of by any state agency.
Ms Supawan Poengrasamee, chairwoman of Thadanusorn non-governmental organization, said that there are no statistics about children and youths who have become disabled as a result of the violence in the restive region.
"There is no information about how they have been living, their mental health," she said, adding that many of them lost their parents.
Regarding Muza’s case, Ms Supawan explained that children at this age who experienced such traumatic incident need not just handouts but psychiatric counseling so that they feel safe and can live on like normal persons in the society.
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Caption : Mrs Sobriya Sama-ae and her wounded boy.