Thread: Three charged with South bombings

Boy who saw dad blown up embodies kids' woes in South


ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA

The grief of Jetsada Naklang, the 12-year-old boy who saw his father die in a bomb explosion in front of their house in Yala's Raman district on Monday, was a reminder of the plight of children living with violence in the deep South. Pechdao Tohmeena, a physician attached to Mental Health Centre 15, responsible for Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla, estimated that at least 6,000 children had been affected by the bombings and shootings in the deep South over the past three years.

She said the centre's records from January 2004 up to now showed that more than 4,000 families had been affected by violent incidents with members injured or killed. Some of the affected families had between four and nine children each.

''We estimated that at least 6,000 children have become orphans or been affected by the incidents,'' said Dr Pechdao.

Authorities have divided the children into five groups. They are children directly affected, such as those injured, children who were not injured but witnessed incidents, children who were not involved in the incidents but whose parents were injured or killed, underprivileged children who, in the unrest, were ignored even more by their families, and other children living in the area.

Dr Pechdao said the traumatic impact of the incidents had become deeply rooted in the children's minds and might take from five to 10 years to heal.

''One of the traumatic cases we found was the shooting of a teacher in front of 40 students in Narathiwat over a year ago. After conducting group therapy with the children, we found that some of them had nightmares and, even in their sleep, had hidden under the bed as if to hide from the bullets,'' said Dr Pechdao.

She cited another case of a four-year-old girl who was with her mother when four gunmen stormed into their house to search for a hidden weapon. One of them pointed the gun at her mother's head until the girl screamed and insisted they knew nothing about any weapon. The gunmen gave up and left the house.

''Ever since, the girl has become panic-stricken on hearing the sound of a motorcycle at night, and cannot sleep,'' said the doctor.

She admitted the problem is difficult to cope with because the affected children do not stay together in any particular area, but are scattered around over the four provinces.

Besides the mental health centre, there is also a committee for the mental rehabilitation of people affected by the violence in the deep South, that was set up by the previous government.

Under the interim government, the committee resumed its tasks under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Aree Wongarya. It met once earlier this year to discuss the overall situation. The next meeting will be at Government House today.

Dr Pechdao, who is also secretary to the committee, said the authority has come up with a plan to produce handbooks about caring for traumatised children. There will be two kinds _ one for public health workers in the area, and another for parents, teachers, and people close to the children.

The handbooks, she said, will explain about mental health problems in children of different ages, and how to deal with them properly. ''Children of dead terrorist suspects, for example, are often sneered at by their school friends. If we do not save them, these kids will turn into a timebomb easily used by the insurgents,'' said Dr Pechdao. She urged families and communities to pay greater attention to affected children, especially those who were silent and did not open themselves up to others.
''Children who have witnessed killings should be kept away from news reports of any violence that could remind them of the tragic scenes,'' she said. Teachers could play a big role in helping traumatised children, but they need healing too.

Bangkok Post