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History has shown that every war comes with high costs, the effects of which persist for decades if not generations, and Myanmar (Burma) is no exception. Born from the aftermath of World War II, a decades old humanitarian nightmare still affects hundreds of thousands of refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) along the border with Thailand.
Since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, Burma has been at war with itself. Old grudges between pro-Japanese and Allied army groups, separated by religious and ethnic differences, continue to divide the country.
Of the many groups inside Burma fighting to preserve what is left of their land, and in many cases their lives, the ethnic Karen find themselves on the forefront of the conflict. Stories continue to be reported of villages being razed, land and livestock stolen, women being raped and men either forced into slave labor, used as human mine-sweepers or out-right executed.
The State Peace and Development Council, the military junta that controls Burma, has been called on by leading non-governmental organizations, the United Nations, and many governments throughout the world, to halt its social, political and military campaign against ethnic and religious minorities within its borders. All to no avail.
Prospects for those who choose to flee are grim. If they survive the gauntlet of army patrols, an untold number of landmines, and miles of inhospitable countryside, what awaits them is a dead-end life inside an IDP camp or one of a hand-full of large refugee camps inside Thailand.
Even though they have few opportunities for work, citizenship or even basic human rights within Thailand, many refugees have expressed the unwillingness to return. After the years of fighting and oppression that have produced the horrid circumstances under which they have fled, they see no reason now, or in the foreseeable future, to return home.

Documentary Photographer Morgan Hagar was born in Goleta, California in 1975 and grew up outside Houston, Texas. He returned to California to study at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and was the first to graduate from the renowned Visual Journalism program. While in school he held a staff photographer position at the Santa Barbara News-Press and shortly after became Photo Editor at the Ventura County Reporter. A year out of school, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of reporting on conflicts within humanity. Much of his work centers on personal projects documenting conflicts within humanity. He has documented events in Israel, Thailand, Nicaragua, Mexico and across the U.S. His self-funded projects are gaining recognition and have been featured in several online magazines and galleries including Photojournal-E, File Magazine, AfterImage/Inklight, Lens Culture and Polar Inertia. Morgan has had his stories exhibited in both solo and group shows throughout California. In 2006, he was selected to be part of World Picture News “2006 Best Images of the Year”. In 2007, he won first place in the Photojournalism-Other category from Prix de Photographie Paris (Px3). Morgan Hagar is devoted to bearing witness to human events and sharing those stories with the world so that humanity can see itself for better or worse.