And still, despite a general improvement within Burma, what now for the refugees here, just four kilometres away and yet so forgotten? Reparations, recognition and citizenship for those displaced by decades of war seem a long way off. Even with Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD taking the ascendency, it must be remembered that she is of Bamar ethnicity and she may not be the saviour that everyone hopes; it is a complex situation and likely to take a long time. She has yet to visit the camp, although she did visit the larger Mae La camp to a popular reception in 2012, her first trip outside of Burma for twenty-four years.

For now, the citizens here can look for distraction and self-improvement within some of the vocational training centres dotted around the central sections of the camp. For those so inclined there are classes in hairdressing, baking, sewing and restaurateurship. These are the fortunate benefits of a well-established camp such as Mae Ra Ma Luang.

In fact, the camp is rather well equipped: there are religious establishments for the followers of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam as well as schools, a clinic and a couple of small restaurants. By no means are the facilities top-class or anywhere near what would be considered acceptable in Western society, but nor would you expect that here. Expectations and standards are lower while resilience, sense of community and individual strength are in greater supply.

The facilities initially confounded me as I found safety, relative cleanliness and organisation in a refugee camp, where one might perhaps expect to see absolute poverty, squalor and dire hopelessness. However, it is through consideration that you come to realise that it is only after decades that this kind of scenario comes to pass. It is a reflection of the fact that people have been confined here for a very long time indeed.

People here are incredibly strong though, and make do with what is available to them. Indeed, enduring twenty years in limbo necessitates it. For example, bakery classes do not have access to self-raising flour or milk, strawberry jam and other basics. Coffeemate, a powdered creamer, is used as a dairy substitute and experience means the cakes turn out moist and tasty.

What strikes me though, is how the raison d’etre for these vocational centres differs drastically from those back home. This form of education is usually transferable to industry, a springboard to a future career, but here in the absence of that it is simply to sustain a basic level of education within the camp. With acceptance quotas filled in many countries, the number of refugees being relocated is decreasing. This line of thinking further reinforces the sense of the people here being stuck on an endless hamster wheel of isolation.