The Nations and Bangkok post (11/6/

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News headlines

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1:) UNHCR given role in Burmese border camps

2:) Suu Kyi appeal

3:) Concern over rise in use of amphetamines 

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<bold>UNHCR given role in Burmese border camps

</bold>

Marisa Chimprabha


The United Nations High commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) will be allowed
to participate in the administration of all 12-border camps for displaced
Burmese as a "co-partner", a senior government source said yesterday.

	However, because of the UNHCR's shortage of staff, it will adopt a
rotation monitoring team so they can effectively provide assistance for
the Burmese, the source said.

	A proposal detailing the role of the UN agency in the camps has been
drafted by Thai authorities and the UNHCE and submitted to the National
Security Council for final endorsement.

	The NSC is expected to approve the proposal soon, the source said.

	"The UNHCR will work as a co-partner with Thai authorities from the
beginning, starting with deciding whether the Burmese should be received
into the camps, screening them to determine their status and registering
them." The source said.

	"Importantly, the UNHCR will cooperate with Thai authorities in deciding
whether to repatriate the Burmese. The agency and Thailand will decide
whether it is timely to send back, but repatriation will not be against
the will of the Burmese. The joint mission will also determine whether
the areas where the Burmese will be repatriated are safe," the source
said.

Thailand changed its policy stance earlier this year when Prime Minister
Chun Leekpai publicly announced that he agreed in principle to the UNHCR
playing a greater role in the camps for displaced Burmese.

	Previously, the UN agency was refused any role in the camps. Due to the
international organisation's absence, Thai authorities have often been
criticised for their handling of the camps and for forcibly repatriating
the Burmese.

	"Thailand has to accept the UNHCR's role in the camps because we need
financial assistance as the country has suffered from the economic
crisis. We cannot handle it by ourselves," the source said.

	The proposal under consideration by the NSC does not include the budget
the UNHCR will provide for the camp's administration.

	At present there are 12 Burmese camps situated in four provinces-Tak,
Mae Hong Son, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi_ housing about 96,000 Burmese.
The large number of displaced people has caused problems for Thailand in
terms of national security, public health and social and economic
issues.

	"In granting the UNHCR a role in the camps we have to recognise that all
the procedures will require more time as it is different from in the past
when Thailand could run everything in the camps itself," the source
said.

	The source added that the UNHCR would not be authorised to provide
security for the camps or refugees, leaving those duties to voluntary
forces, border patrol police and soldiers.

--------------------- The Nations news -----------------


<bold>Suu Kyi appeal

</bold>

Manila_ Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has appealed to
Philippine President elect joseph Estrada to take the lead in supporting
the pro-democracy movement in Rangoon, a non-government group said
yesterday. Merci Ferrer, of the Free Burma Coalition, said Mrs. Suu Kyi
made the appeal in a taped message handed to her during a meeting June 5
in the Burmese capital.

	

	---------Bangkok post news ----------------------



UN ANTI-DRUG SUMMIT       

<bold>Concern over rise in use of amphetamines 

</bold>30 million people now use speed pills


<italic>United Nations, AFP

</italic>Participants at the United Nations' anti-drug summit are
focusing on the worrying increase in the use of amphetamines in the
1990s, especially among young people in Asia and Europe.

	The three-day summit, which brings together representatives of more than
160 countries, has made the fight against these amphetamine-type
stimulants (ATS) one of its priorities.

	According to the UN's International Drug Control Programme "ATS grew
more strongly than any other illicit substance in the 199os."

	ATS, which are consumed by some 30 million people (o.5 percent of the
world's population), now come in second after cannabis, used by 140
million people. But they rank far ahead of cocaine (13 million people)
and heroin (eight million people).

	In Asia and Europe, ATS are generally the first or second most used
drugs.

	Methamphetamines are dominant in Asia and North America, while
amphetamines and Ecstasy, often used in "rave parties", are the most
popular in Europe.

	In Japan, some 90 percent of drug control violations are linked to
methamphetamines, which seem to be the drug of choice in the 1990s in the
Philippines.

	hMajor opium producer Burma said the international community had a
"moral imperative" to fund moves to help farmers plant alternative crops
to poppy.

	hAnd Australia announced a $9 million (386 million baht) programme to
combat drug trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region and to finance crop
eradication programmes in the Mekong Basin of Southeast Asia.


----------- Bangkok post news -----------------------