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UN allowed to tackle refugee proble



    (Bangkok Post  7/25/98)
Ogata accepts invitation (Nussara Sawatsawan)

 Thailand recently officially agreed to allow the United Nations High
commissioner for Refugees to help tackle the problems of refugees along the
Thai-Burmese border,sources said yesterday.
 Gen Boomsak Kamheangridhirong, the Secretary General of the National
Security Council(NSC) sent a letter of the government's consent to the
UNHCR on June 22, and Sadako
Ogata, the UNHCR's chief, accepted the invitation on July 13, sources added.
 The aim is to lighten the burden on Thailand which shelters about 100,000
refugees along the western borders, in addition to 700,000 illegal migrants
from Burma currently living on Thai soil.
 Under the agreement, the UNHCR will give advice to the Thai government on
registration and relocating refugees fleeing war and the threat of
persecution in Burma.
 Also, it is entitled to send representatives to observe
the situation of refugees along the border and witness the repatriation,
according to a Foreign Ministry official close to the issue.
 The UNHCR will not be responsible for screening refugees for repatriation
to the homeland under this arrangement,he added.
 "The UNHCR's role will be under a framework of assisting and giving advice
to the Thai government {of the refugee problems}, but so far the government
remains to have a say either yes or no for any decision,"said the
official,who asked not to be named.
 The official added that officials from agencies concerned are to work out
details of the arrangement,but said the implementation is expected within
two months.
 He said the move was a bold step to enhance transparency in dealing with
the refugees issue,which will draw attention and funding from donor countries.
 The role of the UNHCR in tackling the problem is also clearer than before
under this agreement,he added.
 Thailand previously barred the UN agency from involving itself in refugee
affairs for fear of increasing economic dependence and prolonged burdens as
it had with Cambodian refugees 20 years ago.
 It claimed that those migrants flee to Thailand for economic reasons, not
because of war persecution.
 The policy changed when refugee camps on the western borders encountered
continuous attacks by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army(DKBA) supported by
the Burmese troops, resulting in renewed influx of refugees into Thailand.