NEWS - for Refugees, only Uncertain

[Rangoonp@xxxxxxx]

Subject: NEWS - for Refugees, only Uncertainty Is Certain

Rights-Burma: for Refugees, only Uncertainty Is Certain

               Inter Press Service
               10-FEB-99

               CHIANG MAI, Thailand, (Feb. 10) IPS - Hundreds of
               thousands of Burmese refugees huddle in front of fires in
               secret hideouts across the border in Thailand or in camps
               overseen by Thai authorities, their future hanging in
painful
               suspense. 

               Most of them are unsure if winter will be spent in
relative
               safety on Thai soil or if they will be pushed back into
Burma,
               to face the dry season onslaught of the Burmese army. 

               Abandoned by the international community and persecuted
               by their own government, the only hope for these
refugees,
               most of whom belong to ethnic minority groups, are
               non-governmental organizations who offer some material
               help inside, and sometimes outside, the few refugee camps
               along the border. 

               Their plight is bringing international bodies like the
United
               Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) into harsh
               scrutiny, for their lack of response to the refugee
problem
               along the Thai- Burma border. 

               Critics contrast this to the UNHCR's high-profile
involvement
               with Cambodian refugees in the past two decades. 

               "I am writing to express my concern over the protracted
               silence of the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees
               in Bangkok in the face of ongoing abuse of Burmese
               refugees by the Thai Government, army and police force,"
               said "an overlooked refugee from Burma" in one of several
               letters criticizing the UNHCR published in a
Bangkok-based
               English daily. 

               Of primary concern, the letter states, is "the issue of a
lack of
               recognition and protection for these refugees" by UNHCR. 

               "The UNHCR's 'indifference' is a direct reflection of the
lack
               of geopolitical interest of the international community
and

               donors in Burma," says an NGO activist working with
               refugees. 

               This, he adds, is reflected in what critics say is
UNHCR's
               ineffectiveness, unclear mandate, diplomatic paralysis,
and
               neglect that seem to have plagued its work with Burmese
               refugees. 

               But UNHCR officials in Bangkok say otherwise, saying its
               wider presence on the border will allow it to become more
               familiar with refugees from Burma. "Whereas we have long
               familiarity with other groups who have crossed the
borders
               with Laos and Cambodia, we are not so familiar with those
               entering Thailand from Myanmar (Burma)," said Rob
               Burrows, a spokesman, in reply to written questions from
               IPS. 

               While the United States and many European nations have
               been very vocal in condemning the Burmese government,
               NGO workers say they do not consider the country as
               politically important as Yugoslavia or Iraq and hence
have
               done little to help the victims of the regime's policies. 

               Following the toppling of the Pol Pot regime by the
               Vietnamese army-backed rebel forces, thousands of
               Cambodians crossed over into Thailand. After an initial
               period of confusion the UNHCR set up some of the largest
               refugee camps of their kind anywhere in the world
catering
               to more than 300,000 people. 

               Because of its political significance at that time, as
William
               Shawcross notes in his book "The Quality of Mercy," "so
               keen were the Western donors to provide money for
               UNHCR's work in Thailand, that refugees there had more
               dollars per head spent on them than refugees anywhere
else
               in the world." 

               For Thailand too, the refugee camps were useful both for
the
               revenues they brought to the economy and the
ego-political
               purpose they served, since successive Thai governments
               have seen Cambodia as a buffer against "communist
threats"
               from Vietnam. 

               In the case of Burmese refugees however, the record of
both
               the UNHCR as well as the Thai government has been very
               different, critics say. 

               While till the mid-80s influxes of Karen, Mon, Karenni
and
               other ethnic minority groups fleeing attacks by the
Burmese
               army were tolerated by the Thai government, it tightened
               entry when more than 7,000 Burmese student activists fled
               across the border after a bloody suppression of the 1988
               pro-democracy uprising. 

               The Thai government's crackdowns on Burmese refugees
               further intensified after closer economic ties were
               established between the two countries in 1992. 


               In the early nineties, initially some students, under the
aegis
               of the UNHCR, were granted "refugee" status. But soon
Thai
               authorities decided that using terms like "temporarily
               displaced persons" and "illegal migrants" suited their
               interests better, giving them greater flexibility
vis-a-vis the
               fleeing Burmese. 

               The UNHCR showed no real interest on the Thai-Burma
               border, critics say. It was only in 1992 that for the
first time
               UNHCR officials went to the border to assess situation in
the
               camps. 

               "UNHCR's apparent lack of interest in the border refugees
               was interpreted by the Thai government as confirmation
that
               the ethnic minorities were not really refugees, and the
Thai
               classification, 'temporarily displaced', went
unchallenged,"
               says "Unwanted and Unprotected: Burmese Refugees in
               Thailand," a recent report by the human rights NGO, Human
               Rights Watch. 

               As a result, there has been little supervision of the
regular
               'forced' repatriation by the Thai army of thousands of
Mon,
               Shan, Karen and Karenni refugees and Burmese students, it
               said. 

               This has in turn reinforced UNHCR's policy of not
annoying
               its host government, and to maintain its offices in
Bangkok,
               and more recently in Mae Hong Son, Tak and Kanchanaburi
               provinces along the Thai-Burma border. 

               Early this year it was allowed to open these three new
               offices, ostensibly to enhance the agency's role in four
               areas: witnessing admission, assisting Thai authorities
in
               registration, assisting in the relocation of temporary
shelters
               and helping Burmese displaced persons with safe return. 

               Burrows said UNHCR has been granted by the Thai
               government an "expanded role" at the border with Burma.
               "We envisage our main tasks at present to observe the
               Royal Thai Government's process of admission to persons
               fleeing fighting or the consequences of civil war," he
says. 

               But few expect any long-term solutions for the displaced
               Burmese, given the UNHCR's narrow definition of
"refugees"
               -- taken usually to mean only those with a well-founded
fear
               of persecution owing to political beliefs -- and given
               Thailand's refusal to ratify the 1951 United Nations
               Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. 

               "There is a lot of fear amongst refugees regarding
UNHCR's
               new screening process on the border," says an activist
               working with refugees who did not want to be named. "When
               they ask questions about where people are coming from,
               there is a genuine fear of being forcibly repatriated,"

she
               added. 

               Still, Burrows said that though Thailand is not a
signatory to
               the convention on refugees, the government has granted
               temporary asylum to some 1.4 million refugees and
               displaced persons since 1975. "For that it deserves due
               credit."