Thailand urged to rethink Myanmar r

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Thailand urged to rethink Myanmar refugee policy 

Kyodo, Bangkok, 8 November 1999. A Thai human rights activist urged the
government Monday to review its policy toward refugees and exiled students
from Myanmar in light of a hostage-taking incident at the Myanmar Embassy
in Bangkok last month. 

The existing policy toward Myanmar students living in Thailand is incorrect
and the Thai authorities
should reassess their status, said Somchai Homlaor, secretary general of
FORUM-ASIA, a
Bangkok-based human rights body. 

'Almost all Myanmar students exiled in Thailand seek political asylum. They
should obtain protection
from (Thailand) and have the right to continue their education as well as
to organize political activities
peacefully,' Somchai said at a seminar on the Myanmar refugee problem in
Thailand. 

The presence of people from Myanmar in Thailand has become an item of hot
debate since a group of
five gunmen, believed to be Myanmar students exiled in Thailand, stormed
the Myanmar Embassy in
Bangkok and held 38 people hostage for 25 hours between Oct. 1 and 2. 

Thailand, however, sees nothing wrong with its policy, although there have
been some difficulties
because of budget limitations since the economic crisis began in 1997, an
official of the Interior Ministry
indicated. 

Thailand receives people from Myanmar on a humanitarian basis, without any
binding international
treaties, Wanida Boonpracong, head of the information and foreign division
at the Interior Ministry, said.


'Exiled students (may) misunderstand their status and rights, but no matter
how they are recognized, they
(also) have to respect Thai laws,' she told the seminar. 

Thailand provides basic assistance, including food and safe places for
displaced persons, she added,
noting students and intellectuals get more relaxed treatment and have the
right to resettle in third
countries. 

But many ordinary people from Myanmar and some ethnic minorities are
detained in the border areas
waiting for repatriation when it is safe enough in Myanmar, she said. 

Many people from Myanmar have fled to Thailand since the military cracked
down on dissent in 1988,
but only since the embassy siege has the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR)
stepped up registration of exiled students in Maneeloy, a camp near the
Myanmar border about 100
kilometers west of Bangkok. 

UNHCR Regional Representative Jahanshah Assadi, also speaking at the
seminar, said the program is
voluntary and resettlement depends on the applicants and the resettlement
countries, not the UNHCR. 

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