Refoulement, push-backs and rejection at borders

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Description: "In an interview with Burma Link, the refugee who led the petition signed by over 3,600 refugees in Mae La camp explains how he feels about the profiling survey and why he organised a campaign to have the survey modified and re-authored with refugees? participation and approval. He also details the hurdles they faced when campaigning against camp authorities? will, and shares his thoughts about life being confined to a refugee camp in Thailand. The survey is set to begin today, June 17th, in Mae La camp."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
2015-06-17
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The principle of non-refoulement prescribes, broadly, that no refugee should be returned to any country where he or she is likely to face persecution or torture. In this chapter, the scope of the principle is examined against the background of a number of recurring issues: the question of ?risk?; the personal scope of the principle, including its application to certain categories of asylum seekers such as stowaways or those arriving directly by boat; exceptions to the principle; extraterritorial application; extradition; and the ?contingent? application of the principle in situations of mass influx. The possible application of non-refoulement or an analogous principle of refuge to those outside the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol is also considered, as is the relationship between non-refoulement and asylum. The analysis takes account of the increasing number of references to non- refoulement..." Extracted (with the author?s permission) from "The Refugee in International Law" by Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Creator/author: Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Source/publisher: OUP
1996-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 327.46 KB
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Description: Conclusion: "Like the prohibition of torture, temporary refuge has a special value, a moral quality which distinguishes it from other rul~s of international law, such as those governing the delimitation of maritime boundaries. Less importance can therefore be ascribed to instances of contrary practice, because to recognise exceptions, to allow or approve return to the real risk of danger to life and liberty, would shock the conscience of mankind or, to use the words of the International Court of Justice, be contrary to ?elementary considerations ofhumanity?.104 To start, as it were, with the value, with the statement of principle before the practice, might be thought utopian, divorced from reality, even ?wishful legal thinking?.105 Nevertheless, having once accurately identified the obligations in issue admission and non-return - we can see how strong is the evidence of both practice and opinio juris. The practice has been occasionally undervalued and misrepresented, with the principle of admission and non-return of those displaced by conflict being theorised from within the box, which is the more or less closed system called ?Convention refugee law?. It has been too readily associated with, and then limited by; the established principle of non-refoulement, and it has suffered from the link; it has been wrongly presented as a norm about immigration, and dismissed for the lack of any corresponding individual or civil right. Individual rights are certainly of critical importance as a basis for challenging governmental action, but they do not always or automatically follow on from the existence of the rules or principles of international law; they commonly need to be mediated into domestic legal systems, either directly through express incorporation, or indirectly, through judicial processes of interpretation and application. For Perluss and Hartman in ig86, the obligation not to return those displaced by armed conflict was conceptually distinct from refugee law and from international humanitarian law. The object and purpose of temporary refuge, in their scheme of analysis, was general protection against the risk of relevant harm, irrespective of the style or type of armed conflict; and, in their view, it ought not to be subsumed within the principle of non-refoulement, even if, from time to time it might cover the same ground and benefit some of the same individuals. Today, the core obligations of the principle of temporary refuge are firmly rooted in customary international law, they operate across a broader spectrum than non-refoulement, and are closely integrated into the international refugee regime. For understandable reasons, its impact on issues of admission and nonreturn means that it continues to be associated with the principle of nonrefoulement. This can be advantageous, so far as non-refoulement acts as a powerful brake on the State, but it can also be a drawback. A good case can be made for de-linking the concepts of refuge and non-refoulement, and in developing refuge itself as the overarching principle of protection, sufficient to accommodate all those instances where States are obliged to act or refrain from action in order that individuals or groups are not exposed to the risk of certain harms. This is not a recipe for proactive intervention, or a variation on the responsibility to protect, and neither are the duties subsumed within the principle of refuge necessarily always absolute or unqualified; in each case, it has to be determined exactly what the particular obligation requires. Of course, temporary refuge, as described above, is not a complete answer to the problems of forced displacement, any more than the Refugee Convention is a complete answer to the protection needs of those in fear of persecution. But it is a critical normative first step in the effective international protection of those displaced by armed conflict, massive violations of human rights, or indiscriminate violence; and it is firmly and soundly based in customary international law, in the practice of States, and in their understanding of obligation."
Creator/author: Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Source/publisher: "Refuge from Inhumanity? War Refugees and International Humanitarian Law" Edited by David James Cantor and Jean-Francois Durieux
2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 680.81 KB
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Description: "This week, the full impact of the Burmese government repression [2] of Rohingyas, one of its internal minority populations, was exposed to the world. Thousands of Burmese refugees have been stranded in boats [3] in the Andaman Sea and Malaccan Straits as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia try to prevent them from landing on their shores [4]. There are great fears for the well being of these people. The recent stand by Australian governments to reject asylum seekers and turn boats around [5] has helped to create this inhumane situation by empowering other countries to do the same."
Source/publisher: Australia Asia Worker Links
2015-05-17
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Saving lives needs to be the priority as thousands of migrants sit stuck on boats in the seas off Thailand with nowhere to go after being knocked back by country after country, argues Human Rights Watch Deputy Director in Asia Phil Robertson....Video and transcript.
Creator/author: Phil Robertson, Joe O'Brien
Source/publisher: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
2015-05-15
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Summary: "In June 2012, deadly sectarian violence erupted in western Burma?s Arakan State between ethnic Arakan Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims (as well as non-Rohingya Muslims). The violence broke out after reports circulated that on May 28 an Arakan woman was raped and killed in the town of Ramri allegedly by three Muslim men. Details of the crime were circulated locally in an incendiary pamphlet, and on June 3, a large group of Arakan villagers in Toungop stopped a bus and brutally killed 10 Muslims on board. Human Rights Watch confirmed that local police and soldiers stood by and watched the killings without intervening. On June 8, thousands of Rohingya rioted in Maungdaw town after Friday prayers, destroying Arakan property and killing an unknown number of Arakan residents. Sectarian violence then quickly swept through the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, and surrounding areas. Mobs from both communities soon stormed unsuspecting villages and neighborhoods, killing residents and destroying homes, shops, and houses of worship. With little to no government security present to stop the violence, people armed themselves with swords, spears, sticks, iron rods, knives, and other basic weapons, taking the law into their own hands. Vast stretches of property from both communities were razed. The government claimed that 78 people were killed—an undoubtedly conservative figure—while more than 100,000 people were displaced from their homes. The hostilities were fanned by inflammatory anti-Muslim media accounts and local propaganda. During the period after the rape and killing was reported and before the violence broke out, tensions had risen dramatically in Arakan State. However, local residents from each community told Human Rights Watch that the Burmese authorities provided no protection and did not appear to have taken any special measures to preempt the violence. On June 10, fearing the unrest would spread beyond the borders of Arakan State, Burmese President Thein Sein announced a state of emergency, transferring civilian power to the Burmese army in affected areas of the state. At this point, a wave of concerted violence by various state security forces against Rohingya communities began. For example, Rohingya in Narzi quarter—the largest Muslim area in Sittwe, home to 10,000 Muslims—described ?THE GOVERNMENT COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS? 2 how Arakan mobs burned down their homes on June 12 while the police and paramilitary Lon Thein forces opened fire on them with live ammunition. In northern Arakan State, the Nasaka border guard force, the army, police, and Lon Thein committed killings, mass arrests, and looting against Rohingya. In the aftermath, local Arakan leaders and members of the Arakan community in Sittwe have called for the forced displacement of the Muslim community from the city, while local Buddhist monks have initiated a campaign of exclusion, calling on the local Buddhist population to neither befriend nor do business with Muslims..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
2012-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 575.47 KB
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Description: Compendium of 30 or so reports... Introduction: "By virtue of its geography (great river valleys, plains, plateaus and mountain chains) and history (migration and settlement along the rivers and in the uplands) Burma is a multicultural crossroads of Southeast and South Asia. Peoples, ways of life and religions from the Indian subcontinent, Himalayas, Indo-China and beyond, have intermingled in a land which became a nation under British colonization and has struggled with ethnic identities ever since. Although the vast majority of inhabitants are Buddhists, with the overwhelmingly Buddhist Burmans the largest ethnic group, nearly all other religions are represented in the population. Tolerance and cosmopolitanism were among Burma?s strengths in times of peace. Unfortunately, military rule and the promulgation of ethnic-majority nationalism have been in effect since General Ne Win?s takeover in 1962, and even in the post-British democracy of U Nu, establishment of Buddhism as a state religion appeared to sideline Burma?s people of other faiths. Ne Win?s dictatorship favored the assimilation of Buddhist groups like the Rakhines, Mons and Shans into a Burman nationalism, discouraging those peoples? knowledge of their own languages, civilized history and cultures. Targeting Christians and Muslims, Ne Win?s armed forces often burned churches and mosques, torturing and killing pastors and imams. In western Burma?s Arakan State (aka Rakhine State), military rule brought decreased rights for the Buddhist Rakhine people and absolute denial of citizenship for the Muslim Rohingya people. The mass exodus of Rohingyas fleeing repression to neighboring Bangladesh took place in 1978 and 1991, resulting in tens of thousands of refugees cordoned off in squalid camps in Bangladesh or permanently stranded overseas (Gulf States, Pakistan, Malaysia, India, Thailand.) As Rohingyas left the northern Arakan region, particularly Buthidaung and Maungdaw, out of fear of extreme repression, Burma?s post-1988 junta settled Buddhist Rakhine and Burman villagers in the area -- a scenario guaranteed to make both groups resent each other. Rohingyas who remained were often preyed upon by border security forces and other military personnel, and were severely restricted in rights such as marriage and travel. Military rape and other violent victimization of Rohingyas was well-documented by respected international human rights organizations..."
Source/publisher: Project Maje
2012-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...this report documents the severity of the human rights abuses suffered by Rohingya within Myanmar – including mass violence, killings and attacks, the burning and destruction of property, arbitrary arrests, detention and disappearances, the deprivation of emergency healthcare and humanitarian aid. Such human rights abuses are being carried out with impunity by civilians and agents of the state alike. The organised and widespread nature of this state sponsored violence raises serious questions of crimes against humanity being committed by Myanmar. This report also documents the refoulement of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh and related human rights violations, including the push-back of boats carrying Rohingya into dangerous waters and the failure to provide refuge, shelter and humanitarian aid to those fleeing persecution. Historically, the Rohingya have faced acute discrimination and human rights abuse in Myanmar, and Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution to Bangladesh have faced severe hardships including the lack of humanitarian aid, shelter and security. This present crisis is a tragic reminder of the vulnerabilities of stateless people when their countries of habitual residence and the international community fail to protect them. Urgent action is required to end the violence, protect the victims and bring those responsible to justice. Of equal importance is the need for a long-term process of reinstating Myanmar nationality to Rohingya who were arbitrarily deprived of a nationality in 1982, resolving ethnic conflicts and protecting the human rights and freedoms of Rohingya within Myanmar and in other countries. The Equal Rights Trust makes the following urgent and long-term recommendations to the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh and to the UNHCR and international community..."
Source/publisher: The Equal Rights Trust
2012-07-02
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.43 MB
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Description: "...the AHRC strongly urges you to communicate with one another so as to open the border immediately to allow for the movement of people seeking shelter from the violence, and to make appropriate arrangements for the temporary settlement of persons fleeing the parts of Myanmar affected by violence. Furthermore, in order to enable the provision of adequate food and health services to the affected populations, both of your governments are requested to cooperate with one another so as to provide complete, unimpeded, secure access to international agencies at the earliest possible opportunity, in order that these agencies can assess the situation and make arrangements for the necessary provision of emergency relief supplies..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
2012-06-14
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 79.6 KB
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Description: "Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who have increased fighting in the area since November 7th 2010. Villagers in the Palu area have left on multiple occasions in the last six days, and continue to report that they are struggling to complete harvests and protect homes from looting while also fearing conflict and conflict related abuses. KHRG continues to document movement restrictions and arbitrary arrests, including the arrest and detention of six more villagers over the last three days."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B15)
2010-11-30
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 23.15 KB
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Description: "Civilians in Dooplaya district continue to be at risk from conflict between the Tatmadaw and the DKBA. Civilians from Way Lay report that one resident has been wounded by a mortar during an exchange on November 14th 2010 in Kawkareik Township. Other residents of Waw Lay have attempted to seek refuge in nearby Phop Phra District, Tak Province, Thailand. A villager that spoke to KHRG a few hours after the shelling reports that at least some villagers attempting to cross into Thailand are being prevented form doing so by the Royal Thai Army."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B11)
2010-11-14
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 235.59 KB
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Description: "Today Amnesty International expressed grave concern about recent attacks by the Myanmar army on a settlement of internally displaced Karen civilians. In late November the army raided Htee Wah Doh, just across the border from Thailand, burning and looting houses, a hospital, and a school, and arresting 15 Karen villagers. The previous month, 63 Karen asylum-seekers took shelter in Htee Wah Doh after being forcibly returned to Myanmar by the Royal Thai Army..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International USA (ASA 16/024/2000)
2001-12-07
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English and French
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 78.07 KB 154.67 KB
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Description: "Two temporary refugee camps established during June 2009 in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province, Thailand, to provide refuge for villagers that fled increased conflict and exploitative abuse in Pa?an District have now been all but entirely abandoned. The camps were home to more than 2,409 refugees as recently as January 2010; over the last two months, the camp populations have dwindled as small groups have departed one by one. On March 31st and April 1st, the last residents of the Nong Bua and Mae U Su sites left in two large groups, of 24 and 102 families respectively. This report details the circumstances of the refugees? departure, including interviews that indicate refugees left because of a persistent campaign of harassment by soldiers of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), who pressured the refugees to return to Burma in spite of warnings that safe return is not currently possible. The report also details the dangers returned refugees may face, including risks from landmines as well as violent and exploitative abuse by the DKBA and SPDC Army. This section also includes details regarding the death and injury of two young boys that accidentally detonated an unexploded M79 round they found outside the village of Mae La Ah Kee on March 31st 2010. Highlighting the risks returned refugees may face, the boys came from a family that had been forced out of the Mae U Su site by RTA soldiers at the end of the rainy season 2009."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-F3)
2010-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 521.77 KB 214.07 KB
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Description: The Indian Coast Guard has released a harrowing video account of its rescue of Rohingya boatpeople last month, showing skeletal men crowded on the gunwales of their sinking vessel. More than 300 of the boat's original contingent died and 88 were rescued.... Date stamp:27-12-2008. Publication of video: 2009-01-24
Source/publisher: India Coast Guard via South China Morning Post via Youtube
2008-12-27
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Another group of 200 Rohingya have been rescued off the coast of Sumatra. They tell of mis-treatment at the hands of the Thai military, with 22 dying on board their boat which was set adrift for three weeks without food or supplies. Many are now receiving medical treatment for severe dehydration. Some are in critical condition. Many have sighn of injuries on their bodies. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen has this report."
Source/publisher: AlJazeeraEnglish
2009-02-03
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: HONG KONG (AFP) "Myanmar's senior official in Hong Kong has described the Rohingya people as "ugly as ogres" in a letter sent to media and foreign officials after a high-profile refugee case highlighted their plight. The country's Consul General Ye Myint Aung told heads of foreign missions in Hong Kong and local newspapers members of the Muslim ethnic group should not be described as being from Myanmar. "In reality, Rohingya are neither Myanmar people nor Myanmar's ethnic group," he wrote, in a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday..."
Source/publisher: AFP
2009-02-11
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: 2-part documentary on the abuse, push-backs and deaths of Rohingya boat-people arriving in Thailand, followed by a discussion on how ASEAN could help in such regional situations. The participants in the discussion were Surin Pitsuwan (Secretary-General of ASEAN), Bunn Nagara (Associate Editor of "The Star", Malaysia) and Dr Thitinan Pongsudirak, a Thai political analyst. There were references to the human rights components of the ASEAN Charter and the "Myanmar problem"
Source/publisher: Aljazeera (101 EAST)
2009-02-12
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: There's an emerging scandal today the Thai armys alleged mistreatment of hundreds of ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. We now have more details about the plight of these boat people - apparently beaten then towed out to sea. Some of the migrants managed to reach Indonesia, and Al Jazeera has obtained the first video showing their shocking physical condition.
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera
2009-01-24
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: There have been new claims of abuse against a group of muslim Rohingya migrants. They were part of boat people who fled Myanmar, where they face persecution, and ended up in Indonesia after being expelled from Thailand. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen has spoken to a group of Rohingyas in Indonesia's Aceh province.
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera
2009-01-29
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Inhuman treatment to Rohingya boatpeople is heart breaking. This website is dedicated for the cause of Rohingya boatpeople?s tragedy in Thailand. You may find a collection of media reports related to Rohingya boatpeople on this site. I hope you may find this site useful..." ... Media reports -- text and video.
Source/publisher: Rohingya Boat People
Date of entry/update: 2009-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The report, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Thai Policy toward Burmese Refugees, documents Thailand?s repression of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrant workers from Burma. "The Thai government is arresting and intimidating Burmese political activists living in Bangkok and along the Thai-Burmese border, harassing Burmese human rights and humanitarian groups, and deporting Burmese refugees, asylum seekers and others with a genuine fear of persecution in Burma..." 1. Introduction... 2. New Thai Policies toward Burmese Refugees and Migrants: Broadening of Resettlement Opportunities; Suspension of New Refugee Admissions; The ?Urban” Refugees; Crackdown on Burmese Migrants; Forging Friendship with Rangoon; History of Burmese Refugees in Thailand... 3. Expulsion to Burma: Informal Deportees Dropped at the Border; The Holding Center at Myawaddy; Into the Hands of the SPDC; Profile: One of the Unlucky Ones—Former Child Soldier Deported to Burma; Increasing Pressure on Migrants... 4. Protection Issues for Urban Refugees:- Impacts of the Move to the Camps; Profile: Karen Former Combatant; Suspension of Refugee Status Determination; Security Issues for Refugees in Bangkok... 5. Attempts to Silence Activist Refugees... 6. New Visa Rules: Screening Out the ?Troublemakers”... 7. Conclusion... 8. Recommendations: To the Royal Thai Government; To the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); To Donor Governments; To the Burmese Authorities... 9. Appendix A: Timeline of Arrests and Intimidation of Burmese Activists in 2003 (3 page pdf file)... 10. Appendix B: Timeline of Harrassments of NGOs in 2003 (2 page pdf file)... 11. Appendix C: Timeline of Arrests and Harrassment of Burmese Migrant Workers in 2003 (2 page pdf file)...
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2004-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2004-02-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Important, authoritative and timely report. I. THAI GOVERNMENT CLASSIFICATION FOR PEOPLE FROM BURMA: Temporarily Displaced; Students and Political Dissidents ; Migrants . II. BRIEF PROFILE OF THE MIGRANTS FROM BURMA . III REASONS FOR LEAVING BURMA : Forced Relocations and Land Confiscation ; Forced Labor and Portering; War and Political Oppression; Taxation and Loss of Livelihood; Economic Conditions . IV. FEAR OF RETURN. V. RECEPTION CENTERS. VI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.... "Recent estimates indicate that up to two million people from Burma currently reside in Thailand, reflecting one of the largest migration flows in Southeast Asia. Many factors contribute to this mass exodus, but the vast majority of people leaving Burma are clearly fleeing persecution, fear and human rights abuses. While the initial reasons for leaving may be expressed in economic terms, underlying causes surface that explain the realities of their lives in Burma and their vulnerabilities upon return. Accounts given in Thailand, whether it be in the border camps, towns, cities, factories or farms, describe instances of forced relocation and confiscation of land; forced labor and portering; taxation and loss of livelihood; war and political oppression in Burma. Many of those who have fled had lived as internally displaced persons in Burma before crossing the border into Thailand. For most, it is the inability to survive or find safety in their home country that causes them to leave. Once in Thailand, both the Royal Thai Government (RTG) and the international community have taken to classifying the people from Burma under specific categories that are at best misleading, and in the worst instances, dangerous. These categories distort the grave circumstances surrounding this migration by failing to take into account the realities that have brought people across the border. They also dictate people?s legal status within the country, the level of support and assistance that might be available to them and the degree of protection afforded them under international mechanisms. Consequently, most live in fear of deportation back into the hands of their persecutors or to the abusive environments from which they fled..." Additional keywords: IDPs, Internal displacement, displaced, refoulement.
Creator/author: Therese M. Caouette, Mary E. Pack
Source/publisher: Refugees International and Open Society Institute
2002-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf htm
Size: 748.26 KB 373.26 KB
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