Burma Update

Human Rights Watch Wed Jan 28 2004
Published in The Nation

The land of compassion is slowly growing cold--
Prime Minister Thaksin is pressing the UN to suspend protection for Burmese asylum seekers

By Sam Zia-Zarifi



In an effort to forge friendship with the military regime in Rangoon, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has abandoned Thailand's longstanding humanitarian stance towards Burmese refugees. As a result, the security of hundreds of thousands of exiled Burmese has been placed at serious risk.

Under intense pressure from the Thai government, on January 1 of this year the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) suspended its screening of new asylum seekers from Burma. Refugee assistance agencies and human rights groups are being flooded with calls and visits by Burmese asylum seekers asking where to turn to for protection. In a cruel twist, asylum seekers and international refugee relief agencies received virtually no advance notice about the sudden suspension.

The Thai government made this decision, despite the fact that the horrendous conditions in Burma have not ceased. Burmese continue to flee abuses such as forced labor, persecution of dissidents, conscription of child soldiers, rape of ethnic minority women and children by government troops, and forced relocation.

UNHCR officials hope that refugee status determination procedures will start up again next month. That's the good news. The bad news is that because the Thai government will likely be taking on this important task, many Burmese could be turned away and forced back to their military ruled homeland. That's because Thailand has historically applied a very narrow definition of refugees as "persons fleeing armed conflict," rather than abiding by the broader and internationally accepted definition of refugees as persons having a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country. This will rule out protection and assistance for many exiled Burmese currently living in Thailand as well as newly arriving asylum seekers fleeing persecution for their pro-democracy activities. Those who are rejected will be classified as illegal immigrants and face the risk of being deported back to Burma.

It appears that Thailand intends to ignore one of the most basic principles of international law: the principle of non-refoulement. Non- refoulement means that governments must not send people fleeing persecution back to countries where their lives or liberty would certainly be threatened.

Under the terms of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) between Thailand and Burma signed in June 2003, the Thai government is now deporting 400 Burmese nationals a month directly into a holding center in Burma operated by Burmese military intelligence.

While UNHCR staff posted at the immigration detention centers in Thailand try to identify refugees and asylum seekers before they are deported, there are sure to be people who slip through the cracks. And no one knows what happens to Burmese who are deported once they arrive in the junta's holding center across the border.

Even more worrisome is the fact that approximately 10,000 Burmese are expelled from Thailand each month in "informal deportations" on the grounds that they are illegal migrant workers. Undoubtedly, asylum seekers and refugees - many of whom are forced to support themselves by working as migrant laborers in Thailand - are caught up in these sweeps.

War of Words

Relations between the Thai government and UNHCR plummeted last June. Prime Minister Thaksin was clearly displeased when Burmese refugees and asylum seekers demonstrated in front of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok against the May 30 attack in Burma against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and supporters of her National League for Democracy. Thai police arrested twenty-six Burmese demonstrators - including two children - after two separate rallies. All but three of the protesters remain in custody at the Special Detention Center in Bangkok.

Thaksin declared in June that UNHCR had infringed on Thai sovereignty by granting protection to Burmese exiles without informing the government. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow stated in July that Burmese refugees and asylum seekers "are not supposed to be able to engage in political activities that would affect our relations with other countries."

Soon after, the Thai government announced plans to move thousands of Burmese refugees and asylum seekers currently living in Bangkok and other urban areas to camps at the Thai-Burma border.

If forced into camps, many of these 4,000 urban Burmese exiles could face threats to their security because of conflicts between political groups and inter-ethnic tensions, as well as cross-border violence. Others are hesitant to relocate to the border, fearing the move may trap them in a detention-like environment, disqualify them for resettlement abroad, or end educational opportunities and medical care available to them in Bangkok.

Finally, the refugees will find it almost impossible to exercise their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association in the camps, where it will be difficult to publicly continue their campaign for democracy and reform in Burma.

There is little choice in the matter of relocation. Those refugees who do not comply with the decision to move to camps, other than those deemed to have valid protection reasons, will be stripped of their UNHCR protection documents and terminated from UNHCR financial assistance. UNHCR hopes that resettlement abroad will be considered for refugees whose safety cannot be guaranteed at the border. But it's far from certain that the Thai government will increase resettlement opportunities for Burmese refugees.

Forced Underground

The Thai government should have few problems tracking down the urban refugees. UNHCR regularly shares the names, addresses, and photographs of Burmese refugees and asylum seekers living in Bangkok with the Thai authorities.

However, many believe the Thai government passes on information about the activities and identities of pro-democracy activists to the Burmese regime.

Rather than relocating to the camps, many Burmese may simply choose to "go underground" and slip under the radar screen by terminating contact with UNHCR and the Thai authorities. Lacking protection documents, they will then face even greater threats of arrest and deportation to Burma, not to mention the daily challenges of meeting the costs of living in Thailand on their own.

Since Prime Minister Thaksin came to office in 2001, Thailand has increasingly been out of step with the international community, by warming its relations with the Burmese military regime and advancing an increasingly harsh policy towards Burmese refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers.

Sam Zia-Zarifi is deputy director of Human Rights Watch/Asia.

SCMP - Wednesday, January 21, 2004
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Yangon

Than Shwe, the senior general of Myanmar's junta, yesterday held an historic meeting with leaders of the Karen National Union during talks aimed at ending one of the world's longest-running insurgencies.

The unprecedented two-hour meeting raised hopes the regime could soon agree on a ceasefire formalising a deal hammered out last month with one of the last ethnic armies still battling Yangon.

Dressed in traditional costume, the Karen National Union (KNU) delegation headed by General Bo Mya - the commander of its military wing - met General Than Shwe at a military reception centre in Yangon.

The length of the meeting and the decision to hold it at a venue used to receive heads of state indicated the talks were progressing well, observers said.

The Karen visitors were also honoured with a dinner on the banks of Yangon's Kandawgyi lake, hosted by Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and held in part to mark General Bo Mya's 76th birthday.

"The signs are good because the talks are continuing. We hope that something positive will come out of this meeting," said a source close to the Karen mediating team.

The source said nine of the most senior members of the 20-strong delegation attended the meeting, after which they expected to conclude a number of agreements.

The talks, which began last Thursday, are aimed at ending a military struggle which has caused extreme hardship for Karen civilians, tens of thousands of whom live in camps on the Thai border.

The junta estimates there are 7,000 rebels in the insurgent group which took up arms 53 years ago.

A ceasefire with the KNU would be a major achievement for the junta as it works to have all rebel ethnic groups attend a national convention to draft a new constitution planned for this year.

Their inclusion is the key to the credibility of the convention, the first step in a road map to democracy announced last year which the junta hopes will mute criticism over its failure to embark on reforms.

SCMP-Monday, January 5, 2004
ASSOCIATED PRESS and AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Yangon

Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party marked Myanmar's independence yesterday by calling for national reconciliation to bring democracy to the military-ruled country.

About 250 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) held a religious ceremony at a Buddhist monastery in the capital, Yangon, to mark the 56th anniversary of Myanmar's independence from Britain.

"For the people of Myanmar to fully enjoy the fruits of democracy and to solve the country's political problems, there is no other means but through national reconciliation and dialogue," the party said.

The party endured a harsh crackdown last year after a clash between its members and a pro-junta mob in northern Myanmar on May 30. Ms Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were detained and party offices were shut down.

Ms Suu Kyi remains under house arrest despite repeated calls for her release from the US and the European Union, which have also imposed economic sanctions on the country.

Military ruler Senior General Than Shwe yesterday called for Myanmar's various ethnic groups to support the junta's "road map" to democracy.

In an anniversary speech, General Than Shwe urged citizens to "strive for the emergence of an enduring state constitution" due this year, one of the first of seven points outlined in the political plan that was revealed last August.

General Than Shwe maintained that "peace and stability" were paramount, and he stressed that Myanmar was proceeding along its development path.

"The motherland is now on the right track towards development," he said.

General Than Shwe did not attend public independence commemorations, and his speech was read by the leader of Yangon's military command, Major-General Myint Swe, at an elaborate ceremony attended by thousands of pro-government supporters in the People's Square in the capital.

General Than Shwe largely steered clear of sensitive political subjects, leaving his prime minister, General Khin Nyunt, to offer a blunt warning against outside interference in Myanmar's political process.

In an address to diplomats on Saturday, General Khin Nyunt stressed that external pressure on Yangon - which has faced a torrent of criticism from several western countries and regional scepticism about its announced road map - would "only serve to unnecessarily prolong the process".

"We are determined to implement [the] road map. It is our hope that we will continue to receive understanding and support from our regional and international friends," General Khin Nyunt said in his speech.