Shans fear repatriation to Burma

The weather is often misty and cold in the mountainous jungle surrounding Koung Jor, the Shan refugee camp located a stone’s throw from the Burmese border in Thailand’s Wiang Haeng district.

Koung Jor means “happy hill”, and dozens of Shan families were smiling widely last Sunday morning when a donation of mosquito nets arrived from the International Office for Migration.

“Their happiness at receiving new mosquito nets will soon disappear if you start asking them how they feel about repatriation. They will panic,” said 33-year old Sai Kyaw, who has been volunteering for nearly 10 years on an education program for children at the camp […]

Shan Community Groups Fear Signs of Premature Refugee Repatriation

Shan community groups are concerned at signs that Burmese authorities are preparing to repatriate Shan refugees from a camp in northern Thailand, even though there is no guarantee for their safety.

Last month, Burmese policemen from Tachilek visited Koung Jor camp in Wiang Haeng district, northern Chiang Mai province, asking whether the refugees wanted to return back to Burma […]

Profiling Survey Stokes Refugee Fears

Last Thursday, 20 June, marked World Refugee Day and events were held highlighting the plight of refugees throughout the world, including a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) organized event held at the Myanmar Peace Centre in Rangoon. According to the UNHCR, there are around 650,000 displaced people in Burma and around 150,000 refugees on the Thailand-Burma border, many of whom were born there. Yet as the discourse from the government of Burma and the international community is moving towards repatriation for those on the border, anxiety is building with refugees worrying that they will be forced to return to a place where they will live in fear of conflict, will have no livelihood opportunities, and no land to call home.

In recent weeks, a survey initiated by the Thai government and the UNHCR, and implemented by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, an organization under Thai royal patronage, is being carried out, profiling refugees in Mae La camp. The survey has been heavily criticised as having insufficient input from refugees, and being designed to favour repatriation, and is thus stoking the refugees’ anxiety. The rationale behind the profiling is based on the UNHCR’s “preparation” for return, in that when the conditions for refugee return are right, relevant stakeholders will be sufficiently prepared to assist in a durable return to Burma. According to the UNHCR, “The profiling process will be a fully consultative and participatory process, where the refugees will be involved in every step. The questionnaire will be designed through consultations with the refugees.” Yet the reality of refugees’ participation in the process has been flawed and many refugees feel that the survey reflects a strong preference for return to Burma as the only viable solution, as opposed to staying in Thailand or resettling to a third country […]

Open Letter on the Treatment of Rohingya Asylum-Seekers and Migrants

Dear Minister,

I am writing on behalf of Amnesty International to express concerns about the treatment of asylum-seekers and migrants, in particular those from  Myanmar ’s Rohingya minority community, who have arrived or made attempts to arrive in Thailand by sea in recent months […]

Bridging the Housing Land and Property Gap

Of the many challenging issues that will require resolution within the peace processes currently underway between the government of Myanmar and various ethnic groups in the country, few will be as complex, sensitive and yet vital than the issues comprising housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Viewed in terms of the rights of the sizable internally displaced person (IDP) and refugee populations who will be affected by the eventual peace agreements, and within the broader political reform process, HLP rights will need to form a key part of all of the ongoing moves to secure a sustainable peace, and be a key ingredient within all activities dedicated to ending displacement in Myanmar today […]

Will Myanmar’s War Refugees be Forced Home Against their Will?

They can’t live like this forever. Many of the 160,000 refugees evading conflict in eastern Myanmar inhabit a purgatory of thatch-roofed shanties across the river border in Thailand. Life in the United Nations-monitored camps is dreary and monotonous […]

Position on the Repatriation of Refugees from Burma

After the Karenni Refugee Committee (KnRC) organized three workshops on September 20-21st, November 9th and October 8-10th, attended by representatives of KnRC, Karenni community based organizations and religious leaders, the groups agreed on a common position paper on refugees’ repatriation as follow […]

The Situation of Refugees on the Thai-Burma Border

This briefing paper looks at the current situation in Burma’s ethnic areas, the areas that refugees would be returned to, and shows how the conditions are not yet in place for their return. Furthermore, it highlights the need for the refugees to be included in these processes and lays out refugees and community-based organization’s preconditions for their return […]

Kachin Community Demands Stronger Action from the British Government

Representatives of the Kachin community today will address members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma in the British Parliament. They will discuss the situation in Kachin State including the human rights and humanitarian crisis, and demand stronger action from the British government to help the Kachin people […]

Urgent International Actions to Protect Rohingya People

Burmese government has not only manifestly failed to protect the Rohingya population but it has also been a primary force behind the persecution and destruction of them. Thus the “responsibility to protect Rohingya” lies with the international community. We, therefore, urge upon the international community, UN, OIC, EU, ASEAN, UK, US and all Burma’s neighbours