The Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition or APSOC views with urgent concern the recent decision by the Thai government to relocate Burmese refugees to refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. According to an Irrawaddy news report, Burmese refugees who have been granted the status of Persons of Concern (POC) by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will be deemed illegal immigrants by Thailand if they do not move out of urban areas and into the camps. The deadline ended yesterday, March 31.
Stop relocation of Burmese refugees into the border camps!
The Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition or APSOC views with urgent concern the recent decision by the Thai government to relocate Burmese refugees to refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. According to an Irrawaddy news report, Burmese refugees who have been granted the status of Persons of Concern (POC) by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will be deemed illegal immigrants by Thailand if they do not move out of urban areas and into the camps. The deadline ended yesterday, March 31.
Obviously, the targets of this recent Thai campaign are former political activists or the POCs, of whom an estimated 3,000 live in Bangkok and some 900 in the border town of Mae Sot.
The Irrawaddy report says that as illegal immigrants, Burmese refugees can be subject to arrest, detention and deportation. Thailand will also refuse to grant them exit clearance to resettle in third countries, even if those countries have already accepted their asylum applications.
At the refugee camps located in rural areas, residents will not be allowed to use mobile phones or the internet, effectively cutting them off from the outside world. Health and sanitation conditions in the nine border camps are also a cause for concern, with electricity, water and housing said to be inadequate.
APSOC views these developments as very alarming for the Burmese refugees, especially the political activists.
“It is obvious that the Thai government is cracking down on the political activists because they form the backbone of the anti-junta opposition in Thailand. In effect, what Thailand is saying is that it will help rid Burma of its pesky critics working from outside. This is a strong signal of support to the Burmese generals,” said APSOC.
There may also be economic considerations behind this crackdown. It is public knowledge that the family company of Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister, has invested in Burma. APSOC therefore asks: “For going soft on Burma, will Thailand stand to benefit from lucrative business deals in the future with the Burmese generals?”
These projected sweetheart deals will however turn sour at the prospect of more suffering for the Burmese refugees. Burmese refugees who will be now classified as illegal immigrants will lose their rights and will be vulnerable to arrest, detention and deportation. Asylum in third countries will also be difficult because Thailand can also refuse to grant them exit clearances, even if those countries have already accepted their asylum applications.
Many of the Burma refugees came to Thailand to escape certain imprisonment. But what they face in the refugee camps in the border will be similar to imprisonment. And living conditions will certainly not be better from the jails inside Burma.
The location of the camps in the rural areas will effectively cut Burmese refugees off from the outside world. Monitoring and communication will also be more difficult for media, solidarity groups and international agencies protecting the refugees.
APSOC therefore calls on the Thai government to stop its forced relocation of Burmese refugees to refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.
What the refugees and POCs need are more humanitarian protection measures, not more repressive measures.
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