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(UNHCR,1995) IN SEARCH FOR SOLUTION



Subject: (UNHCR,1995) IN SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS


/* written Tue 3 Jul 6:00am 1996 by DRUNOO@xxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:reg.burma */
/* -------------" UNHCR: In Search of Solutions "-------------- */

THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S REFUGEES 1995
IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS
(A new book by UNHCR, Oxford University Press, paperbacks $A24.95)

This new book by UNHCR give information on the international community's
changing approachs to the refugee problem. It contain several charts and
illustrations; with topics of our interests such as Protecting human
rights, Keeping the peace, Promoting development and Managing migration.
This book may reflect the UNHCR's policy outline, one which the Burmese
refugee support groups should take a careful look at.

Following is an excerpt from an illustration featured in the book: about
the repatriation of Rohingyas.

With best regards, U Ne Oo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS, BOX 2.2 PP-62.

Repatriation to Myanmar
-----------------------
Between late 1991 and the middle of 1992, more than 250,000 people fled
from the Rakhine State of Myanmar (formerly Burma) to neighbouring
Bangladesh. Almost all of the refugees were Rohingyas, a Muslim minority
group living in a predominantly Buddhist country. Although accurate
statistics are not available, the Rohingyas are thought to constitute just
under half of Rakhine State's population, which is estimated to be some 4.5
million.

When the refugee exodus took place, the new arrivals in Bangladesh said
that they had been subjected to a variety of human rights violations by the
Myanmar security forces. According to refugee accounts, these abuses took
place amidst efforts to conscript military porters, to recruit unpaid
labour for public works projects and to relocate some of teh Muslim
population within Rakhine State. The Myanmar government has denied these
accusations.

>From the early days of the exodus, it became apparent that voluntary
repatriation represented the only viable solution for the vast majority of
the refugees. But before UNHCR could participate in the repatriation
process, the organization had to be sure that the refugees were willing to
return and that their safety and welfare could be monitored once they had
gone back to their homes.

Proactive role

For many years, the timing of UNHCR's involvement in voluntary repatriation
programmes was determined largely by refugees themselve. They decided when
to return, and received protection and assistance from the international
community until the day when they chose to return. During the 1980s,
however, UNHCR began to play a more proactive role in the search for
solutions, actively assisting refugees to return to and reintegrate in
their homeland once conditions there had substantially improved.

More recently, the implementation of comprehansive peace settlements in a
number of war-torn countries, supervised by UN peacekeeping forces and
civilian personnel, has enabled UNHCR to go one step further in the
repatriation process. Thus in countries such as Cambodia and Mozambique,
the organization's repatriation programmes have been based on the premise
that the vast majority of refugees will be able to - and want to -return to
their own country and participate in the election of a new government.

The question of safety and voluntaryness have been more problematic in
relation to the Rohingya refugee situation. On the Bangladesh side of the
border, UNHCR did not initially have full access to the camps where the
refugees were accommodated. And in MYanmar, unlike Cambodia and Mozambique,
the political situation remained unchanged at the national level.
Furthermore, UNHCR did not have a presence in the country and was therefore
unable to monitor the situation within the refugee's area of origin.

The repatriation of the Myanmar refugees was further complicated by social,
economic and legal factors. The people who fled to Bangladesh were
predominantly landless day labourers, with very limited income-generating
opportunities available to them in Rakhine State. As a result of the
country's nationality laws, the Rohingyas were generally not recognized as
citizens of Myanmar, nor did they have the right to move freely around the
country.

The majority of population of Myanmar generally regard the Rohingyas as
aliens, a view which has been coloured by a variety of different factors:
the aincient Arab and Persian origins of the Rohingyas; their loyalty to
the Britain during the colonial period; fears of illegal immigration from
the overcrowded and overwhelming Muslim country of Bangladesh; and concern
over the security threat posed by two groups of armed Rohingya rebels,
which are said to be supported by foreign governments. The integration of
this group after their return therefore promised to be a difficult
undertaking.

Despite all of these uncertainities, in April 1994, UNHCR initiated an
organized repatriation programme for the refugees, which has allowed many
thousands to go home under the organization's auspicious. At current rates
of return, the vast majority of the refugees will have returned to Myanmar
before the end of 1995.

Long-term option

UNHCR's readiness to organize this repatriation programme - and the
refugees' willingness to participate in it - is the result of several
considerations. Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most densely populated
counties in the world, and has neither the land nor the resources to absorb
so many people. Local settlement in Bangladesh does not represent a
realistic long-term option.

A number of safeguards have been built into the repatriation programme.
Under the current arrangements, the refugees indicate their willingness to
return to Myanmar by registering for repatriation. Once registered, they
are free to change their minds for any reason and at any point before they
cross the border - a right which many refugees have exercised, usually for
a temporary reason such as illness in the family.

Within Myanmar, the government has invited UNHCR to establish a presence,
both in the capital city of Yangon and in Rakhine State itself. As a
result, the organization is now in a position to monitor the welfare of the
returnees. At the same time, the organization is providing the refugees
with food, a cash grant and other form of assistance upon their return to
Myanmar, as well as implementing community-based rehabilitation projects in
thier home areas. According to UNHCR staff in the region, these initiatives
have played a major part in the refugees' willingness to return to Myanmar.
While their situation in Rakhine State may not be an easy one, the refugees
appear to have recognized that it is better to go home now and to benefit
from UNHCR's presence and programme, rather than to remain in refugee camps
which can offer then no future.

Coerced returns

UNHCR's involvement in the refugees' return to Myanmar has assumed a
particular significance in view of the events which preceded the launch of
the organization's repatriation programme. In April 1992, the governments
of Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a bilateral repatriation agreement,
without the participation of UNHCR. Refugees began to repatriate to Myanmar
five months later, and in October 1992, UNHCR was formally given permission
to interview the refugees and to ascertain the voluntariness of their
return. The organization quickly withdrew from this role, however, because
of difficulties in gaining access to the refugees as well as widespread
reports that they were being subjected to abuses by camp officials and
forced to go back to Myanmar.

UNHCR and other members of the international community protested vigorously
against these developments, with the result that the violations were
subquently halted and the camp officials concerned were removed from their
posts. At the same time, UNHCR negotiated new agreements with the
Bangladesh authorities, which provided the organization with better access
to the camps and which enabled UNHCR staff to interview potential
returnees.

In November s1993, after nearly 50,000 refugees had returned under the
bilateral repatriation programme, UNHCR was also granted access to Rakhine
state by the Myanmar authorities. The organization was subsequently given
permission to travel freely throughout the area (although logistically this
can be difficult) and to monitor the situation of the returnees. UNHCR's
efforts to help the returnees re-establish themselves in MYanmar by means
of water, health, education and income-generating projects provide an
additional means of promoting and monitoring the welfare of former
refugees. By mid-1995, UNHCR had found no evidence to suggest that the
returnees were being subjected to persecution or discrimination, although
some incidents have taken place involving the detention and relocation of
former refugees.

Despite these encouraging results, two important issues remain to be
resolved. First, an unknown but in all likelihood relatively small number
of the remaining refugees may choose not to go back to Myanmar because of
their political activities and allegiances. Another category of 'residual
cases' whose future will have to be determined consists of refugee camp
residents who migrated illegally from Bangladesh to Myanmar prior to 1991,
and who consequently have no right to return to Rakhine State.

A second and perhaps more significant issue concerns the prevention of any
further exoduses or expulsions from Myanmar to Bangladesh. To avert any
further occurrences of this type, efforts will evidently be needed to
provide Myanmar's Muslim minority with greater security, by protecting
their human rights, by improving their legal and social status and by
providing htem with greater income-earning opportunities. While UNHCR is
currently attempting to address these concerns, ultimate responsibility for
such issues must be assumed by the country of origin.

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