Bangkok post and The Nation (16/5/9

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News headlines

1:) ' Transparent' solution for Burmese refugees
2:) Westerner gets jail
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' Transparent' solution for Burmese refugees 

Thailand and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
agreed yesterday to establish a mechanism to dale with Burmese refugees
which would ensure more transparency in accepting displaces people and the
repatriation of those already in Thailand.
	The international community has attacked Thailand for the lack of
transparency in dealing with Burmese refugees, 
	Foreign Ministry director general of international organizations
department Surapong Posayanond said the government were set up a new system
to deal with refugees and will provide immediate assistance in cooperation
with the UNHCR.
	 He said new arrivals of legal Burmese migrants would be given the potion
of returning to their homeland or staying in the relocated new camps.
	The Interior Ministry plans to look at potential in Tak province on
Tuesday since some camps, like those in Mae La and Hua Kalok, have been
torched by pro-government Karen forces.
	UNHCR representative Amelia Bonifacio said the UN body would raise funds
to help relocate the camps. She said two countries had already agreed to
provide Thailand with financial assistance.
	Thai authorities and the UN body discussed the implementation of
modalities related to voluntary repatriation, relocation of camps away from
the border and coordinating with different entities at different levels.
	Bonifacio said voluntary repatriation would take place when conditions in
Burma allow" safe and dignified" return.
	Yesterday's meeting was a follow-up to the first session, held in February
that focused on the some 100,000 Burmese refugees living in Thailand since
the 1980s.
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Westerner gets jail

Rangoon- A British Australian national convicted of illegal entry and
suspected of " terrorist" activities was sentenced to five years in prison
by a Burmese court yesterday. In addition to the five-year term, James
Rupert Russell Mawdsley, 25, was also to be fined 50,000 kyats (about
312,500 baht) the divisional court at Rangoon's Insein prison ruled.
	The court said Mawdsley had 90 days to lodge an appeal.

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