Thailand, UN discuss Myanmar refuge

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Thailand, UN discuss Myanmar refugees 

 
AFP, Bangko, 8 November 1999.   The United Nations said Monday it could
work in future with Thailand on the voluntary repatriation of refugees to
Myanmar but only when conditions in the military-ruled state are right. 

"Both the Thai government and UNHCR have agreed that the time is not right
yet to concentrate on
volunteer repatriation," said Jahansha Assadi, UNHCR regional representative. 

"But that there may be a time in the future when volunteer repatriation
should be planned and
concentrated," he added. 

There are around 100,000 displaced people from different ethnic groups from
Myanmar in the
country, many of whom are believed to have fled in fear of persecution by
Myanmar's junta. 

Hundreds of thousands of other people from Myanmar in the country are
classified by Thailand as
illegal immigrants. 

Thailand started to send home illegal workers in border regions last week
after relations with Yangon
deteriorated sharply when five student gunmen seized Myanmar's embassy in
Bangkok in October. 

It has also launched a drive to send Burmese student exiles from the
Maneeloy refugee camp on the
Myanmar border to third countries, a process that is going well, the UN
said Monday at a workshop
on Myanmar refugee policy. 

"The UNHCR is a new comer in the scene ... We are helping Thailand in
finding a durable solution" said
Assadi, who complimented the Thai government for its tolerance of Myanmar
refugees. 

"I would like to say that for volunteer repatriation to be possible, the
UNHCR will require access on the
other side of the border." 

Observers say the UNHCR is unlikely to gain the access it needs while
Myanmar is controlled by the
military junta that has ruled for decades. 

"In the short term our work is protection, asylum and admissions," said
Assadi. 

"But in the longer term, if the conditions are right, we have been willing
to facilitate and promote
solutions." 

An official from the Thai Minister of the Interior, Wanida Boonpracong,
said only if the safety of
refugees could be guaranteed would repatriation be an option. 

"When the situation is safe, we have to think of a new process of
repatriation," she said. 

"The UNHCR and the Thai government are on the same wavelength." 

Director of the Burma Border Consortium Jack Dunford told reporters that in
the short-term the
Myanmar refugee programme would not improve. 

"The refugee problem ... cannot be solved until something happens in
Burma," he said. 

An estimated one million illegal workers in Thailand include immigrants
from Myanmar, Laos and
Cambodia. 
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