Refugees Unlikely to Return Soon After Election: EU

By LAWI WENG

The European Union (EU) is not anticipating a quick return of Burmese refugees from Thailand following Burma's planned election this year, said an EU official in a written response to a request by The Irrawaddy for clarification on the EU position towards Burmese refugees and migrants in Thailand.

The request for clarification was sent by email following a news report by the Bangkok Post on June 24 that quoted Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya as saying: “As the Burmese government is holding elections later this year, we should help those who live outside their country to return home and resume their lives in Burma.”

“The EU does not expect that the elections in Myanmar [Burma] in 2010 will create conditions conducive to an immediate return of the predominantly Karen to eastern Burma, particularly since a ceasefire between SPDC [the Burmese government] and the Karen leadership seems unlikely to materialize and armed conflict persists to this day,” the EU official said.

He said the EU welcomes steps taken by the Royal Thai Government since 2005 to provide the Burmese refugees “improved access to education and training and the recognition of the right of children born in Thailand to be granted a regular birth certificate.”

While noting that resettlement to third countries will only be a solution for a fraction of the Burmese refugee population in Thailand, he said: “Any forcible repatriation without a proper and transparent screening would constitute a serious violation of the principle of non-refoulement,” referring to an international refugee law concerning the protection of refugees from being returned to places where their lives or freedoms could be threatened.

The EU offical noted that though the Thai government is not a member to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has in the past “upheld high humanitarian and legal standards.”

An estimated 140,000 Burmese refugees live at nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border, where many of them have been confined for many years before getting a chance to resettle to third countries with the help of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Most of the refugees are ethnic Karen who fled their villages in the conflict zones of Karen State.

The refugees become totally dependent on aid as they are confined in the camps, and they are in need of work opportunities and should be allowed employment opportunities outside as well as inside the camps, said Sally Thompson, the deputy director of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), an organization which works closely with Burmese refugees.

“There needs to be a shift in policy on refugees so they can actually do more to contribute to the local economy here in Thailand,” she said. “It is recognized that it could be some time before they can return to Burma. They want to go back only if there is peace in their homeland following a solution to the political problems.

“We hope the refugees will be able to return in the future, but we can't predict the outcome of the election. There is ongoing conflict in eastern Burma and the election is unlikely to solve the ethnic issue. Therefore, a return in the near future is unlikely,” she said.

The EU is the largest donor to the Burmese refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border and the EU Commission's support to the refugee camps is gradually shifting towards activities of a more developmental nature in the coming years, acording to the EU official.

“We feel responsible to help addressing the protracted refugee situation and to develop a long-term strategy,” he said. “The refugees need to be enabled to support themselves and given the chance to actively contribute to Thailand's growing economy through their skills and labour. As everybody else, they are entitled to a self-determined future and to realising their human potential.”

Eric Schwartz, the US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, visited refugee camps along Thai-Burmese border in June and raised US concerns about the plight of Burmese refugees in camps in the light of Burma's upcoming polls, but he noted that
the third-country resettlement for the majority of the refugees is unrealistic.

The Burmese regime has not announced the date of the election planned to be held this year.

Critics say that without the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2000 political prisoners in Burma, the election lacks credibility and legitimacy.
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