THE NATION: EDITORIAL/Greater UNHR

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Editorial & Opinion 

      EDITORIAL/Greater
      UNHRC role will aid
      transparency

      Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's tacit
      support for the proposal to allow more
      involvement of the United Nations High
      Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
      the handling of refugee camps along the
      Thai-Burmese border is a bold and
      laudable move. 

      Additional praise should be given for his
      order to take all-out military retaliation
      against the Rangoon-backed Democratic
      Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) if they again
      attack Burmese refugee camps whose
      residents are mostly sympathetic to Gen Bo
      Mya's Karen National Union (KNU), the last
      remaining ethnic armed insurgency still
      holding out on a ceasefire agreement with
      the Burmese military junta. 

      Chuan's actions will send a strong signal to
      the military leaders in Rangoon, who as a
      close neighbour and fellow member in
      Asean should respond by offering their
      cooperation in the ongoing investigation
      into the cross-border raids. The junta
      cannot expect to get away with denying all
      responsibility. After all, the DKBA broke
      away from the KNU in 1995 and has since
      been working with Rangoon to crush the
      rebel group. 

      The recent violence has drawn international
      attention, prompting a visit to the refugee
      camps by the UNHCR along with the
      ambassadors of the United States,
      Australia and Britain as well as
      secretary-general of the National Security
      Council Gen Bunsak Khamhaengritthirong.
      In a joint statement issued after the visit last
      Friday they agreed to support Thailand's
      move to relocate the camps deeper into
      Thai territory for security and humanitarian
      reasons. 

      Be it security-driven or economy-driven, the
      greater involvement on the part of the
      UNHCR in Burmese refugee camps
      marked a quantam change in the Thai
      military's approach to the problem. For
      years they have feared that with UN
      involvement the Burmese refugees would
      become a permanent issue or that UN
      meddling would obstruct Thai security
      operations along the border. 

      Hundreds of thousands of Burmese
      refugees, residing in camps inside the Thai
      border have long been victims of barbarous
      killings and endless abuses as a result of
      prolonged fighting between Rangoon and
      armed ethnic insurgencies. Thailand's past
      and persistent refusal of a UN role in the
      Burmese refugee camps has put a black
      mark against the points scored for the help
      given in sheltering Cambodian refugees. 

      The UNHCR, which had worked
      successfully with Thai authorities in caring
      for 300,000 Cambodians until the last
      Cambodian refugee camp was emptied
      last year, currently has only limited access
      to the Burmese refugee camps. They will
      be allowed to visit camps on a
      case-by-case basis. Not surprisingly,
      Thailand has often been accused by
      human-rights groups of having an opaque
      and inhumane policy toward the Burmese
      refugees. 

      But in the interests of both the Thai
      government and the safety and well-being
      of the refugees, the UNHCR role should at
      least be equal to that it had in the handling
      of Cambodian refugees, giving the UN
      body not ultimate authority but a day-to-day
      presence in the camps and certain rights to
      offer recommendations. 

      Although the debate on the role of UNHCR
      is inconclusive, what could be done first as
      a goodwill step is to utilise UNHCR's skill in
      screening the refugees to determine
      whether they are bona fide before the
      government moves the refugee camps
      deeper into Thai territory to ensure better
      security protection for them. 

      Nonetheless the question remains whether
      the relocation of the present camps would
      solve the security problems. Some of the
      refugees are family members of KNU
      fighters. This may also trigger protests from
      non-governmental organisations operating
      along the border. 

      Chuan will also anticipate tough talks with
      those who are deeply concerned with the
      security of Thailand, but he must be firm in
      his stance. Thailand has already earned a
      name as a showcase of democracy and
      human rights; now this is another chance for
      Chuan to prove that.