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BP: Regional situation worsened by
- Subject: BP: Regional situation worsened by
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 04:43:00
June 11, 1998
MIGRATION
Regional situation
worsened by
slump
Humanitarian duty puts govt in
dilemma
Achara Ashayagachat
The economic slump has worsened the region's migration
situation, and Thailand faces a humanitarian dilemma in
accommodating international responsibilities and at the same time
addressing the needs of its people, Foreign Ministry permanent
secretary Saroj Chavanaviraj said.
He said Thailand's rising unemployment is compounded by its
special status as a sending, receiving and transit country for
migrant workers, being home to 1.3 million migrants, 809,000 of
them illegal, and 700,000 of them from Burma.
Mr Saroj was speaking at the third meeting of a conference
entitled "Asia-Pacific International Governmental Consultations
on Regional Approaches to Refugees and Displaced Persons",
hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
and the International Organisation for Migration.
He said the financial crisis in Thailand has had a tremendous
social impact, particularly in terms of rising unemployment, and
the number of unemployed would reach 2.3 million by the end of
this year.
Burma has so far responded positively and is cooperating with
Thailand to resolve the problem, he said.
Burma's deputy minister of immigration and population, U
Maung Aung told the Bangkok Post that he did not think the
issue was too difficult or too delicate to be resolved between
neighbours.
"It's just how to start the talks, but we may have to do something
about immigration procedures like opening more checkpoints,
perhaps in the Myawaddy area," said the Burmese minister.
Mr Saroj said that even though more checkpoints were open,
the porous Thai-Burmese border could not prevent migratory
flows.
"It is one of various means, and we are working on how to
structure the talks," he said.
While the Thai government is enhancing the role of the UNHCR
in dealing with the issue, Burma has yet to embrace the UNHCR
role.
Burma seems to prefer bilateral dealing before allowing
international organisations to step in, Foreign Ministry sources
said.
"Cooperation between Thailand and the UNHCR has already
started. Burma-Thailand is beginning but the Burma-UNHCR
circle of cooperation has yet to start," he said.
Apart from the repatriation of illegal migrant workers, the Thai
government has examined carefully the linkage between the crisis
and internal migration, and the match between the skills of newly
unemployed local labour and what is required to substitute for
foreign illegal labour.
"We have to minimise the negative aspects of irregular migration
by promoting orderly and regular migration to support
sustainable development," Mr Saroj said.
The Foreign Ministry is now planning to organise an international
symposium on migration by early next year to focus international
awareness on the impact of the issue of transnational migration,
particularly in this region, and to search for international
cooperation towards a more manageable flow of migration
including combating transborder crime, drug trafficking, and
human trafficking, he said.
Francois Fouinat, head of the UNHCR Bureau for Asia & the
Pacific, said the migratory dimensions of the economic crisis in
the region will be the predominant concern, and asylum and
refugee issues cannot be ignored.
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