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Foreign Ministry disputes report by
- Subject: Foreign Ministry disputes report by
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 02:54:00
Politics
Foreign Ministry disputes
report by rights' group
THE Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
issued a response to a Human Rights'
Watch report which criticised Thailand's
poor handling of Burmese refugees, saying
that the country has provided humanitarian
assistance and does not have a policy of
forcing refugees out of the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak
Chutikul said that while Thailand has not
acceded to the 1951 United Nations
Convention relating to the status of
refugees, it has provided necessary
humanitarian assistance in caring for
refugees.
He said that by acceding to the Convention,
the country would be shouldered with more
economic, social, and political
responsibilities such as having to provide
residency, assets, education, work, and the
establishment of unions and it would also
have to deal with the disparities between
refugees and local people.
Kobsak confirmed that Thailand has no
policy of forcing out refugees and has been
providing them with temporary shelter.
However, it would not allow those with
weapons to enter the country.
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday
issued a report criticising Thailand and the
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) for failing to give
adequate protection to the more than
100,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand.
In the new report, ''Unwanted and
unprotected: Burmese Refugees in
Thailand,'' Human Rights Watch said
Burmese refugees still face dangers
despite an agreement in May this year
between Thailand and UNHCR.
The report said significant gaps in refugee
protection remained until the UNHCR has
full and unimpeded access to all Burmese
refugees in Thailand, is able to conduct the
screening of newly-arrived asylum-seekers,
and has guarantees that repatriation will
take place only when human rights'
conditions in Burma are conducive to
return.
The report says the dangers facing
refugees have been exacerbated by the
fact that Thailand is among those hardest
hit by the Asian economic crisis.
In its effort to deport illegal migrant workers,
of whom Burmese are the overwhelming
majority, the Thai government makes little
distinction between refugees and migrants.
Because of the lack of effective procedures
to determine refugee status, it may well be
deporting people who have a valid claim to
refugee status.
Human Rights Watch identifies part of the
problem as stemming from Thailand's
failure to ratify the United Nations
Convention relating to the status of
refugees, a treaty that establishes a legal
regime for refugee protection, and calls on
the Thai government to immediately
become party to the treaty.
It calls for the immediate cessation of the
Thai practice, in effect since June, of
closing its border to new asylum seekers.
The rejection at the border of those with a
well-founded fear of persecution is a
violation of Thailand's obligations under
international law.
Part of the problem also lies with UNHCR
which has been weak in its efforts to
challenge Thai policies that undermine
refugee protection.
Kobsak said Thailand has been
susceptible to an influx of refugees. In the
past it has given shelter to more than
200,000 Cambodian, almost 200,000
Vietnamese and several thousand Lao and
Burmese refugees and displaced persons.
Currently, there are about 99,700 Burmese
refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, staying in
Mae Hong Son, Tak, Rajburi, Kanchanaburi
and Chumporn provinces.
Human Rights Watch also attacked the
Burmese government, whose policies are
ultimately responsible for the influx of
refugees into Thailand. It noted the role that
the Burmese government had played in
terms of forced labour and forced
displacement in encouraging the exodus of
Burmese people. Human Rights Watch
urges the government to comply with the
UN Commission on Human Rights
resolution of April 20, 1998, which calls on
the Burmese government to address
specific human rights concerns and create
conditions that would enable refugees to
return safely.
BY RITA PATIYASEVI
The Nation