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Foreign Ministry disputes report by



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