Thai NGOs' Open Letter to the Thai

[aurora@xxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Thai NGOs' Open Letter to the Thai Government

							17 September 1999


Re :  Demanding the Thai government to reconsider the repatriation of
migrant workers
To :   The Interior Minister
          The Labour and Social Welfare Minister
          The Foreign Affair Minister
          The Secretary-General of National Security Council
          The Chief of National Police Bureau
          The Chief of Immigration Police office

          The non-governmental organizations named below are deeply
concerned on the ongoing mass arrest	and repatriation of the migrant
workers, especially those from Burma due to these facts below;

1. Until now, the relations between Thailand and Burma has not returned to
normal yet.  The Burmese government has still closed the border and
forbidding the migrant workers to cross the border back home.
2. The fact that the Burmese government has continued to  refused the
return of the Burmese people, as has been reported by the media of the
event that the soldiers threatened the migrant workers by gunpoint to
return to Thailand, confirms that even though the Thai authorities were
able to find channels to push the people back, those returnees might not be
able to make it back home safely.	 
3. Though the news on human rights abuses against the repatriated migrant
workers, such as rape, bribery, investigate and extra-judicial killings
cannot be confirmed since the events happened in Burma's territory, the
human rights violations in Burma has been documented and circulated in
Thailand and the international community.  We therefore cannot deny that
there is no truth in the news.
4. Among the estimated one million migrant workers from Burma in Thailand,
there are the refugees who are recognized by the United Nations High
Commissioners on Refugees, the refugees who are registered in the border
refugee camps, and the refugees who have not yet passed the process of
considering the status, especially the ethnic Shan people.  These people
are in life-threatening danger if they are sent back to Burma.
5. The strategy, which was disclosed by the Thai authorities through
media's interview, to pressure the male workers by arresting and
repatriating their children and wives to Burma first, is a clear violation
of the rights of the child not to be separated from their parents
especially when there is no guarantee for their families to be reunited. 

Due to these facts, the non-governmental organizations demand the Thai
government to reconsider its policy of repatriation of migrant workers and
consider the recommendations below:

1. The Thai government should halt the repatriation until the Burmese
government would officially accept the returnees back without
investigations and punishment.  The Thai government should provide border
shelters for the people who are waiting for repatriation.
2. The Thai police should stop arresting the migrant workers until the
situation changes, since the immigration police department is not able to
provide enough shelters for more people.
3. The Thai government should allow the United Nations High Commissioners
for Refugees to officially monitor the repatriation of migrant workers so
that the international organization will be able to provide protection for
the refugees who might be arrested, especially the ethnic Shan and Karen,
who are from the states that the internal war is still going on.
4. The Thai government must order the local authorities to stop the
strategic plan of arresting children and wives of the migrant workers to
pressure the male migrant workers.  The act violates the rights of the
child, according to article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
that Thailand is signatory to.

The non-governmental organizations demand the Thai government to follow the
principle of non-refoulement of the refugees.  In addition, though the
migrant workers from Burma have not yet been considered as refugees, if the
repatriation would push the people to life-threatening danger, the Thai
government should reconsider its policy based on the humanitarian basis and
the principle of the universal human rights. 

							Yours sincerely,

	Foundation for Children's Development
	Foundation for Women
	Friends of Women Foundation
	Global Alliance Against the Traffic of Women
	Migrant Assistance Program
	Empower Foundation (Chiang Mai)
	Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
	Child's Rights-Asia Net
	Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia)
	Friends without Borders:Project to Promote Positive Relations 	between
Thai and Burmese People