[burmanet2-l] Burma Related News - Jan 25, 2003.

["TIN KYI" <maungtinkyi@xxxxxxxxx>]

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - January  25, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Myanmar still on EU blacklist: official
AP - ASEAN tourism ministers agree to alternative travel advisory web
AP - Official: U.S. aid at risk if Cambodia doesn't fight human
AFP - Southeast Asia's economic fundamentals are positive: Singapore
FCO - UK POLICY ON BURMA MAY HAVE TO TOUGHEN
Bkk Post - Minorities face crackdown
The Nation - Thai, Karen villagers flee fighting
Scotsman - Britain May Cut Burma Aid
Asian Tribune - Border visitors from China, Thailand help boost tourism:
Windfall as 500,000 people visited Myanmar
Asian Tribune - Myanmar to attend high-level talks in Europe despite
sanctions
RI - Protecting Burmese Refugees in Thailand
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Myanmar still on EU blacklist: official

BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (AFP) - Myanmar's participation in an EU-Southeast Asia
meeting next week does not imply any change to EU disapproval of the
country's military regime, an official said Friday.

Despite an EU visa ban against Myanmar leaders, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin
Maung Win is to attend the Brussels gathering between the EU and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday and Tuesday.

His presence is allowed under an exception to the visa ban that permits
Myanmar junta leaders to attend meetings in the European Union that discuss
human rights and democracy, the EU official said.

But she added: "We remain as concerned as ever about the situation in Burma.
There is no improvement.

"Our concerns about human rights and the need for a rapid return to
democracy mean that many years ago, we imposed sanctions on Burma and we see
no justification for reversing that."

The EU had previously refused to hold high-level talks in Europe with ASEAN
following military-run Myanmar's admittance to the Southeast Asian club in
1997.

The EU, together with the United States, has imposed sanctions on Myanmar in
a bid to press the junta to initiate reform. They include an arms embargo
and a travel ban on members of the regime.

But the EU does not want the Myanmar issue to distract from more pressing
concerns it has with ASEAN, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"There are a lot of things we could be doing together. We are not fully
exploiting the potential of the relationship," she said.

In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second-largest export market and third-largest
trading partner after the United States and Japan.

ASEAN exports to the EU were estimated at 65.7 billion euros (70 billion
dollars), while the region's imports from the EU were valued at 42.2 billion
euros.

The EU is also keen to discuss the fight against terrorism at the two-day
meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers.
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ASEAN tourism ministers agree to alternative travel advisory web

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ Southeast Asian tourism ministers said Friday
they would set up their own web page providing security advice to tourists
as an alternative to the travel advisories published by Western governments.

They also agreed to eliminate the need for visas for nationals from the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, traveling within the
region by 2005.

The ministers announced the two initiatives as they concluded the first day
of conference aimed at finding ways to promote the region as a safe tourism
destination. The conference ends Monday.

Tourism in the region suffered after terrorist bombings on the Indonesian
island of Bali killed nearly 200 people, mostly foreigners in October.

Following the attacks, foreign governments, including the United States,
Britain and Australia, issued travel advisories to the dismay of Southeast
Asian nations, who rely heavily on tourism revenues.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Veng Sereyvuth told a news conference that the
safety and security web page will provide information for countries outside
the region to analyze ``before giving negative advice (to their nationals),
which is, of course, not good for tourism.''

The web page will be hosted by ASEAN's secretariat.

Sereyvuth said lifting visa restrictions between ASEAN countries has become
a priority after years of discussion but little progress.

``We have decided that we'll work harder to push for visa exemptions for
ASEAN nationals by 2005,'' he said.

ASEAN ministers also agreed with counterparts attending the conference from
China, Japan and South Korea to establish a team dedicated to exchanging
safety and security information.

They also pledged to work with the three East Asian countries to promote
tourism investment, marketing, promotion and manpower development, according
to a joint statement.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
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Official: U.S. aid at risk if Cambodia doesn't fight human

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ The U.S. government will slap aid restrictions
on Cambodia if it does not step up efforts to combat human trafficking, a
U.S. State Department official said Friday.

Phillip Linderman, a senior official in the Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking, said Cambodia has failed to pursue and convict people
responsible for trafficking men, women, boys and girls in and out of
Cambodia, primarily to and from Vietnam and Thailand.

He also told a human trafficking seminar that Cambodia has failed to protect
victims of trafficking, noting that authorities tried and convicted a group
of Vietnamese teenage girls trafficked into Cambodia to be sex workers.

The United States will release annual country-by-country assessments of
efforts to combat human trafficking for the third time in June or July,
officials said.

Linderman is on a four-day fact-finding mission in Cambodia.

He also visited Thailand and Myanmar as part of a stepped-up campaign by the
U.S. government to urge countries worldwide to be aware of the trafficking
menace.

In 2002, Cambodia was ranked by U.S. officials alongside 15 countries deemed
to be doing the least to fight human trafficking. A similar ranking this
year for Cambodia would lead to a ban on financial assistance from
Washington to Cambodia in all areas except humanitarian and trade-related
aid, Linderman said.

``If it's determined that the government is not making significant efforts
in combatting this growing problem, then aid restrictions would go into
affect,'' said Linderman, who returns to the United States on Saturday.

The cash-strapped Cambodian government relies heavily on international aid
for its expenses. The United States' contribution to programs in Cambodia in
2002 was US$36.5 million.

Cambodian Secretary of State for the Interior Ministry Prum Sokha maintained
Friday that the government is taking steps to thwart human trafficking
gangs.

According to U.S. government figures, at least 700,000 people are trafficked
annually, including 50,000 into the United States.

Linderman said that unregulated crossing of international borders is a
global security threat and that terrorists are suspected of operating
lucrative businesses that help people move illegally around the world.

``We've determined it's very likely that trafficking is a way for
(terrorists) to fund activities,'' Linderman told a human trafficking
seminar.

In Cambodia, poor youth are regularly exploited by strangers, friends and
even family, being sold or rented to sex industry networks or labor rings
which often smuggle them outside the country through Cambodia's porous
borders.
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Southeast Asia's economic fundamentals are positive: Singapore

SINGAPORE, Jan 25 (AFP) - Southeast Asia's economic fundamentals remain
positive compared to other emerging markets, Singapore's Deputy Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he urged global investors to look at the
region.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, Lee said the rise
of heavyweights China and India has brought fiercer competition to the
region, which still has yet to fully recover from the 1997-1998 Asian
financial crisis and is grappling with the threat of terrorism.

But he said "the economic fundamentals of Southeast Asia remain positive,
especially compared to other emerging economies."

"It has a sizeable market of 500 million people, a skilful and educated
workforce, and good infrastructure. For investors who want to spread their
bets, Southeast Asia is a clear diversification play," said Lee, who is
tipped to succeed Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Copies of his speech were released here Saturday.

Southeast Asia, comprised of 10 nations ranging from more prosperous states
like Singapore and Malaysia to backwaters Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, need
to resolve political and security problems and "take decisive actions" to
bring back the region to full economic recovery, Lee said.

"Its future lies in maintaining open, outward-looking economic policies and
staying plugged into the global economy despite the risks that this
entails," he said.

The region must also strengthen its links with major trading partners by
pursuing free trade agreements, said Lee, whose country has signed such
accords with Australia, New Zealand and Japan and has wrapped up talks for a
pact with the United States.

While expanding its external trade wings, Southeast Asia must also integrate
its diverse economies by expanding a free trade zone which eliminates
tariffs on manufactured products and components to include liberalisation in
the services sector and investment, he said.

China, the giant neighbour which has been attracting foreign investments at
the expense of Southeast Asia, presents a challenge in the short term.

But in the long term, the opening up of the world's most populous nation is
an opportunity, in terms of being an export market and a major source of
tourists, he said.

"More and more affluent Chinese will demand services like healthcare and
education, some of which will be provided overseas," he added.

India's opening up will also augur well for Southeast Asia.

"For Southeast Asia, a dynamic India would counterbalance the pull of the
Chinese economy, and offer a more diversified basis for prosperity," Lee
said.
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
UK POLICY ON BURMA MAY HAVE TO TOUGHEN (23/01/03)
Fri Jan 24 23:42:00

Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien today telephoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
the Burmese democracy leader. This was their third regular telephone
conversation since November 2002. This latest conversation was however much
shorter than previous ones due to constant interference and the cutting out
of the telephone line. It is not clear what caused these problems to the
line.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Mr O'Brien that the National League for Democracy
wanted to work with the people and the authorities for the sake of the
country. Urgent progress was needed. The NLD did not want confrontation. But
continued harassment on the part of the authorities would only invite
confrontation.

Mr O'Brien told Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that the UK was very concerned about
the increasing restrictions being placed on her freedom to travel and
operate freely and that the disruptions of her recent meetings in Rakhine
State were 'symptomatic of the attitude of the Burmese regime'.

Before the telephone link broke down, Mr O'Brien said that if the limited
political progress achieved to date in Burma was further eroded, the UK
would be forced to consider whether a tightening of policy toward the regime
was now required.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
There have been recent reports of deliberate interference with Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi's telephone line.

The EU Common Position on Burma contains an arms embargo, a ban on
high-level visits, a ban on defence links, a ban on the sale of items that
could be used for torture or repression, and a visa ban and asset freeze on
senior regime and military members. In addition the EC suspended Burma's
Generalised System of Preferences trading privileges in response to the use
of forced labour in Burma. The UK also does not encourage trade, investment
or tourism with Burma.
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Bangkok Post - Saturday 25 January 2003
Minorities face crackdown
Wassana Nanuam

Army chief Gen Somdhat Attanand has ordered a nationwide crackdown on
Burmese minority people and anti-Rangoon groups in Thailand ahead of his Jan
31-Feb 1 visit to Burma.

Gen Somdhat said the army had a policy to suppress illegal immigrants and
anti-Rangoon minority groups along the Thai-Burmese border, especially in
Kanchanaburi's border areas overseen by the Surasi task force.

``We will not allow anyone to use Thailand in their moves against
neighbouring countries. What the Surasi task force is doing is right,'' he
said.

He said he had instructed other army task forces along the border to take
action against any illegal immigrants.

The Burmese military's allegation that Thailand supported the Shan State
Army to ambush Burmese troops opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district on
Jan 17 was caused by misunderstandings.

``No one supported them, I insist. We will not allow anybody, Shan people or
any other groups, to use Thai territory as a base for moving against our
neighbours,'' Gen Somdhat said.

He will visit Burma on Jan 31 and Feb 1 for meetings with Burmese Prime
Minister Gen Than Shwe, State Peace and Development Council first secretary
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt and army chief Gen Maung Aye.
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The Nation
BURMESE BORDER: Thai, Karen villagers flee fighting
Published on Jan 25, 2003

Burmese troops seized two base camps from the rebel Karen National Union
near the Thai border following two days of heavy fighting that resulted in
the death of at least 15 soldiers and displaced about 700 Burmese and 600
Thai villagers.

Thai Army sources on the border said the KNU was unable to withstand the
heavy shelling on its positions, which lasted for at least 24 hours until
yesterday morning, and decided to retreat.

The 700 villagers, almost all ethnic Karen, are in a make-shift camp in
Tak's Phop Phra district near the border and it remained unclear when they
would be returned to the Burmese side, officials said.

Thai officers said at least 10 Burmese and five Karen rebels died in the
fighting. Scores have been hospitalised in the district.

Seven Burmese mortar shells launched during the battle on Thursday landed on
two Thai villages but no residents were injured. Some 600 Thais had to
evacuate their villages and are housed in government buildings.

Thai troops guarding the border were ordered to act with utmost restraint
for fear that any retaliation against the Burmese could provoke another
diplomatic row.
There have been no reports of Thai troops returning live rounds in response
to the stray Burmese shells.

The attack marks the start of the annual dry-season offensive by the
military government of Burma against ethnic minority rebels along the border
with Thailand.

In a separate development, Army chief General Somdhat Attanand yesterday
defended the decision to crack down on Burmese dissidents along the border,
saying Thailand cannot be used as a staging ground for attacks against
neighbouring countries.

He also said that many of the so-called dissidents were illegal migrants.

Thailand has been criticised for ongoing raids against Burmese dissidents,
many of whom function as the "eyes and ears" of Thai security agencies.
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Scotsman
Fri 24 Jan 2003
Britain May Cut Burma Aid
By Jane Merrick, Political Correspondent, PA News

Britain may cut humanitarian aid to Burma if the military regime continues
to hamper political progress in the country, it emerged today.

Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council, has been
restricting opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom to travel and
has disrupted meetings of her National League for Democracy.

In a telephone conversation with Foreign Office minister Mike O’Brien today,
which was cut short due to apparently deliberate interference on the line,
Aung San Suu Kyi said continued harassment by the authorities would lead to
confrontation.

The disruption of recent NLD meetings in Burma’s Rakhine State was
“symptomatic of the attitude of the Burmese regime”, Aung San Suu Kyi told
the minister.

Before the telephone link was cut, Mr O’Brien said if the limited political
progress achieved so far in Burma was further eroded, the UK would be forced
to consider whether a tightening of policy toward the regime was now
required, the Foreign Office said.

This could mean further economic sanctions or even cutting back on
humanitarian assistance to the country, it is understood.

Burma is already the subject of a range of European Union sanctions,
including an arms embargo and a travel ban to the EU on high-level visits, a
ban on defence links, a visa ban and asset freeze on senior regime and
military members. There is also a ban on non-humanitarian aid.

In addition Britain does not encourage trade, investment and tourism links
with Burma.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is to put pressure on deputy foreign minister
Khin Maung Win at a EU-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)
meeting in Brussels next Monday.

The EU has exempted the Burmese minister from the travel ban so he can
attend the talks.

Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in May 2002 amid signs of a
relaxing of the military regime.

However talks between the junta and opposition parties have since stalled.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-01-25
Border visitors from China, Thailand help boost tourism: Windfall as 500,000
people visited Myanmar

Myanmar is poised to realize a long-held ambition for its tourism industry
with news last week that almost half a million people visited the country in
2002 generating US$100 million in foreign revenue.

Achieving one million tourists a year is now within striking distance,
predicted the Mandalay Mayor, Brig-Gen Yan Thein. "Entry requirements are
being eased," said Brig-Gen Yan Thein. "The government has plans to increase
the numbers of tourists to Myanmar up to one million during this year, and
all the concerned ministries are trying their best," he said, adding that
forecasting precise figures was difficult.

By far the biggest contributor to arrivals was through border tourism, where
the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism says more than 270,000 people made one
day journeys or longer.

Almost 90,000 came through the Shan State痴 China gateway while a whopping 28
per cent of all tourism trade, or 142,000 people, came streaming in from
Thailand through Myanmar痴 South Eastern corridor. According to statistics
just released by the Directorate tourists flying in from Asia contributed
most to overall arrivals of 217,212 with Taiwan, Japan and China leading the
way.

Surprisingly, give the US Government痴 harsh stance on Myanmar; it was
American tourists who visited most frequently from the western nations. More
than 14,447 made the trip, with 14,108 from France and almost 13,000 from
Germany.

Tourism stakeholders said to Myanmar Times that the five per cent rise in
foreign visitors (excluding border tourism) reflected both the country痴
reputation as a safe haven from terrorism and an increase in direct
international flights.

Figures released last week by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism peg the
visitor arrival figure through Yangon at 206,263 for the first eleven months
of 2002. Meanwhile, in Mandalay arrivals during the last couple of months
had doubled compared to figures from six months ago, said the Mayor,
Brig-Gen Yan Thein in an interview with the Myanmar Times last week. "More
than 6000 visitors from around the world came here last November, which is
double the number for April or May arrivals," he said. He attributed the
increased arrivals to visitor safety, direct flights to Kunming and Bangkok,
and higher hotel standards. "One reason for the increase in arrivals is the
public safety here compared to some other tourist destinations following the
bomb attacks," he said, referring to bombings in October of 2002 in Bali.

Another reason for the increase in tourists across Myanmar is a rise in the
number and frequency of international flights, said industry experts last
week. Yunnan Air痴 direct flight between Mandalay and Kunming, which runs
four times a week, was introduced last year, as were weekly flights from
Milan and Vienna by Lauda Air (Italy) and Lauda Air (Austria) respectively.

More recently, Phuket Air began thrice-weekly flights between Mandalay and
Bangkok last month. Mr Franz Fischer, country manager at Diethelm travel
company, said that although the Phuket Air operations had started too late
last year to have a major impact on tourist arrivals. "I have heard that
there is a significant growth in passengers for Lauda Air," he said, adding
that the international flights have had been "quite successful".

Surprisingly, the five month closing of the Myanmar-Thailand border resulted
in a limited decline in the number of overland regional travellers, said a
tourism industry insider, adding that he believed Myanmar-Thailand travel
will almost certainly pick up this year.

- Myanmar Times Jan. 20 ・26
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-01-25
Myanmar to attend high-level talks in Europe despite sanctions

Manila, (AFP) Jan. 25: Myanmar will for the first time be allowed to
participate in an Asean-EU foreign ministers meeting in Europe next week
despite sanctions imposed on the military-ruled state, Asean and Myanmar
officials said yesterday.

"This is a big breakthrough," an official said ahead of the two-day meeting
from Monday between the 10 foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) and the 15-member European Union (EU).

The EU has refused to hold high-level talks in Europe with Asean ever since
Myanmar was admitted into Asean in 1997 due to that country's human rights
record.

The EU, together with the United States, has imposed sanctions on Myanmar in
a bid to press the junta to initiate reform. They include an arms embargo
and a travel ban on members of the Myanmar junta.

A Western diplomat said the travel ban and other sanctions were still in
place but an "exception" would be made for Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win
Aung to travel to the Belgian capital for the talks.

"In preparatory talks, I was informed the minister will be given a visa but
there is no question of sanctions being withdrawn," he said.

Yangon issued a brief statement to AFP confirming Myanmar's participation,
but the junta said a deputy foreign minister would head Myanmar's
delegation.

"Myanmar looks forward to having a fruitful meeting between Asean and EU,"
spokesman Colonel Hla Min of the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

"The Myanmar delegation will be led by the Deputy Foreign Minister U Khin
Maung Win," he added.

No further explanation about the delegation was provided.

This is the first time Myanmar will take part in such a high-level meeting
in Europe since its admission into Asean, officials said, adding that it
could mark a "new era" of ties between the two regions.

"Having Myanmar together with the Asean ministers at the AEMM (Asean-EU
Ministerial Meeting) in Brussels offers a good opportunity for Myanmar and
EU to better understand each other's concerns," Asean Secretary-General Ong
Keng Yong said.

"I hope that this opportunity will not be missed," said Ong, who took over
the helm at the Jakarta-based Asean secretariat on January 1.

"The important thing is that we do not talk over each of our heads, but
engage each other purposefully, sensitively and also specifically," he
explained.

Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's release in May from 19 months of
house arrest as well as the subsequent release of more than 300 political
prisoners had raised hopes of political reforms in the military-ruled state.

But EU officials had said recently that the release of political prisoners
alone was not enough to lift the sanctions.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming
election victory in 1990 but the junta has never recognised the result.

- The Peninsula Online -
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Refugees International
Protecting Burmese Refugees in Thailand
Advocate Veronika Martin and human rights lawyer Betsy Apple conducted an
assessment mission to the Thai-Burmese border in September 2002.
01/24/2003

Each month an estimated two to three thousand Burmese enter Thailand, adding
to the approximately two million already living there. While many of them
are seeking economic opportunity in the Thai economy, many are fleeing gross
human rights abuses, including rape, torture, extrajudicial execution,
forced labor, and forced relocations, committed by the army of the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Burmese seeking refuge in Thailand,
primarily ethnic minority peoples from eastern Burma, have had limited or no
access to a status determination process for the past year, and thus no
legal access to refugee status or protection. The Royal Thai Government
classifies all Burmese newly entering Thailand as "illegal migrants,"
leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and forced relocation back to Burma.

According to the Royal Thai Government's official statistics, slightly over
110,000 refugees reside in Thai camps. These refugees qualify under the
narrow Thai definition of "fleeing fighting" and are predominantly members
of the Karen and the Karenni, the only two of Burma's many ethnic groups
officially allowed into camps. The total number of refugees who have arrived
in camps since 1996 is 40,000, despite the fact that the Burmese military
launched a major offensive in 1997 against hundreds of thousands of ethnic
minorities living in the border regions. The military's counterinsurgency
strategy led to the forced relocation of more than 2,500 villages in Shan,
Karen, and Karenni states and the Tenasserim division. While many affected
villagers have moved to relocation sites or live in the jungle as internally
displaced persons, many others have sought refuge in neighboring Thailand.
Although some of these have entered camps, most have slipped into Thailand
and have been characterized --- or mischaracterized, in many cases --- as
illegal migrants.

Some Karen and Karenni asylum seekers, estimated to number 20,000 over the
past year, are able to stay unofficially in the camps. Although some can
receive assistance, others share meager living quarters and even smaller
rations with relatives and friends. But other Burmese with legitimate asylum
claims are forced to live in limbo on the margins of Thai society either
along the border or in urban centers.

The Shan people, an ethnic minority group closely related to the Thais, are
especially victimized. Since 1996, the Burmese army has forcibly relocated
over 300,000 villagers in Shan State, resulting in a mass exodus to
Thailand. Furthermore, the Burmese army's use of forced relocation, forced
labor and its accompanying human rights abuses have resulted in over 1,200
new Shan arrivals per month to only one district in Thailand; additional
entry points into Thailand may host several hundred more entrants per month.
Credible estimates place the number of Shan refuge seekers in Thailand at
well over 150,000. The Royal Thai Government, however, has not organized
refugee camps for the Shan. A fraction are gathered together in informal
encampments close to the border, while most are scattered in orchards and
farms through the northern provinces or work in factories and on
construction sites.

The Shan people are typically classified as illegal migrants, even though
many of them fled human rights abuses. Because there is no admissions
process for them to undergo and no camps to house them, they have no choice
but to live as illegal migrants. In order to pay for life's most rudimentary
necessities, the Shan are forced to obtain work --- typically, the jobs that
no one in Thailand wants because they are underpaid, dangerous, and the
conditions are poor. In some cases entire families live on construction
sites or on fruit orchards along with children and sick or elderly family
members. No schools are available for the children and health care is
difficult to obtain. Shan women, many of whom have suffered from rape and
other gender-based abuses, are particularly at risk of further exploitation.
As one Shan refugee stated, "It is worse for the woman because she has no
protection, and this is especially true if she has mental or physical
problems; generally, there is more problem for her survival."

This confusion about who actually qualifies to be called a refugee is
compounded by the refuge-seekers themselves. Rather than describe themselves
by their starting point --- i.e. the reason they fled Burma --- many people
look to their present situation, i.e. their status as illegal workers.
Having internalized this idea that those living outside of refugee camps are
not entitled to refugee protection, one man who had fled persecution in Mon
State said (immediately after cataloguing the human rights abuses
perpetrated by the battalions stationed in Mon area), "Normally, people from
Mon area come for economic reasons: the constant use of forced labor and the
land and crop confiscation forces them to leave." Forced labor and forced
relocation are human rights abuses, they are not "economic reasons," and
those people fleeing such violations are escaping first and foremost from
persecution.

The fundamental problem for Burmese seeking refuge in Thailand is a lack of
a legitimate process for status determination. The thousands that cross into
Thailand each month include a mix of economic migrants and people with
legitimate claims to refugee status. The lack of a status determination
process, however, condemns virtually all Burmese in Thailand to the status
of illegal migrants, subject to regular harassment, arrest, and even
deportation; in Tak province alone last year, the Thai police rounded up
60,000 people and took them to the border. Although many of these people
have been able to avoid being handed over to the SPDC, a fraction of them
have been forced to cross the border. Interviews conducted by human rights
groups with individuals who were forced back to Burma and subsequently
escaped detention indicates that persecution, which can be life threatening,
is especially common for those seen as siding with resistance groups or
having engaged in labor union activities in factories in Thailand.

Because legitimate refugees in Thailand have experienced abuse of
fundamentals rights in Burma, and are entitled to certain basic protections,
it is critical that the distinction be appropriately made between those
fleeing human rights violations and those looking for economic opportunity
in Thailand.

Refugees International therefore recommends that:

The Royal Thai Government (RTG) should establish a legitimate status
determination process for Burmese migrants and grant refugee status to
Burmese fleeing human rights abuses. Burmese identified as fleeing a fear of
persecution would be protected by international human rights principles and
international customary law.

The RTG should follow internationally accepted principles of
non-refoulement, and should examine an individual's claim to asylum before
deporting her back to Burma.

The RTG should grant protection to the Shan people living in Thailand, and
allow agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to Shan not residing in
refugee camps.

The UNHCR should work with the RTG to put in place a procedure to assess the
eligibility of potential deportees for refugee status prior to their
deportation.
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