Burmese political reforms have increased the likelihood of the return of
140,000 refugees who have been living in Thailand for more than two decades,
the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) said this week following a recent
visit to Burma to assess the situation there.
Leaders of the TBBC, which
provides aid to refugees displaced by conflict between Burmese government
forces and ethnic armed groups, made their first visit to Burma in early
September at the invitation of Aung Min, the government minister who has
spearheaded efforts to end the fighting.
The TBBC delegation met with
government advisers, Tin Oo of the opposition National League for Democracy and
representatives of various civil society groups.
Although it cautioned that the
peace process remains fragile, the group said in a statement on Monday that it
would begin preparing for the eventual return of the refugees, adding that
repatriation must be voluntary and should only take place when it can be done
safely and with dignity.
Part of the group’s plan is to
establish a presence inside Burma to coordinate between humanitarian agencies
on both sides of the border and to support the flow of information between
resident and displaced communities, the statement said.
However, this doesn’t mean that
the TBBC will leave Thailand anytime soon, said Duncan McArthur, the group’s
emergency response director and a member of the delegation that visited Burma
last week.
“We will stay here to promote the
rights of refugees for assistance and protection as long as they remain in
Thailand,” said McArthur.
On the Burmese side, the
government has pledged to facilitate the smooth return and reintegration of the
refugees.
In an interview with The
Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Aung Min said the government would introduce programs to
remove landmines, provide jobs and shelter and improve food security.
“For those who want to work as
farmers, we will provide equipment. But we will also build industrial zones in
border areas opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot, Mae Sai and Three Pagoda’s Pass for
those who want to work in factories,” he said.
According to Aung Min, Burma has
446,000 internally displaced persons, as well as 350,000 refugees living abroad
and around two million migrant workers residing in Thailand alone.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, several
ethnic Karen community-based organizations in Thailand issued a joint statement
expressing concern about recent talk of repatriating refugees, saying that such
a move would be premature.
“The ceasefires are still fragile
and do not yet include an enforceable code of conduct; the troops are still all
around our former villages, along with land mines and other dangers,” Dah Eh
Kler of the Karen Women’s Organization said in the statement.
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