130,000 refugees languish in Thailand

When her first child – a daughter – was born, Pa Pa Win dreamed of a grand wedding for her many years down the line, with a big celebration in their village in Myanmar’s Mon state.

Instead, when the time came 20 years later, Pa Pa Win and her family settled for a modest gathering in the Mae La refugee camp in northern Thailand.

They are among about 31,000 refugees in Mae La, the largest of nine camps on the Thai-Myanmar border. She and her family have been there for 13 years.

“We came here because we were not safe in Myanmar. We thought we could go back after a while, or that we could make a life here in Thailand,” said Pa Pa Win, who is Muslim.

“But it is not safe for us to go back, and we do not know what is to become of us here.”

There are 97,439 refugees from Myanmar in the camps – half of them children – according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Most are ethnic minorities who fled fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups. Some have lived in the camps for more than 30 years – one of the world’s most protracted refugee situations.

Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, which spell out the minimum standards and legal obligations towards refugees.

However, it has pledged to develop a screening system for refugees to curb trafficking, and to provide access to education, healthcare and birth registration.

But refugees live in limbo as they are not legally allowed to work or to leave the camp except for specified reasons.

Continue reading Bangkok Post: 130,000 refugees languish in Thailand

Fortify Rights: Video Provides Evidence of Crimes Against Rohingya in Myanmar

In a new short film released today, Fortify Rights exposed footage of a Myanmar Army soldier explaining to a group of civilians how the authorities would “clear out” Rohingya villages, providing evidence of the crime against humanity of deportation.

 

Mudslide hits Thailand’s Mae Hong Son refugee camp, seven missing

Seven people were reported missing after a mudslide hit a Myanmar refugee camp in Mae Hong Son on Sunday night, with another 16 confirmed injured, a provincial official said on Monday.

Charuek Laoprasert, assistant to the Mae Hong Son governor, said a torrent of mud and rocks, triggered by heavy rain in the northern province, poured down the hill and into the refugee camp at Ban Mae La Oon in Sob Moei district.

Seven people were missing, and 16 other people were being treated for injuries, he said.

Medical staff and other assistance have been sent to the camp, which is near the border with Myanmar.

Details of the injured and missing people have not been released.

Ban Mae La Oon is by the Yuman River. It houses about 9,000 displaced people from Myanmar, most of them ethnic Karen, according to figures released in August last year by the Border Consortium, a non-govermental organisation helping Myanmar refugees along the Thai border.

Continue reading Bangkok Post: Mudslide hits Mae Hong Son refugee camp, 7 missing

Thai police shut down panel on war crimes by Burmese generals over Rohingya genocide

Police in Thailand shut down a forum organised by foreign journalists to discuss whether senior military officers in Myanmar should face justice for alleged human rights abuses committed by their forces against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities.

About a dozen policemen showed up ahead of a scheduled panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and ordered the panellists not to speak. The scheduled speakers included Tun Khin, a prominent Britain-based Rohingya activist; Kobsak Chutikul, a former Thai diplomat; and Kingsley Abbott, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists, a rights advocacy group.

Last month a specially appointed UN human rights team recommended that Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya. Critics of Myanmar’s military have also accused it of carrying out ethnic cleansing and other war crimes.

Myanmar’s army, which for decades has been accused of violating the human rights of various ethnic minorities, denies having committed organised rights abuses.

Police at Monday’s event in Bangkok handed over a letter requesting the panel discussion on “Will Myanmar’s Generals Ever Face Justice for International Crimes?” be cancelled because it could damage national security, affect foreign relations and a give a third party the opportunity to create unrest.

However, Police Colonel Thawatkiat Jindakuansanong told the organisers: “We are not asking. We are ordering you to cancel the event.”

 

Continue reading South China Morning Post: Thai police shut down panel on war crimes by Myanmar generals over Rohingya massacre

Thai police shut down journalists’ panel about Rohingya

Police in Thailand on Monday shut down a forum organized by foreign journalists to discuss whether senior military officers in Myanmar should face justice for alleged human rights abuses committed by their forces against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities.

About a dozen policemen showed up ahead of the scheduled evening panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and ordered the panelists not to speak. The scheduled speakers included Tun Khin, a prominent U.K.-based Rohingya activist; Kobsak Chutikul, a former Thai diplomat; and Kingsley Abbott, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists, a rights advocacy group.

Last month a specially appointed U.N. human rights team recommended that Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya. Critics of Myanmar’s military have also accused it of carrying out ethnic cleansing and other war crimes.

Some 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh after the army launched a counterinsurgency campaign in response to attacks by Rohingya militants last August.

The army, which for decades has been accused of violating the human rights of various ethnic minorities, denies having committed organized rights abuses.

The police at the Bangkok event handed over a letter requesting the panel discussion on “Will Myanmar’s Generals Ever Face Justice for International Crimes?” be canceled because it could damage national security, affect foreign relations and a give a third party the opportunity to create unrest.

Continue reading The Washington Post

Myanmar Muslim migrants in Thailand at risk under new law: BHRN

Myanmar Muslim migrants in Thailand could face prosecution when a new law on undocumented workers is introduced this week because Myanmar has denied them the documentation they require to legalise their status, a rights group has warned.

By June 30, all migrant workers in Thailand must have their nationality verified to legally work in the country, under a decree that authorities say is designed to fight human trafficking.

Those unable to complete the process will be considered illegal migrants and, if caught, will face fines of up to 50,000 baht (MMK2.1 million) as well as deportation and a two-year ban on applying for a Thai work permit.

Yet four communities of Myanmar Muslim migrants surveyed by the Burma Human Rights Network in Mae Sot between March and May 2018 recounted systematic discrimination from Myanmar officials involved in the registration process, according to a report launched yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.

“Statelessness inflicted on the community in Myanmar has now become a problem in Thailand, making Burmese Muslim migrants more vulnerable and undermining Thai government policy to register all migrant workers,” BHRN said.

Continue reading: Frontier Myanmar

Myanmar Migrants in Thailand Face Barriers of Race, Religion

Human rights and migrant assistance groups in Thailand say Myanmar migrant workers of Muslim and South Asian heritage have faced barriers in proving Myanmar nationality which is a required step in gaining legal status in Thailand.

Many have been unable to satisfy requests from Myanmar consular staff for extra documents that are not demanded from members of other ethnic and religious groups, in order to obtain Myanmar-issued Certificates of Identity required for Thai visas and work permits.

This has left them with the choice of returning to Myanmar to get the requested documents — going through expense and the risk of interrogation by Myanmar police — staying in Thailand where they face arrest as illegal migrants, or paying exorbitant fees to brokers in attempts to circumvent the barriers.

Migrants of all backgrounds were caught in a rush to regularize their status before March 31, when cards issued by the Thai government since 2014, granting the temporary right to stay and work, expired. One Stop Service Centers, hosting Myanmar and Thai officials, were set up across Thailand to speed up the process.

An official at the Myanmar Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, who asked not to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media, did not deny the extra scrutiny being applied to Muslims and other groups but said details could only be obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Officials at this ministry refused comment.

Continue reading: VOA