Refugees, Returnees, and Internally Displaced People in Burma

Kathleen Newland welcomed the audience and panelists and expressed her pleasure at hosting a briefing on Burma, an area of the world that continues to suffer from a lack of international attention. This is true despite approximately 120,000 refugees recognized as "persons of concern" to UNHCR and assisted in refugee camps in Thailand and an estimated 500,000 to one million internally displaced in Burma.

Jana Mason was the first to speak and directed the audience to the paper ("No Way in, No Way Out: Internal Displacement in Burma") she recently published for USCR. Mason's paper is part of a larger IDP project within USCR which is attempting to focus on "tough nuts to crack." These are the difficult situations where the government of a country is either persecuting or complacent in the persecution of its population, and yet will not acknowledge the persecution and allow the international community access to those in need of protection. Mason juxtaposed the situation of Burma with that of Colombia, where the government acknowledges massive displacement and encourages international aid.

Mason's assessment of Burma explores the causes of displacement as well as the current conditions of those displaced. The reports that Mason received while in Burma led her to support the generally cited figure of 500,000 to one million IDP's currently in Burma. In a side note, Mason noted that travel within Burma is still tightly regulated by the government. Her access to sensitive areas, including those where most of the displacement has occurred, was restricted so she had to rely on information gathered from refugee camps on the Thai border and research.

Who is displaced? Mason jumped into her assessment, offering that displacement occurs throughout Burma, but is most noticeable in ethnic areas. The Burmese government recognizes seven races, encompassing 135 tribal groups. The massive displacement across Burma, in Mason's opinion, is the result of a variety of government policies. Forced labor and forced relocation are the two most significant of problematic policies that also include high taxes on crops, the nationalization of crop yields, and corruption.

Compulsory labor in Burma is called a national duty yet generally serves the interest of the military government, Mason found. Villages are required to submit workers (women and children not exempted), to meet government demands for unpaid labor. Forced relocation, Mason noted, was often connected to forced labor as entire villages are moved to work on projects where their labor is required. Civilian workers are used as military porters and evan as human mine sweepers.

Mason reported that two types of dislocation result from such policies. There are Burmese who are forcible uprooted and are living in relocation centers overseen by the government, and there are those who flee and hide, often in the jungle. Mason found that dislocated populations in Burma suffer from wide-scale malnutrition, food shortages, poor education and medical services, and an epidemic of HIV.

Mason wrapped up her presentation addressing humanitarian assistance and prospects for aiding the displaced population. Most countries, like the US, have taken strong stances against the human rights abuses of the Burmese regime and imposed sanctions, with some allowances for humanitarian aid. There is much concern within the humanitarian community that any aid targeted for displaced persons is likely to be diverted to the military. Mason reported that the best aid programs are run unofficially through Thailand. She recommended that aid programs be small, dispersed, and administered by local contacts. Mason's conclusions reflected her position that the situation for displaced persons in Burma is currently intractable, and without clear solutions for humanitarian donors.

Francois Fouinat opened by expressing UNHCR's deep concern about the region and frustration at the lack of access it has to many areas within Burma. Having acknowledged that UNHCR is only able to work in a small portion of Burma, Fouinat noted that UNHCR has been present in Burma since 1978 when a group of Burmese who had fled to Bangladesh were repatriated. Fouinat cited estimates that 250,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic group fled general discrimination, forced labor and undue taxation in Burma. The Burmese government, Fouinat noted, does not recognize Rohingyas as Burmese and denies them freedom of movement. UNHCR has been allowed to operate in Rakhine state across the border from Bangladesh in order to facilitate the repatriation of this group. Fouinat expressed that UNHCR's presence in the region has pressured the government to improve the situation, and the region now has the lowest instances of forced labor and taxation in the country. Despite these improvements, Fouinat acknowledge that the situation would "revert tomorrow" if UNHCR were to leave. UNHCR's goals, in Fouinat's opinion are to maintain the progress they have made, and to keep their presence and pressure in the region.

Fouinat addressed critics who accuse UNHCR of being in collusion with the government because their presence "takes care of the government's problems." Fouinat acknowledged that UNHCR operates in Burma under complicated circumstances and he expressed UNHCR's stance that its presence is necessary to fulfill its responsibility to the returnees.

Looking beyond the Rakhine state, Fouinat mentioned that UNHCR was invited by Thailand to establish a presence on its side of the Burmese border. Fouinat stressed that unlike the situation with Bangladesh, UNHCR is not focusing their efforts in Thailand on repatriation; rather it is stressing Thailand's responsibility to offer asylum to Burmese crossing the border to escape persecution. Fouinat felt that UNHCR has had some success in this effort and noted that before UNHCR got involved there were 100,000 registered refugees in the camps compared to the 120,000 who are now registered. UNHCR has also made security in the camps a priority, moving some camps that had previously straddled the border.

Kathleen Newland, who is also chair of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, shared observations from her delegation's recent visit. She had the opportunity to meet with Aung San Suu Kyii, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Daw Suu's traditional stance has been opposed to humanitarian organizations working in Burma because,

Newland noted that the Women's Commission has taken the position that humanitarian aid, if carefully designed to foster local decision-making and directed to the grass roots level, could empower and benefit civil society. In conversations with the Women's Commission representatives, Aung San Suu Kyii remained skeptical but acknowledged that some carefully implemented programs have been successful. Her stated fears were that:

Newland related that AIDS treatment and prevention were one area that Aung San Suu Kyii identified as an exception to her general skepticism. The nature of the epidemic is so critical that she felt that time was of the essence. She welcomed international action, even if organizations had to deal with the military regime. In the end, Newland felt that Aung San Suu Kyii retained her traditional position that only political change will resolve the displacement issue and substantially improve conditions inside Burma. The Women's Commission concurred fully, but felt that careful humanitarian assistance could help people survive the period of political repression and acquire skills for democracy-building.

Question and Answers

Audience member: Jana, from your contact with US lawmakers, do you see any increased interest in Burma?

Jana Mason: Within the administration, and particularly in those bureaus that work with refugees, there is a great amount of concern. Unfortunately, there is not as much interest in Congress, and when there is, it is strictly sanction focused and very isolationist.

Audience member: As more and more Burmese flee, when do you think countries like Thailand will say enough is enough and act?

Francois Fouinat: Countries are rarely eager to get involved in the internal affairs of other states, but you are right to point out that refugees make this an international issue. Thailand does a lot for Burmese refugees but history has made them cautious. I haven't seen any potential for a regional effort to change any of the internal politics in Burma.

Audience member: Mr. Fouinat, the Thai government has recently released statements that it expects the repatriation of Burmese will take place within the next three years. What does UNHCR feel about this?

Francois Fouinat: I don't really have a reaction, other than to say that no one can predict the nature of refugee situations. Those sorts of comments have been made for more than a decade, and the reality is always much more complex.

Audience member: Does UNHCR meet with Aung San Suu Kyii?

Francois Fouinat: We do not. When Mrs. Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, visited Burma, she did not. What we do know is that unofficially Aung San Suu Kyii has given UNHCR a "no objection" nod to our efforts in and around Burma.

Audience member: Ms. Newland, did your delegation meet with the Myanmar government?

Kathleen Newland: We traveled on tourist visas while in Burma and did not meet with government officials because we did not want to draw attention to what we were doing or the people we were meeting with.

Audience member: Why is Thailand so willing to work with UNHCR?

Francois Fouinat: As Thailand continues to improve its human rights situation, it is more willing to allow UNHCR to work with refugees within Thailand. There remain elements, like the military, which oppose any new influx of refugees and our presence.

Audience member: What has led the Women's Commission to take a different position on humanitarian aid than Daw Aung San Suu Kyii? Did you have different information than that which is available to her?

Kathleen Newland: Aung San Suu Kyii does have severe travel restrictions and is unable to meet with many of the NGOs at work in Burma. It was the success of some of these small aid programs which we observed, that led the Women's Commission to support carefully administered grass roots programs that strengthen civil society.

Audience member: The general picture is that displacement is in ethnic areas. How does aid reach internally displaced persons in these areas? Francois Fouinat: UNHCR is unable at this time to gain access those areas.

Kathleen Newland: First of all, displacement in Burma is widespread and not limited to those areas of ethnic minorities. It is very difficult to reach the areas of ethnic conflict. Some assistance is provided through discreet, church-based local networks within Burma. There are a few, limited efforts run from across the border in Thailand. The Women's Commission visited a backpack medic program which operates out of Mae Sot, Thailand and does work which, while desperately needed, continues to be very dangerous. Of the first group of fifty medics that crossed into Burma, two are missing and one of those is confirmed dead.

Report by Jennifer McElhinny