ASIA/THAILAND - The dramatic "limbo" of Burmese refugees

Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) – More than 90,000 Burmese refugees are living in nine refugee camps organised by the Thai government along the Thai-Myanmar border and, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number continues to grow due to the ongoing civil conflict in Myanmar. Thailand did not adhere to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no specific national legal framework for the protection of urban refugees and asylum seekers. Many Burmese refugees are stuck in Thailand in a legal and social "limbo", while the government does not grant them permission to travel to third countries.
According to the NGOs assisting refugees, some 1,100 people who have received UNHCR approval to resettle in the United States and other countries, have not been allowed to leave Thailand either.
Those who have been granted "refugee" status by the UNHCR in Thailand are receiving assistance from the International Organization for Migration, waiting to be allowed to leave the country. But neither they, nor all others who do not yet have official status, can move out of the camps, which are closed with fences and surveillance: they reside inside, in very difficult conditions, without income, without permission to work in Thailand, without health care and education. The area concerned is Mae Tao Phae, in the Thai district of Mae Sot, on the border with Myanmar. The UNHCR office in Thailand confirmed that only the Thai government has the exclusive authority to decide who is eligible for international departure and that it is responsible for managing the refugee camps.
The NGO 'Border Consortium', which provides food, clothing and support to some 87,000 Burmese refugees in nine camps, estimates that more than 20,000 people have fled Myanmar to Thailand for fear of political persecution after the 2021 coup and about half of them have contacted the UNHCR.
Among the humanitarian organizations working on the ground, Caritas Thailand provides emergency aid to Burmese refugees in Mae Sariang district. Caritas reported the presence of sick children 'in need of hospital treatment' in the refugee camps. Through Caritas, the Thai diocese of Chiang Mai has delivered 3.2 tons of rice, two thousand cans of canned fish and 400 kilos of dried fish to several refugee camps. Caritas is also currently supporting more than 5,000 refugees in parishes near the Thai-Myanmar border.
The Thai Catholic Church has called on the political institutions to take charge of the situation: Msgr. Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, Bishop of Chiang Mai, encouraged them to find solutions for the refugees and "make them feel included and welcome". "We are all aware of the plight of our neighbours, brothers and sisters who knock on our doorstep, seeking refuge," he said.
An appeal also came from the Karen Peace Support Network and other civil society groups urging them to 'respond to the needs of the refugees, uphold their human rights and ensure their safety', while they are strictly confined behind fences, in a situation of increasing degradation.
On 28 June, parliamentarians from ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which both Thailand and Myanmar are members) urged the new Thai government to heed the calls of civil society "to reform refugee policies and be more compassionate". (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 14/7/2023)

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