US ends Myanmar refugee programme

The United States has wound up a special resettlement programme for Myanmar refugees in camps on the Thai-Myanmar border, the United Nations said Wednesday.

The last candidates for the US "group resettlement programme" were accepted on Jan 24, marking the end of the 9-year scheme.

The US initiated it in 2005 to ''accept as many Myanmar refugees as possible under simplified procedures'', said Vivian Tan, information officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bangkok.

''Since 2005, the United States has welcomed more than 73,000 Burmese who have resettled in towns and cities across the United States,'' said assistant secretary Anne Richard of the US Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

There are still an estimated 120,000 Myanmar refugees in the nine camps in Thailand, including about 40,000 who were not registered by the Thai authorities.

The remainder either did not apply for resettlement in the US or did not qualify as they were among the non-registered refugees, Ms Tan said.

Most of the refugees living in the border camps in Tak province are members of the Karen ethnic minority group. They fled to Thailand more than two decades ago to avoid a Myanmar military offensive in the Karen State.

''The end of this chapter does not mean that resettlement is closed completely,'' said Mireille Girard, UNHCR's representative in Thailand. ''UNHCR will continue to identify and submit refugees with specific protection needs on an individual basis to various countries.''

Another 19,000 Myanmar refugees from the Thai camps have been resettled in other countries including Australia, Canada, Finland and Japan in the last nine years, UNHCR said.

Myanmar has seen positive political developments since elected President Thein Sein came to power in March 2011, but the UNHCR has expressed concerns about security problems in the Karen State for returnees.

US wraps up group resettlement for Myanmar refugees in Thailand

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

MAE SARIANG, Thailand, January 29 (UNHCR) - One of the world's largest resettlement programmes recently came to an end in Thailand when UNHCR received the final expressions of interest from eligible Myanmar refugees who wish to start a new life in the United States.

The group resettlement programme was initiated in 2005, with the support of the Thai and US governments, to offer a durable solution to the tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar who found themselves in a protracted refugee situation and dependent on international assistance in the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Anne C. Richard, assistant secretary at the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, said that her country had welcomed and settled more than 73,000 refugees from Myanmar since 2005. "The United States is proud to have given a new start to these refugees. Resettled Burmese refugees have thrived in their new homes, and enriched their new communities. Many have become homeowners, small business owners and American citizens," she said.

"We expect several more thousand to arrive in the coming year as the programme winds down," she added. "This successful resettlement programme has reached its natural conclusion following the January 24, 2014 deadline for Burmese refugees to express their interest in resettlement to UNHCR."

The programme's pending closure was first announced and implemented in January last year in Mae La camp. It was subsequently rolled out to the other camps in different stages. Eligible refugees in each camp were given three months to decide whether or not to apply for resettlement to the US under the simplified procedures.

The process ended last Friday as the deadline for applications passed in the last three camps in Mae Hong Son province, namely Mae La Oon, Mae Ra Ma Ruang and Ban Mae Surin.

Over the past year, nearly 6,500 Myanmar refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have expressed interest in the US group resettlement programme - 2,500 more individuals than in 2012, an indication that many refugees had been waiting for the last chance before making a final decision to resettle or not.

Tun Myin, a 30-year-old father of three in Mae La Oon camp, was among the last refugees to express his interest last week. "We were waiting to see what people would do," he said. "Now all of my siblings are resettling, we don't want to stay behind by ourselves in the camp."

Keeping the family together was an important consideration for many. "Our parents have recently applied for the US and the children don't want to separate from their grandparents," said Aung Mya Khe, 39, also from Mae la Oon camp. Such decisions are never simple, and he is worried that his children may forget their Karen culture in the long run.

Access to higher education was another key factor in the decision to resettle. "Life for our children will be much improved in the US. In the camp they cannot progress beyond Grade 10 in school, and they cannot go to university in Thailand," said Thein Than Aye, a teacher and pastor in Mae Ra Ma Luang camp.

Tun Myin agreed, "There will be educational opportunities for my children and my wife in the US. I will do whatever job I am able to do."

UNHCR is working closely with the International Rescue Committee's Resettlement Support Centre and the International Organization for Migration to conduct resettlement processing until all applications have been reviewed and the approved cases are helped to depart Thailand.

In addition to the US departures, some 19,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand have gone to other resettlement countries, including Australia, Canada, Finland and Japan, in the last nine years. "The end of this chapter does not mean that resettlement is closed completely," said Mireille Girard, UNHCR's representative in Thailand. "UNHCR will continue to identify and submit refugees with specific protection needs on an individual basis to various countries. We are also working with the Thai government and resettlement countries to reunite families and make sure family members can be resettled together."

There are an estimated 120,000 Myanmar refugees remaining in the nine camps in Thailand, including more than 40,000 not registered by the Thai authorities.

The UN refugee agency has been working for years to secure a range of options and solutions for the refugees. It is conducting surveys in the camps to get a clearer profile of the registered and unregistered refugees, and to better understand their post-camp plans.

In the past two years, positive developments in south-eastern Myanmar have raised expectations that the refugees may be able to return home in the not too distant future. While UNHCR believes that conditions are not yet conducive for organized returns to take place at this moment, the agency is working with partners to prepare for this eventuality for those refugees who will decide to repatriate to Myanmar.

By Vivian Tan in Bangkok and Max McClellan in Mae Sariang, Thailand

68,000 undocumented migrants detained in 10 detention depots nationwide as at 6/1/2014?

Govt urged to overcome shortage of legal workers before roping in illegals

 By Alyaa Alhadjri

PETALING JAYA: The Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM) wants the government to address issues surrounding limited supply of legal workers before embarking on yet another crackdown against undocumented migrants in the country.

MBAM president Matthew Tee told theantdaily that while the association did not condone the practice of hiring undocumented migrants to work in construction sites, there were often “not enough” legal workers available to complete a project within a stipulated deadline.

“The government should understand the reasons behind the high demands for illegal workers.

“MBAM has consistently requested for the workers’ recruitment process to be simplified as delays would ultimately affect implementation of an ongoing (construction) project,” Tee said.

He was responding to the Home Ministry’s large-scale operation against undocumented migrants beginning Jan 21, after the end of a “grace period” given to both workers and their employers.

Tee also noted that the process to hire a legal foreign worker could take up to eight months, involving dealings with multiple government ministries and agencies fraught with red-tape.

“There was a time in the 90s when the government issued MBAM with a one-off quota system to bring in foreign workers in light of a similar crackdown on undocumented migrants. Some of the construction sites (at the time) were grounded,” Tee recalled.

However, in a Bernama report on Aug 5 last year Immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad was quoted as saying that the lead time to process visas and permits for foreign workers in the construction industry is 14 days and not eight months as claimed by MBAM.

Tee also urged the authorities to provide clear guidelines on future raids at construction sites as MBAM members, representing almost 90% of construction companies listed on Bursa Malaysia, were “seriously affected” in the past.

“Whenever there is news of raids, most of the workers, whether legal or illegal, will flee the work sites to avoid arrest.

“It is our (MBAM) understanding that all the workers, including the legal ones, will be detained unless they can prove that they have proper documentation,” Tee said, addingthere were instances where legitimate immigration papers of foreign workers were not accepted by enforcement personnel due to lack of coordination between the agencies concerned.

Tee said it was “common procedure” for employers to keep their workers' documents in the office instead of taking them to the construction sites.

“MBAM urges the authorities to be consistent in their procedure when conducting such raids. Don't just take our workers away,” he stressed.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had also reportedly said all 2.3 million foreign workers in 10 recognised sectors were required to apply for the new I-Kad identification document by the end of this year.

Zahid said the colour-coded I-Kad, which will cost a worker or his employer RM110, will be fitted with high-tech security features such as biometric fingerprint and Nexcode mobile data security. It will be issued in stages according to sectors.

Tee, in response to Zahid, urged the government to consider charging lower fees for the I-Kad as employers were already paying levies and other processing fees.

“As we all know, the construction industry can be quite labour-intensive, which means that if an employer employs 1,000 foreign workers, he has to pay an additional RM110,000 for these I- cards,” Tee said.

Meanwhile, the crackdown is also expected to once again highlight various human rights issues pertaining to the government’s treatment of undocumented migrants.

These issues include overcrowding and poor facilities in detention depots, Malaysia’s non-recognition of refugee status, high-handed action by the authorities involved in raids as well as a perceived bias towards protecting the interests of third-party agents involved in the recruitment process.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had on Jan 6 reportedly said there weresome 68,000 undocumented migrants detained in 10 detention depots nationwide at a daily cost of RM35 per person for food and administrative matters.

This translates to a total cost of RM2.38 million a day, RM71.4 million a month and an average of RM8.56 billion a year, notwithstanding medical expenses which Wan Junaidi said could raise the cost to RM75 per person. - The Ant Daily, 21/1/2014, Govt urged to overcome shortage of legal workers before roping in illegals

Posted by Charles Hector

Let bosses hire foreign workers directly

By Alyaa Alhadjri

KUALA LUMPUR: Eradicating middlemen companies involved in the recruitment of labour would result in a "win-win situation" for both prospective employers and their workers, labour activist Charles Hector said.

Hector told theantdaily that amendments made to the Employment Act 1955 have effectively changed the relationship between workers and their principal employers by recognising the role of outsourcing recruitment agencies as "contractor for labour". 

A Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers in its meeting on July 5, 2005 had, according to a joint statement signed by 90 trade unions and labour associations last year, agreed to the recruitment of foreign workers through outsourcing companies (now known as 'Contractor for Labour' in the amended Act).

Hector said this move effectively recognised such third-party companies to be legal employers for the workers, despite the fact that they are actually working for another principal “employer” in various sectors. 

He was commenting on the government's decision to do away with "corruption by proxy" as announced by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low on Sept 23.

"There is nothing wrong with having commission agents who provide a genuine service that adds value to a transaction but middlemen who do not add value to a transaction will only add unnecessary costs to doing business," Low reportedly said. 

The joint statement, which was submitted to the government in protest of amendments to the Act, also stated that these outsourcing companies recruited local and migrant workers on fixed-term contracts under terms and conditions usually less favourable than that of workers directly employed by principal companies.

Hector feels that reverting to the original system of direct employment of workers by the principal company will be beneficial to both parties. 

"Employers will have direct control on the recruitment of workers who meet the needs of their companies.

"Workers will also have the assurance of knowing who their prospective employers are before leaving for work in another country," said Hector who cited the process of recruiting foreign workers as an example.

He added that such a move will also help to reduce various costs involved in the recruitment process, a larger sum of which is paid to the third-party companies for their services. 

Labour lawyer A Sivanesan, meanwhile, said resistance against middlemen companies in the labour recruitment process was centred on the fact that workers are often shortchanged of their rights to benefits offered by the principal company. 

This, he said, includes the right to be a member of trade unions and assurance of compensation in the event of any workplace accidents. 

"It is not a legal offence [for third-party companies] to charge for services which they can offer," he said, adding that the government must also have policies in place to absorb the impact of changes made as a result of cutting out middlemen from the operational chain.

Sivanesan, who is Sungkai state assemblyman, cited the plight of farmers in his constituency who were initially awarded with a Temporary Occupational Licence (TOL) for their lands.

"They have been farming on the land for the past 50 years before the TOL was reviewed and awarded to a state-controlled body. 

"This development body subsequently leased the land to another third party who then went on to negotiate with the farmers who had no choice but to agree with stipulated terms," he said.

Sivanesan pointed out that such cases can be resolved by improving the functions of government agencies involved in developing land for farming and helping the farmers market their produce, instead of relying on a third party. 

While the government's decision to cut out "irrelevant" middlemen from the various sectors is laudable, implementation of such a move will require commitment and political will to withstand resistance from parties who may suddenly find their pockets running dry. - The Ant Daily, 29/9/2013, Let bosses hire foreign workers directly

Posted by Charles Hector at 12:55 AM

Migrant Care Condemns Indonesian Workers Shooting in Malaysia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An Indonesian non-profit organization named Migrant Care condemned shooting of three Indonesian migrant workers from East Nusa Tenggara in Malaysia in January 11. It has urged the government to take diplomatic steps such as sending protest note to the Malaysian government, downgrading diplomatic relations by withdrawing ambassador of Indonesia for Malaysia and declaring persona non grata upon ambassador of Malaysia for Indonesia, and urging the government to fulfill the rights of the victims and their family.

"And also to take investigative steps, as well as to solve this case through legal proceeding," Migrant Care Executive Director, Anis Hidayah, said in a written statement received by Tempo on Monday, January 20, 2014.

Migrant Care also urged the Malaysian government to immediately take responsibility of the shooting and investigate this case as well as other unsolved cases of shootings by the Royal Malaysia Police. "The Malaysian government must stop the killing of Indonesian migrant workers," Anis said.

Anis also urged other institutions to investigate this case. "We urged the National Commission of Human Rights, Suhakam Malaysia, and the House of Representatives to take investigative steps on this case," Anis said.

Three Indonesian migrant workers were shot dead by the Royal Malaysian Police in January 11. The victims are Wahab, 30, Sudarsono, 30, and Gusti Randa, 35. According to Consuler Chief of Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Johor Baru Malaysia, Sri Nirmala, the three migrant workers were shot dead after fighting the police when they were inspecting illegal migrant workers.

RIZKI PUSPITA SARI - Tempo.Com, 20/1/2014, Migrant Care Condemns Indonesian Workers Shooting in Malaysia

LEGO Foundation donates US$3 million to build a future for refugee children

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

LONDON, United Kingdom, January 24 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Friday welcomed a US$3 million donation from the LEGO Foundation that will help improve access to quality primary school education for more than 200,000 refugee children under the Educate a Child initiative.

The donation will fund UNHCR education programmes in Chad, Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Uganda and Yemen. These 12 countries have some of the largest refugee populations in the world and a primary school age population of more than 1.25 million children, with as many as 50 per cent out of school.

"The support of the LEGO Foundation, which shares a commitment to childhood learning and development, is a tremendous asset for UNHCR's education programme. The generous donation of funding, product and expertise will help us in our work to give refugee children access to the best possible education in some of the most challenging situations," said Amanda Seller, who heads UNHCR's private sector fund-raising section.

The LEGO Foundation will also tap into other areas of its business to support UNHCR by providing training for staff that draws on aspects of its education research programme, and aims to foster rich and motivating learning environments for children.

UNHCR will apply these learnings for refugee children in some of the most challenging humanitarian settings. The Foundation will also donate LEGO products to refugee children to enhance their play and learning. Over the years, LEGO has donated thousands of play boxes to UNHCR for forcibly displaced children across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Michael Renvillard, director of programmes and partnerships at the LEGO Foundation, said he regarded children as role models. "They are natural learners - curious, creative and imaginative. We know that play has a transformational role in learning across our lifespan and that it should be embraced, nurtured and stimulated. Supporting the Educate A Child programme through UNHCR, we hope to contribute to an improved quality of education"

Ensuring access to quality education for refugee children, keeping them in school and improving their learning achievement is a priority for UNHCR. Research shows that 40 per cent of all refugee children, more than 1 million, are not able to access school of any kind. Displacement means that these children can miss out on months or years of schooling and are denied opportunities to gain essential skills for their cognitive, social and emotional development.

Educate a Child

Norwegian-led Myanmar peace initiative's future unclear

A Thai soldier at a camp for Karen refugees on the Thailand-Myanmar border. Presently, up to 130,000 Burmese refugees are residing in various camps along the Thai borders, with many more undocumented. Photo by: Rusty Stewart / CC BY-NC-ND

Since its former military rulers started easing their grip on power in late 2010, Myanmar has been continuously engaging in various economic and development efforts with the rest of the world, including a peace initiative aimed to unify local groups in the conflict-ridden border areas that is now in danger of shutting down operations.

The Norwegian-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative, which started almost two years ago at the request of the Myanmar government, is likely to end soon — a huge decision but not surprising, as the program was actually put in place on a short-term basis, according to an insider.

“The initiative was always intended to be short-term, in order to build trust and confidence in — and, most importantly, to test — the peace process in Myanmar,” Ashley South, one of MPSI’s foreign consultants, told Devex. “When we started two years ago, the expectation was that MPSI would probably wind down after about a year, so in fact, we have stayed on longer than originally anticipated.”

MPSI came under the spotlight early last year, after the Peace Donor Support Group, a larger platform supporting the peace process in the country, released an internal review of the initiative a year after its launch. The report revealed that numerous challenges remain despite the efforts done by the initiative including lack of confidence in the peace process with local groups expressing their views regarding these programs as “buy[ing] peace” in support of the goals of the national government.

The report stated: “As a result [of minimal confidence in the political process], some non-state armed groups viewed large-scale humanitarian and development projects as attempts to ‘buy peace’ in support of the government’s political, social and economic goals.”

Not donor, nor implementer

These reported incidences of conflict not only increased the number of refugees especially in the border area of Myanmar and the neighboring nation of Thailand but also dragged the country’s development progress following its democratization. Presently, up to 130,000 Burmese refugees are residing in various camps along the Thai borders, with many more undocumented.

Some of the projects under the MPSI program include assistance to internally displaced communities in conflict-ridden areas in the country, infrastructure rehabilitation and services including water, sanitation and hygiene, and cultural preservation and educational programs, among others. But whether these efforts are successful or not remains a topic of debate.

South said the peace initiative is “neither a donor nor an implementing organization” as it only facilitates information and project guidelines for the local groups to implement.

“Everything we do is designed and implemented by local actors, with MPSI playing a facilitating role, linking local needs and peace process to international donors,” he explained.

The internal review stated this is precisely one of the challenges in making MPSI effective, after revealing that local organizations and even the non-state armed groups find it hard to articulate their needs, and even more so implement effectively the kind of projects they were struggling to write and propose to begin with.

In a previous op-ed published in the Myanmar Times, South echoed this and wrote that there should have been capacity-building mechanisms done at the local level prior or simultaneous to the implementation of these projects.

This is the tip of the iceberg, as PDSG itself also mentioned other controversies hounding the initiative, including lack of transparency in the process, suspicion over Norway’s economic motives and lack of commitment to the process in terms of project development, among others.

Shutdown unlikely — Norwegian NGO

Meanwhile, Norwegian People’s Aid — one of the international groups supporting MPSI — said the probability for the peace initiatives, as a whole, to be discontinued altogether is minimal, and this may only be a next step towards Myanmar’s long-term peace process.

“We trust that the MPSI’s activities will not be discontinued in any short term. It is possible and a current matter of discussion to integrate the MPSI within other initiatives coordinating the international support to the peace process,” Claudio Feo, NPA adviser for Southeast Asia, told Devex.

He added: “NPA believes that, should the peace process reach significant positive turning points, then it would be understandable to revise also the support mechanisms to the peace process.”

Details regarding the decision — or non-decision — will be laid out soon, according to South, that may affect the progress of Myanmar’s peace process.

“MPSI is planning to hold an event fairly soon, to share some of the lessons we have learned during two years of supporting and testing the peace process in Myanmar,” he concluded.

By Lean Alfred Santos

MALAYSIA : No foreign workers for fast-food outlets, says panel

The Special Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants (JKKA-PATI) has decided that fast-food concept restaurants will not be allowed to employ foreign workers.

The JKKA-PATI secretariat, in a statement issued after its meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Putrajaya today, said the decision was made to give priority to local residents in filling up such vacancies.

“The government views the matter seriously and fast-food concept restaurant operators have been urged to employ locals who are still interested in working at such places, it said.

JKKA-PATI said cooking in fast-food restaurants was quite routine, as compared to those which needed experience to prepare a wide variety of dishes.

“Fast food restaurants are still popular as a source of employment among young people such as school-leavers and university students to obtain exposure and income, even as part-timers in the food industry,” it said.

Also present at the meeting were Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hasan Malek, Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Karim and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Douglas Unggah Embas.

JKKA-PATI has also decided on several issues which included extending the government-to-government mechanism with Bangladesh, now being implemented in peninsular Malaysia to the Sarawak government to fill vacancies in the oil palm plantation sector. 

Its implementation in the peninsula had so far, generated positive impact, it said.

“The method of entry control, as well as security and health screenings by both countries is seen as being more systematic and addressed common problems on employing foreign workers,” added the statement.

Apart from that, JKKA-PATI said the Special Programme of Managing Illegal Immigrants (PKPP) which was being carried out at the Home Ministry One-Stop Approval Centre (OSC) will cease on Jan 20.

It also reminded employers who alleged being swindled by agents or middlemen during the 6P programme to present their cases at the OSC before the PKPP ended.

“It is hoped employers will approach the OSC fast to avoid further complications.

“After the programme has been terminated, the government will carry out stricter and continuous enforcement to ensure public security and order,” it said.

- Bernama

CM’s myopic view of migrant workers

FMT LETTER: From Rani Rasiah, via e-mail

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement that the minimum wage should be restricted to Malaysians only and not extended to migrant workers is hugely disappointing. His reasoning that extending the minimum wage to migrant workers would increase business costs as well as result in a net outflow of money is lame and totally unacceptable.

Employers are under no compulsion to hire migrant workers and if indeed they are too costly, then bosses should stop hiring them! Or if it is felt that SMEs can’t cope with a larger wage bill, then the government should subsidise the SMEs in some way instead of asking workers to make a sacrifice.

Workers’ rights are not exactly a priority with bosses, and thus workers look to the government to intercede on their behalf. Unfortunately, the federal government has shown itself to be complicit with employers in the exploitation of both Malaysian and migrant workers. It is truly regrettable that Lim Guan Eng doesn’t differ from the federal government in this matter.

Instead of addressing the demands of Malaysian workers for better wages and working conditions, the government has flooded the labour market with cheap migrant labour. This has severely curtailed the bargaining power of local labour, and created youth unemployment among unskilled, academically poor Malaysian youths, a situation that is a contributing factor to social problems.

Creating an income differential by denying migrant workers the minimum wage will not change this situation. In fact it will only encourage companies to employ foreign workers because it is cheaper. Lim Guan Eng’s remarks are thus shortsighted and harmful for Malaysian youths and workers as well.

The situation is no better for the more than four million migrant workers whose exploitation is sanctioned by government policies. It’s officially known that workers passports are unlawfully held by bosses, a situation that places them in an extremely vulnerable position, and that has led to all kinds of abuses, including the crime of trafficking.

The PSM is against the exploitation of workers. Cost-cutting should not be at the expense of workers, whatever their nationality. All workers should be paid the minimum wage without further delay. Stop discriminating by skin colour and nationality!

Accord labour its due dignity! Legislate policy in the interest of society!

The writer is PSM central committee member and coordinator of its migrant desk - FMT, 6/1/2013, CM’s myopic view of migrant workers

Fires in Burmese refugee camps in Thailand fuel pressure to return home

Burmese refugees set up tents and clean up debris a day after a fire hit Mae La refugee camp in northern Thailand's Tak province, on Dec. 29, 2013. Photo courtesy of The Border Consortium.

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Back-to-back fires that ravaged two refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border - killing one person and affecting 900 - have added to mounting pressure on the refugees to return home, amid talks on repatriating them as Myanmar opens up after half a century of brutal military rule.

Fires are a regular hazard in the nine camps that house some 130,000 refugees along the border. The Thai government forbids the use of materials that might suggest a more permanent stay - even though many of the camps have been around for more than two decades - so homes are built using highly flammable materials such as bamboo, thatch and eucalyptus.

Last March, a devastating fire swept through Ban Mae Surin camp, killing 37 people and leaving 65 percent of the camp homeless.

The latest fires, however, came at a time when opportunities to resettle in a third country are diminishing, and officials from both countries are talking about repatriating the refugees, many of whom fled war and persecution decades ago. Many international donors are also turning their attention to funding projects within the country, and the camps have been hit with reduced funding.

Sally Thompson, executive director of The Border Consortium (TBC), a non-government organisation (NGO) that has been working in the camps since the 1980s, said refugees’ future return to Myanmar should be voluntary, yet lately they feel they are being nudged out.

“When you get things like the fire, the reduction in services in the camps - it’s seen as a push factor. All these incidents served to put pressure and anxiety on the refugees that they’re actually being pushed into making decisions to go back,” she said.

Mitos Urgel from WEAVE, a small NGO that works mainly with female refugees from the camps, agrees. 

“Every day they face uncertainty, whether it’s about repatriation or the day-to-day struggle to earn a living. There’s no clarity on what the future will hold,” she said.

“(Fires) are not something new in the refugee camps, but because of talk of resettlement, funding going down and the reduction in the food basket, it’s making them feel really bad.”

URGENT NEEDS

The first blaze occurred on Dec. 27 in Tak province’s Mae La camp, the biggest Burmese refugee camp in Thailand with some 44,000 refugees, most of them ethnic Karens. A second fire swept Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, home to Karenni refugees, in Mae Hong Son province the next day, killing one woman. Both are in northern Thailand.

Thai authorities are currently conducting investigations as to how the fires started, but it is believed no foul play was involved. Oftentimes, fires in the camps are sparked by cooking accidents and quickly spread out of control because the huts are built close together of highly flammable materials.

Around 180 homes were damaged or destroyed by the fire or pulled down to prevent the fire from spreading, and 854 people were affected. Aid agencies say shelter and ongoing trauma counselling are the most urgent needs. 

“A fire is always bad because these people have so very little, yet whatever they’ve managed to put together and build as a family is gone in an instant. They’re having to rebuild from nothing,” Thompson said.

“Emergencies like this are really an acute reminder of how vulnerable the refugees are on a day-to-day basis and how they still do need ongoing support.”

Local Thai communities, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and other NGOs have provided support in this instance, but Thompson says it is now very difficult to hold donors’ interest in refugee camps as the focus is on the changes inside Myanmar.

As Myanmar reforms politically, donors are now looking at funding projects within the country or those that assist the refugees’ eventual return to Myanmar.

“That’s where the interest lies when in fact now is really time when we need to be preparing refugees here so that when the time comes for them to return, they’re in a good position in terms of skill sets, knowledge and understanding of the situation inside the country, and they will be able to go back and reintegrate with communities that never left,” she said.

Rebuilding is now under way and TBC anticipates the majority of reconstruction to be complete by the end January. The same flammable materials will be used as Thai authorities have not approved TBC’s request to use tin roofs, Thompson said. 

“The Thai policy is that the refugee camps are temporary, and in the current climate of an evolving situation inside Myanmar there is little willingness to revisit or change that policy,” she said.

International pressure on Burma, Thailand to deal with Rohingya issues

Following an international statement last week calling for the Burmese government to allow immediate humanitarian access to an impoverished Rohingya refugee camp in Arakan state, US-based international watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report in which it called on Thailand’s authorities to take greater care of Rohingya boatpeople and to take punitive action against any officials found complicit in smuggling operations.

Noting that many children had been separated from their parents while in detention in Thailand, HRW called for the Thai government to reunite Rohingya children and their families in “safe and open family shelters”.

The report noted that many of the boats which arrive on Thai shores carry unaccompanied Rohingya children.

“Rohingya children need safe, secure environments after fleeing violence in Burma and enduring the trauma of difficult journeys,” said Alice Farmer, children’s rights researcher at HRW. “Yet Thailand locks up many who reach its shores, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking and further abuse.”

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, an NGO that defends Rohingya rights, confirmed that it was general practice for Thai immigration officials to separate male and female boatpeople when processing them.

“Some children become unaccompanied in government shelters as their male relatives are kept in immigration detention centres,” she said.

“Indefinite detention is not a solution, in particular for children, and alternatives should be found,” said Lewa.

HRW said that new research indicates abuses by Thai authorities and called for punishments against officials found complicit in such cases.

The report follows a recent in-depth article by news group Reuters which accused Thai naval immigration officials of involvement in the trafficking of Rohingya boatpeople to Malaysia.

“Thousands of Rohingya have passed through one of at least three ‘trafficking camps’ in southern Thailand, where some have been held for ransom or sold to fishing boats and farms as manual laborers, according to Reuters and other media reports in December 2013,” read the HRW report.

“The reports allege that Thai immigration officials collaborated with the traffickers by transferring Rohingya held in Thailand to the custody of the traffickers,” the report said. “A high-ranking police official confirmed to journalists the existence of the camps and acknowledged an informal policy called ‘option two’, which relies on smuggling networks to expel Rohingya migrants, including asylum seekers, from Thailand. The United Nations has called for an investigation into the reports Thai immigration officials moved refugees from Burma into human trafficking rings.”

HRW went on to say that if the Burmese government refuses to accept the return of stateless Rohingya migrants, the Thai government should release them as “there is no legitimate reason to detain people solely for immigration violations who cannot be repatriated”.

No Thai immigration authority could be reached for comment when contacted by DVB on Tuesday.

Thai naval immigration authorities reacted to the Reuters report in December by filing a defamation suit against a local website, Phuketwan, which ran coverage of the alleged smuggling operation and which has routinely published details of Rohingya boatpeople washed up on Thai shores.

Speaking to DVB on Tuesday, Phuketwan editor Alan Morison said the investigating officer in the case has said he is compiling a summary for the public prosecutor in mid-January.

Morison said that despite calls by international media and human rights groups to withdraw the charges, the commander of the Thai naval authority refuses, saying that the Phuketwan report has damaged Thailand’s image.

Meanwhile, Morison said, reports continue to surface of Rohingya boatpeople arriving in Phuket and other locations in southern Thailand, apparently en route to Malaysia to find work.

Phuketwan reported that 139 Rohingya Muslims arrived on Phuket on 25 December, and Morison said that two further instances of boats carrying perhaps 200 migrants each from Burma (or Bangladesh) had been reported this week.

The cool season in Southeast Asia from October to February dictates calmer seas and is usually the time when Rohingya and other would-be migrants take to the high seas in boats, after paying brokers to transport them to Malaysia.

According to Chris Lewa of Arakan Project, November saw the highest number of Rohingya boatpeople recorded to date.

“Some 9,000 Rohingya left from only northern Arakan state in November 2013,” she said, noting that her NGO estimates that between 65,000 and 70,000 Rohingya fled persecution in northern Arakan state over the past year, and that those figures did not include other ports of exit such as Sittwe, where Arakan Project has no data.

Lewa said that most Rohingya currently pay a fee of between 100,000- 200,000 kyat (US$100- $200) to a broker before leaving Arakan state, but must then pay an additional fee of 65,000- 75,000 baht (up to $2,500) to smugglers in Thailand.

On 30 December, the US, the EU, Switzerland and Turkey issued a joint-statement saying that the “international community” is deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian situation faced by Rohingya IDPs in Taung Paw camp in Myebon Township.

Noting that the deteriorating living conditions in the camp have created an inhumane environment for camp residents, the statement said that the 752 families living in the camp have faced “very poor living conditions, including lack of safe drinking water, limited healthcare services, malnutrition, and restrictions on movement outside the camp” for the past 14 months.

It further added that the international community has received credible reports that local community members in Myebon have harassed relief workers and impeded the access of humanitarian supplies to the camp.

“These actions are unacceptable,” the joint-statement read, and called for the Burmese authorities to ensure greater security for and access to the camp’s displaced Rohingya.

In February last year, UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana remarked after a visit to Taung Paw that it “felt more like a prison than a camp”.

Malaysian Police Rescue 10 Burmese Hostages

State police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said that a couple holding cards from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees were also detained in the operation.

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(KUALA LAMPUR The Irrawaddy) - Police in Malaysia’s Penang State rescued 10 Burmese nationals, including two children, from a house where they were being held for ransom, the Malaysian news agency Bernama reported on Monday.

The hostages, aged eight to 22, are believed to be victims of a crime syndicate that smuggled them across the border from Thailand and demanded payment for their freedom from their families in Burma.

At a press conference on Monday, state police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said that a couple holding cards from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees were also detained in the operation.

“The couple is believed to be agents of the syndicate, which has been operating for the past several months,” he said.

Source: The Irrawaddy

Economic Development Not a Cure-All for Ethnic Conflict: Burma Watcher

A refugee makes a sheet of leaves for the roof of her house in Ei Htu Hta refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy)

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Burmese government officials have expressed hopes that economic development in the country’s resource-rich frontier areas might help bring an end to decades-long civil wars with ethnic armed groups. But that approach could be problematic, according to an independent consultant who meets regularly with the government and armed groups.

“I think Minister Aung Min understands the need to go beyond an economic agenda,” said Ashley South, a consultant for the Norwegian-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI), which formed at the request of Burma’s government last year to boost international support and build confidence in the peace process. Aung Min is a President’s Office minister who is leading the government peace negotiation team.

“But that said, I think generally on the government side there is an assumption that the main problem for ethnic communities is underdevelopment and poverty. I think the main idea is that if they can get money and resources and development into ethnic areas, that will address the main grievances of ethnic communities. I think Aung Min is smarter than that, but mostly on the government side, that is their view, and I think it’s incorrect.”

South, who has been following Burmese affairs for the past two decades, was speaking in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Friday, at an event focused on the humanitarian situation for Burmese people who have become refugees in Thailand as a result of civil wars in their homeland.

Burma’s government is currently attempting to negotiate a nationwide ceasefire deal with ethnic armed groups, many of which have fought since the late 1940s for greater political autonomy.

As part of the peace talks, leaders of armed groups have been offered stakes in development projects. While government officials have suggested that economic gains in poorly developed frontier areas might decrease interest in fighting among armed groups, some ethnic observers have said that development and aid projects are short-term fixes that cannot replace political dialogue as a means of ending armed struggle.

South said livelihoods in some conflict areas have improved, but that key political issues had not yet been addressed in the peace process. “The great challenge in the peace process is how to move to political dialogue,” he said. “Another is how to include a wide range of stakeholders, such as civil society organizations and conflict-affected communities.”

Among those stakeholders are Burmese refugees who fled to Thailand, India, China and other countries to escape the fighting. Over 1 million people from eastern Burma alone have been displaced since 1996, according to The Border Consortium (TBC), a humanitarian agency that has provided aid to refugees on the Thai-Burma border for more than 20 years.

Since the Burma government has signed individual ceasefires with a majority of armed groups, the idea of repatriating refugees on the Thai-Burma border has been raised. Funding to refugee camps from international donors has been reduced or cut over the past year, while preparations have been made to help refugees return home.

However, most refugees on the border say they do not believe it is safe yet to return home, as the government army remains stationed in or around many of their villages. “The idea of returning home is so problematic,” said South. “The IDPs [internally displaced persons] and refugees are not being consulted about the peace process.”

South also questioned the government army’s commitment to the peace process, citing on-and-off fighting in Kachin State and Shan State. Clashes have been ongoing in both states over the past two years, despite peace talks.

Burma to repatriate workers from Borneo shipyard drama

Some 97 Burmese ship workers had to hide inside this godown at the Shin Yang shipyard in Miri, Sabah-Sarawak, in fear for their lives after a gang of Indonesian workers attacked them. (PHOTO: DVB)

Twenty-one of the 97 Burmese migrant workers who had locked themselves in a warehouse at a Borneo shipyard after being set upon by a rival gang of workers are due to be flown home this weekend.

The 21 will be the first of several groups to be repatriated, according to Soe Win, the labour attaché at the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, who said he engaged in two days of negotiations in order to guarantee the Burmese workers’ safety.

Soe Win told DVB that he had spoken to Malaysian authorities, the owner of the shipping firm, and representatives of the employment agency that originally sent the Burmese to Sabah-Sarawak to work at the Shin Yang Shipyard in the port of Miri.

The Burmese labour attaché further said that the two Indonesian workers who allegedly instigated the mass brawl on 23 December have been charged by the Miri police after the shipping company filed a complaint.

“Now we are preparing to send 21 workers home on 4- 5 January,” said Soe Win. “We have already booked their air tickets.”

He said that nine Burmese workers have requested continuing working in Borneo because they need the money to support their families; however those workers will be transferred to a different shipyard owned by the same company.

The other 67 workers [conflicting testimony says 68] are to be provided shelter and food rations by the company until they are all repatriated group by group.

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Naw Naw, one of the Burmese workers currently sheltering in Miri, said the process of repatriation was being hampered because the shipping firm was requesting compensation for the loss of labour it has suffered.

“They are asking compensation from us,” he said. “But we quit this job not because we don’t want to work, but because our lives were in danger.”

Some 300,000 Burmese are officially working in Malaysia at the present time, with another 40,000 thought to be living and working there illegally.

Refugees Struggle With Rations Cut

Refugees on the Thai-Burma border struggle to find ways to cope with cuts to their food rations officially introduced to camps in December 2013.

Naw Htoo lives in Umpiem Mai Refugee camp south of the Thai Burma border town of Mae Sot. Naw Htoo said that the food ration cuts would mean her family would struggle for food.

“The rations is not enough for us – rice, cooking oil, charcoal, salt and fish paste.”

Naw Htoo’s family is large.

“We are ten and six have had their rations cut to eight kilos of rice. This is down from 12 kilo. The first month of the cuts we coped because we had reserves. For sure we will suffer next month.”

Naw Htoo’s said the cuts meant her family had to scavenge for food in nearby jungle areas.

“We have to find wood to cook with it when we don’t have enough charcoal. I don’t remember the last time we had meat. If we have meat we can only afford to buy the bones and dried fish. The last good meal we had was at church during Christmas.”

Naw Htoo said her husband had to risk leaving the camp to find work to help supplement the family’s food.

“My husband has to try to find work as a daily labourer. He risks being arrested.”

Naw Htoo said she has taken to growing vegetables around the house and foraging in the jungle

The 130,000 refugees on Thailand’s border with Burma are facing further food shortages, with the monthly rice ration for being slashed from 12 to eight kilograms. It is the latest cut to the ration, which previously stood at 15kgs in 2012.

The Border Consortium (TBC), a coalition of NGO’s that has administered aid to the camps for over two decades, said that the reduction in rations was due to a drop in funding from donors.

In an interview with The Irrawadddy, Mark Bruce, a spokesman for TBC, said eight kilograms was not enough. “We know this. The change in rations is not a good thing,” he said.

Mr Bruce added that the rice cuts did not apply to children, the elderly or the sick and that the rice ration for children under five years old has actually been raised to 13.5 kgs, although this was still lower than the 15kgs refugees were getting before the cuts started.

“In order to ensure that the community’s basic needs are met, TBC is continuing to maintain a standard monthly ration while introducing four staged levels of assistance,”

Under the staged assistance plan, households are categorized according to their level of need from, self-reliant, standard, and vulnerable to most vulnerable. TBC said that households that were self-reliant would see the cut in rice rations for adults.

Joint Secretary of the Karen Refugees Committee, said she supported the notion of encouraging self-sufficiency of refugees at the camp, but nevertheless expressed concern over the cuts. “This is a concern for us, we have to wait and see how this will effect people.”

Legal Pariahs

TBC said that they would increase job opportunities and vocational training as a way to increase refugee’s self-sufficiency, but some humanitarians believe this is unrealistic, as the majority of refugees are unregistered and lack the necessary documents to work outside the camps, thus leaving them with no legal protection.

And even if they can go home, conditions are more basic in Eastern Burma than they are in the camps.

According to household surveys in rural areas of South East Myanmar conducted by TBC in the past, just 27% of families’ access protected water sources. TBC’s surveys also indicated “59% of households are impoverished while a comparable proportion has recorded inadequate food security.”

In a 143 page report called ‘Ad Hoc and Inadequate: Thailand’s Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers’, Human Rights Watch criticized Thailand’s refugee policies as causing refugees of all nationalities to be “exploited and unnecessarily detained and deported.”

“Thailand presents Burmese refugees with the unfair choice of stagnating for years in remote refugee camps or living and working outside the camps without protection from arrest and deportation,” said Bill Frelick, HRW’s Refugee Program director in a report last year focusing on the refugee situation in Thailand.

Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not have a refugee law or functioning asylum procedures. It regards refugees living outside of official camps as being in the country illegally.

“While these camps offer some element of protection, by remaining in the camps without any source of real income, refugees become completely dependent on aid agencies.” Human Rights Watch said in the 2012 report.

Fires in two refugee camps in Thailand leave 600 homeless; IRC responds

SangOver 100 homes were destroyed in a fire that blazed through the Mae La refugee camp on Dec. 27. Photo: Suchart phaijit/IRC

The International Rescue Committee is assisting some 600 Burmese refugees who were left homeless after fires broke out in two refugee camps in Thailand last week. At least one person was killed, several injured and over 100 houses were destroyed.

On December 27, a fire broke out in the Mae La camp in Tak Province near the border with Myanmar (also known as Burma). The camp is home to over 46,000 mostly ethnic Karen refugees. The next day a fire erupted in the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, in Mae Hong Son province, which is home to some 13,000 mostly Karenni refugees. 

“We are saddened by this tragedy which has displaced so many people,” said Christine Petrie, the director of IRC programs in Thailand. “This is a sad reminder of the refugees’ vulnerable living conditions. Families lost all their possessions in a matter of minutes.”

The charred ruins of homes in the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp. Refugees' houses are made from bamboo with thatched roofs, and fire can spread quickly. Photo: Supak Charoenpornkul/IRC

The IRC provides healthcare, water and other services to refugees in nine camps located on the Thailand-Myanmar border. After the fires, the IRC distributed mosquito nets, cooking utensils, hygiene articles and other essential items to displaced refugees, most of whom are now staying with friends and relatives. 

“We are doing everything we can to swiftly respond to the needs of those who lost their homes," Petrie said. “An IRC health team is visiting each displaced family to provide counseling. Our legal assistance team is also working with the Thai authorities to help identify displaced families and to assist with interpretation and interviewing witnesses in order to reveal the cause of the fires.” 

Refugees live in houses made from bamboo with thatched roofs and once a fire erupts, it can spread fast. Last March, a blaze at the Ban Mae Surin camp killed 37 people and left 2,300 people homeless. 

“The next step will be to clear the debris and help the residents rebuild their homes,” Petrie said. “This was indeed a tragic end to 2013.”

No foreign workers for fast-food outlets, says panel

The Special Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants (JKKA-PATI) has decided that fast-food concept restaurants will not be allowed to employ foreign workers.

The JKKA-PATI secretariat, in a statement issued after its meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Putrajaya today, said the decision was made to give priority to local residents in filling up such vacancies.

“The government views the matter seriously and fast-food concept restaurant operators have been urged to employ locals who are still interested in working at such places, it said.

JKKA-PATI said cooking in fast-food restaurants was quite routine, as compared to those which needed experience to prepare a wide variety of dishes.

“Fast food restaurants are still popular as a source of employment among young people such as school-leavers and university students to obtain exposure and income, even as part-timers in the food industry,” it said.

Also present at the meeting were Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hasan Malek, Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Karim and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Douglas Unggah Embas.

JKKA-PATI has also decided on several issues which included extending the government-to-government mechanism with Bangladesh, now being implemented in peninsular Malaysia to the Sarawak government to fill vacancies in the oil palm plantation sector. 

Its implementation in the peninsula had so far, generated positive impact, it said.

“The method of entry control, as well as security and health screenings by both countries is seen as being more systematic and addressed common problems on employing foreign workers,” added the statement.

Apart from that, JKKA-PATI said the Special Programme of Managing Illegal Immigrants (PKPP) which was being carried out at the Home Ministry One-Stop Approval Centre (OSC) will cease on Jan 20.

It also reminded employers who alleged being swindled by agents or middlemen during the 6P programme to present their cases at the OSC before the PKPP ended.

“It is hoped employers will approach the OSC fast to avoid further complications.

“After the programme has been terminated, the government will carry out stricter and continuous enforcement to ensure public security and order,” it said.

- Bernama

Aussie aid cuts hit Thai clinic for poor

A refugee from eastern Myanmar and her child waiting to see a doctor at the Mae Tao clinic in the western Thai border town of Mae Sot. (Getty Images)

Up to 400,000 people in Myanmar will be affected after the Abbott government cut its aid to a Thai clinic, its director says.

Australian funding cuts for a refugee clinic in western Thailand threaten to affect up to 400,000 people nearby in bordering Myanmar.

A federal government decision to cut $420,000 from the aid given to the Mae Tao Refugee clinic has affected its long-term ability to provide assistance, says the clinic's director, Cynthia Muang.

The cut, which became effective on January 1, represents 25 per cent of the clinic's budget.

"This is really disappointing and very stressful because of this talk of (having) enough (funding) for all the staff and patients. It's very stressful," Dr Muang told AAP.

The clinic, established in 1988 to provide health care for Burmese students fleeing a military crackdown in Yangon, now has a case load of 150,000 patients a year, with a staff of 700.

Hardest hit by the funding cuts is the cross-border mobile health program - or backpack workers - whose outreach services cover about 400,000 people living in the Myanmar states of Karen and Mon, bordering Thailand, says Dr Muang.

The mobile health workers have long played a key role in providing vital services to communities often with little immediate access to health care, and in past years, in the midst of fighting between the military and Karen fighters.

Nowadays, the backpackers' work centres on providing treatment for mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, as well as public health advice.

Dr Muang said Australian funding had supported the mobile health program, but now "it is challenging for the border group". The teams also provide training and aid to internally displaced people from conflict with the Burmese Army. "So this (funding cut) affects our network and our partners as well," she said.

The Federal Government announced in 2013 cuts in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) budget of $4.5 billion in overseas aid over the next four years.

Dr Muang, in Australia in November to receive the Sydney Peace Prize Award, said appeals to Australian officials failed to have the budget cut reversed.

The Australian Embassy in Bangkok has provided a grant of A$10,000 to assist in the clinic's work in child-protection programs along the border regions.

Dr Muang said the immediate funding crisis had been averted following a "private" donation from an overseas benefactor.

"For 2014 the (clinic) can manage funding or other funding sources, but for the long term it will be more challenging," she said.

"But we're still struggling with (efforts to) improve other facilities, or building (improvements). But for the running costs we should be OK this year (2014)," she added.

International donors are increasingly placing funding directly into Myanmar through Yangon since the country undertook political reforms but there is often little adequate infrastructure to reach communities in border regions.

But Dr Muang says the workload is continuing to increase for the clinic despite the political changes.