Thailand to deport Karen refugees in phases

Thursday, 28 January 2010 03:31 Usa Pichai

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - Activists have urged the Thai government to postpone repatriating hundreds of Karen refugee families, currently sheltered in the Kingdom, claiming it is still unsafe for them to return.

Lt Gen Thanongsak Apirakyothin, Commander of Thailand’s Third Army, accepted that there was a resolution at the meeting between Thai officials and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to repatriate Karen refugees, who fled to Thailand’s Thasongyang district of Tak Province since June 2009, in the wake of conflict between the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups.

“We will send back all the newcomers who came last year because there is no more fighting on the Burma side,” Thai News Agency on Tuesday said.

Gen Thanongsak said that the government had no policy to provide additional temporary shelters to the refugees, saying it has decided to gradually send them back to Burma.

Surapong Kongchanteuk, a Human Rights Committee member of Thailand’s Lawyer’s Council told Mizzima on Wednesday that the Thai Army has sent soldiers into the area to talk to villagers and to persuade them to go back home.

“However, Thai officials insisted on sending them back to Burma ‘voluntarily’ which still needs to be inspected by the related rights body. We are discussing the case with the Human Rights Committee of the Thai Senate,” he said.

“Besides, there are some refugees, who returned to Burma, but stepped on landmines, which are still found in the area. So, we are trying to urge the [Thai] government to postpone the repatriation,” he added.

Surapong said the Thai government gave the green signal to the army to deport Hmong refugees from Lao. More than 4,600 Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers were repatriated on December 28, despite international outcry including by UNHCR and the UN Secretary-General.

According to Surapong, 730 refugees from 146 families will be repatriated in February to Burma’s Karen State, near the Thailand border after thousands of them had already returned. The Thai Army claimed that they have reached an agreement with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an ethnic ceasefire armed group, to guarantee safety of these asylum seekers.

Rights activists have also urged the Thai government and the UNHCR to urgently chalk out a procedure to obtain proper consent from the villagers, over the possibility of returning to their villages or to ask if they want refuge in Thailand.

They [refugees] should not be forced back in keeping with respect for international law, activists said.