Burma crackdown spurs refugee alert

Published on Oct 18, 2002

The use of torture, rape, forced labour, extortion and summary executions in eastern Burma by government soldiers is continuing, and Thailand can expect a steady flow of internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to a recent assessment by Refugees International (RI).

"This year has seen a marked increase in the frequency of counter-insurgency operations in ethnic minority areas, leading in turn to an increase in the level of internal displacement," RI said.

IDPs' food stores are routinely destroyed or confiscated by the Burmese army, and the additional threat of starvation and illness is especially common. High rates of malnutrition and deaths from preventable illness have been reported by those able to secretly access IDPs, the refugee group said.

The report said the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) increased this year due to the frequency of counter-insurgency operations in ethnic-dominated areas, and the fact a solution is nowhere in sight.

"Since 1996, an estimated minimum of 1 million people living in the ethnic states that border Thailand have been displaced," RI said.

"The fact that 42 per cent of IDPs in eastern Burma choose to live on the run and in hiding rather than move to government-run relocation sites adds credence to the fact that many relocation sites resemble concentration camps," it said.

RI representative Veronika Martin and human rights lawyer Betsy Apple recently completed an assessment mission to the Thai-Burmese border, according to a statement given to The Nation yesterday.

The RI report said IDPs inside Burma can be divided into two categories: those living under the strict control of the Burmese government in "relocation sites", and those living in hiding in the jungle from the Burmese army. "Both options present a high risk of human rights abuses, a lack of food, and limited or no access to healthcare and education," it said.

RI quoted a recent report compiled by the Burma Border Consortium (BBC), saying more than 2,500 villages have been either destroyed, relocated, or abandoned, affecting 633,000 individuals over the last five years in eastern Burma.

The RI report also said that there are no guarantees that the IDPs will be protected from abuse by Thai authorities or receive humanitarian assistance.

The Thai government has tightly circumscribed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' role in protecting refugees so that, in effect, the agency is unable to carry out its protection mandate along the border with Burma, RI said.

The Nation

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