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(draft) Open Letter
To National Security Council, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Related to repatriation of refugee at the temporary shelter at Nong Bua village,Tambon Mae Usus, Tha Song Yang district, Tak.As a result of skirmishes between Karen National Union (KNU) and combined forces of DemocraticKaren Buddhist Army (DKBA) and Burmese government in June 2009, more than 3,500 Karen refugeeshave been forced to seek refuge in the district of Tha Song Yang, Tak, Thailand. More than half of themwere children and the rest were women and older persons. They have been staying at the temporaryshelters in Nong Bua and Usuta villages in Tha Son Yang since then.On 27
January 2010, Colonel Nopphadol Wathcharajitboworn, Commander in Chief of Scout DepartmentSpecial Force 35, called a meeting of the army, United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees(UNHCR), Thai Burma Border Committee (TBBC) and leaders of the Karen asylum seekers being hostedat Nong Bua village, Tambon Mae Usu, Tha Song Yang district. It was aimed to ways to push theremaining 1,500-1,600 refugees back to Burma safely. The Thai military claims the repatriation shall bevoluntary. They insist that safeguards have been put in place to ensure safety of the returned refugees andcompliance with international standards.But according to a statement by Karen Women Organization (KWO), the area to which the refugees aresupposed to return is not at all safe. In recent months, five refugees from the area have been either injured or killed by landmines when slipping back into Burma to look after livestock they left behind. Thisincluded a 13-year-old boy whose leg was blown off in August last year, and a woman who was 8 months pregnant had her foot blown apart on January 18, 2010 read the statement. KWO further confirmed thataccording to their source, the repatriation shall commence on 5 February and by 15 February, all of therefugees must have been pushed back.As representatives from civil society, academics, students, activists, NGOs, artists and Thai public, we arevery concerned about the potential impacts as consequences of such repatriation done in haste. As armed
conflicts still linger on in Burma, we cannot rest assured the refugees can be safely resettled in their homeland in the near future.The numerous landmines planted along the border area shall certainly and substantially compromise therefugees safety. And forcing refugees back to an area where they might be subjected to fatal persecutionconstitutes an expulsion and is a breach of internally accepted non-refoulement principle.Initially, we urge related Thai authorities including the National Security Council, Ministry of Interior andMinistry of Foreign Affairs, to suspend any action to push the refugee back pending participatory andopen investigation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding thewillingness of the refugees to return to their homeland. Also, concrete measures have been to meted outand implemented to ensure the refugees return to their homeland safely and with dignity as required byinternational standards.To ensure overall transparency and accountability in this matter, concerned civil society organizations,media, NGOs and organizations working on Burma issues, should be consulted regularly. The attemptshall also help to enhance efforts to develop standard procedures concerning voluntary repatriation with anemphasis on safety of the returned refugees.We look forward to receiving creative response from concerned authorities and organizations. The morethe gaps of communication are bridged, the better the chance for collaboration to solve the problem.Last but not least, we believe that fully participatory process will take us to mutually agreeable solutions based on the respect of dignity and a right to life of all human beings.With respect to the principle of rights of human being1 February 2010
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