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NCGUB: News on Migrants & Refugees- 8 February, 2010 (English & Burmese)
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HEADLINES
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NEWS ON MIGRANTSRemaining migrant workers urged to go through national verification processNEWS ON REFUGEESIn Darkness, Karen Refugees Dread Forced Return to BurmaRights groups appeal to Thailand to halt repatriation of refugeesSome refugees repatriated by ThailandThai Govt Responds to Karen Landmine FearsThailand Begins Forced Repatriation of Karen RefugeesRefoulement Deferred: Still no durable solution for hosting refugees in Tha SongYang DistrictKaren deportations put on hold
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************************************************************NEWS ON MIGRANTS*************************************************************
Remaining migrant workers urged to go through national verification processMonday, 08 February 2010 14:31 S.H.A.N.
Officials from Thailand’s labor ministry, backed by those who have successfullycompleted the process, again urged migrant workers in Chiangmai to undergo the stillcontroversial national verification process yesterday.
Of more than 66,000 registered migrant workers in Chiangmai, 43,782 or roughlytwo-thirds, have submitted their completed national verification forms, said MsPhanthila Kaewboonruang of Chiangmai’s employment office told around 100workers who attended the seminar at the Chiangmai University.Out of the said 43,782, 74 have received their passports and 1,182 have beenapproved.The cost of getting a passport is B 4,000 ($ 124), excluding travel and accommodation,according to the officials:
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Visa B 500
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Health check B 600
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Social Insurance B 1,900
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Work permit B 1,000About half of the participants have applied for passports. The remaining half said theyhad yet to apply, as most of them had fled Burma during the 1996-1998 forcedrelocations of 1,500 villages in Southern and Eastern Shan State. “Even before thatwe did not have household registers, let alone ID cards,” one participant told SHAN.The Human Rights Development Foundation (HRDF), that had facilitated the seminar,said it would be sending a 5 point proposal to the Thai Government:
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To extend the 28 February 2010 deadline for submission of completednational verification forms
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To do away with the broker system
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To set up Burma’s national verification offices where the migrant workers are
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To launch greater publicity campaign among the workers
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To allow unregistered workers to registerChiangmai alone is said to have more than 100,000 unregistered workers. There areeastimatedly more than 2 million migrants from Burma in Thailand.http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2903:remaining-migrant-workers-urged-to-go-through-national-verification-process&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
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NEWS ON REFUGEES*************************************************************
In Darkness, Karen Refugees Dread Forced Return to BurmaBy ALEX ELLGEE Friday, February 5, 2010
THA SONG YANG, Thailand — Last night, under the light of the stars, I guidedmyself through the paddy field toward the flickering flames on the top of the hill.Dashing across a dirt path, I narrowly miss a Thai security bike and arrive at the NohBoe temporary refugee camp.
Immediately, I am whisked into a flimsy bamboo shelter to avoid the Thai soldiers,who the residents say are always circling the camp on patrol. Quickly, someone lightsa candle—a precious commodity in a place with no electricity—and various residentstell me of their heartache.“We can’t stay here but we don’t want to go back,” Saw Naing, a camp teacher, saysquietly as we sit on his hut floor.He explains that all the people in the camp are terrified to go back to Ler Per Her inKaren State because of the landmines that litter the area and the abuse they can expectto receive there from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an ally of theBurmese junta.“Everyone is afraid of the landmines. Before we left to come here there was so muchfighting, the DKBA has put them everywhere.”The Thai authorities told them that the area has been cleared of landmines, but hedoesn’t believe it. He said he suspects the Thais only went to one path that the DKBAsaid they had cleared, and did not inspect other areas.“They need to look over the whole area, not just the places that the DKBA have madefor them,” he said.The roar of an engine goes down the dirt path next to the hut and we quickly move tothe other side of the camp, passing a group of people talking emotionally by a fire.“They’re going back tomorrow, they’re very worried, they can’t sleep, so they’re justtalking about what they will do,” one man whispers in my ear.The Thai authorities had planned to enter the camp this morning and send 30 familiesback to the Ler Per Her area, but so far only 10 people from three families have beenrepatriated amid a growing outcry over the move.On Thursday, 29 US congressmen wrote a letter to Thai Prime Minister AbhisitVejjajiva requesting that Thailand halt the repatriation of the refugees. In the letter,they said that “these refugees will suffer horrific human rights abuses” if forced toreturn.Blooming Night, director of the Karen Woman’s Organization, told
The Irrawaddy
that it’s not clear what the Thai authorities want to do.“Many conflicting things are happening, so we can’t believe the Thailand army,” shesaid.“One minute they are doing one thing and then after a few minutes they are doinganother thing. We need to put more pressure on the Thai government to make surethat these refugees are not sent back.
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