issue 30 April 2008

Burma’s displaced people

plus our general articles section and regular contributors: UNHCR, Brookings-Bern, RAISE Initiative, NRC, IDMC and RSC

Published by the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Steve Elliott Steve Forced Migration Review from Forced Migration Review provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and the ideas between researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, editors and those who work with them. It is FMR encourages organisations and individuals to share their expertise and experience so that others published in English, Arabic, Spanish might benefit. But how do you share research findings, lessons and examples of good practice when and French by the Refugee Studies any dissemination of information might put you, your staff and your partners – and other local people – Centre, University of Oxford. FMR was at risk? launched in 1998 in partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council. FMR is no stranger to this problem but this issue’s feature section on Burma has, not surprisingly, proven more sensitive in this respect than any other we have worked on. We are therefore all the more grateful to our authors for their contributions and to all those who are helping to disseminate this issue around Editors the world. Marion Couldrey & Maurice Herson Special thanks go to Inge Brees, guest editor for the Burma feature section, whose assistance has been Assistant Editor (Arabic edition) invaluable. We would also like to thank those agencies that have provided funding specifically for this issue: DanChurchAid, DFAIT Canada, International Rescue Committee, UK Department for International Musab Hayatli Development and ZOA Refugee Care. Coordinator We are publishing this issue in Burmese as well as our usual four languages: English, Arabic, French and Heidi El-Megrisi Spanish. If you would like more copies or could help distribute copies in any of these languages, please email us at [email protected]. Forced Migration Review The English edition of this issue is online at www.fmreview.org/burma.htm. We would be very grateful if you Refugee Studies Centre could forward this link to anyone you think might be interested – and include details of this Burma issue in Department of International Development any relevant resource listings. Many thanks. University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, All other language editions can be found via our website at www.fmreview.org Oxford OX1 3TB, UK Email: [email protected] We understand that unfortunately some of our regular readers did not receive the last issue of FMR, with Tel: +44 (0)1865 280700 its feature theme on humanitarian reform. If you did not receive that issue but would still like us to send it Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721 to you, please let us know. Alternatively, it is available on our website. Skype: fmreview Forthcoming issues: Website n FMR 31: feature theme ‘Climate change and environmental displacement’, www.fmreview.org due out September. Details at www.fmreview.org/climatechange.htm. n FMR 32: feature theme ‘Statelessness’, due out January 2009. The call for articles is at Copyright and disclaimer www.fmreview.org/statelessness.htm. Deadline for submissions: 6 October 2008. Opinions in FMR do not necessarily reflect n FMR 33: feature theme ‘Protracted crises’, due out May 2009. The call for the views of the Editors, the Refugee articles will go online in due course at www.fmreview.org/forthcoming.htm Studies Centre or the University of Oxford. Any FMR print or online material As usual, each issue will have space for a range of articles in addition to the feature theme. We welcome may be freely reproduced, provided that articles on any subject relating to forced migration and are particularly keen to publish more articles acknowledgement is given to the source reflecting the perspectives of individuals and communities directly affected by displacement. Please email and, where possible, the FMR URL and/or us with your proposals. the article-specific URL. We welcome If you would like to receive email notification of new calls for articles and posting of latest issues, email us comments on the content and layout to request our occasional email alerts. of FMR – please email, write or use the feedback form on our homepage. With our best wishes for your work. Marion Couldrey & Maurice Herson Designed by Editors Art24 www.art-24.co.uk We are grateful for support received in 2007–08 from: International Organization for Spanish Agency of Printed by Austrian Development Agency Migration, Iraq International Cooperation Image Production International Rescue Swiss Agency for Development www.imageproduction.co.uk Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement Committee and Cooperation (SDC) ISSN 1460-9819 Catholic Relief Services Islamic Relief Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Concern Worldwide Front cover photo: Affairs UNDP BCPR DanChurchAid Villagers fleeing after learning of Norwegian Refugee Council UNDP Sudan, Governance and approach of Burmese army soldiers. Danish Refugee Council Rule of Law Unit Picture provided by the Free Burma OCHA Displacement Protection Rangers, which provides media free of Department for International and Support Section UNFPA Development (DFID) charge to help the people of Burma. OCHA Humanitarian Reform UNHCR DFAIT Canada Support Unit UNICEF DHL Qatar Charity Women’s Commission for Feinstein International Centre, RA International Refugee Women and Children Tufts University Reproductive Health Access, World Food Programme Government of Qatar Information and Services in World Vision Australia International Federation of Red Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative World Vision International Cross and Red Crescent Societies Save the Children UK ZOA Refugee Care contents

Karen voices on resettlement Burma’s displaced people The Karen Women’s Organisation, with Sarah Fuller and Eileen Pittaway ...... 45 Forced displacement of Burmese people Inge Brees ...... 4 Educational change in a protracted refugee context Marc van der Stouwe and Su-Ann Oh ...... 47 Burma: in urgent need of change Douglas Alexander...... 6 To Sheffield with love Patricia Hynes and Yin Mon Thu...... 49 The international community’s Responsibility to Protect Kavita Shukla ...... 7 Additional resources ...... 52 Landmines: reason for flight, obstacle to return Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan...... 9 General articles

Forced relocation in Burma’s former capital Palestine refugees in the contemporary context: Donald M Seekins ...... 10 a view from UNRWA Under attack: a way of life Karen Abu Zayd...... 53 David Eubank...... 10 Improving Kenya’s response to internal displacement State of terror: women at risk Alex Otieno ...... 55 The Karen Women’s Organisation...... 12 GBV in post-election Kenya Carving out humanitarian space Jane Some...... 56 Jean-François Durieux and Sivanka Dhanapala...... 13 Brazil: ten years of refugee protection Defining ‘forced migration’ in Burma...... 16 Maria Beatriz Nogueira and Carla Cristina Marques ...... 57 Humanitarian aid to IDPs in Burma: activities and debates Counter trafficking in Japan Ashley South ...... 17 Naoko Hashimoto ...... 58 Supporting IDP resistance strategies Medical examinations within EU asylum procedures Poe Shan K Phan and Stephen Hull...... 18 Erick Vloeberghs and Evert Bloemen...... 60 Responses to eastern Burma’s chronic emergency Tertiary refugee education in Afghanistan: The Thailand Burma Border Consortium ...... 20 vital for reconstruction Claas Morlang and Carolina Stolte...... 62 Reproductive health in Burma: a priority for action John Bercow...... 22 Measuring the enjoyment of rights in Colombia Jacob Rothing and Marco Romero...... 64 A sense of home in exile Sandra Dudley...... 23 Faith, relief and development: the Sri Lanka experience Guy Hovey and Amjad Saleem...... 66 Technology in the borderlands Rachel Sharples...... 24 New UK underclass Demelza Jones...... 68 Neglect of refugee participation Marie Theres Benner, Aree Muangsookjarouen, Egbert Sondorp and Joy Townsend...... 25 RSC – Humanitarian space in a fragile state Simon Addison...... 69 Community-based camp management Sally Thompson...... 26 Access to justice and the rule of law Feature: IDPs in peace processes Joel Harding, Shane Scanlon, Sean Lees, A seat at the table for IDPs Carson Beker and Ai Li Lim...... 28 Donald Steinberg...... 70 Invisible in Thailand: documenting the need for protection Involving IDPs in the Darfur peace process Margaret Green, Karen Jacobsen and Sandee Pyne ...... 31 David Lanz...... 71 Burmese asylum seekers in Thailand: still nowhere to turn The displacement-peace nexus Chen Chen Lee and Isla Glaister ...... 33 Khalid Koser...... 73 Rohingyas and refugee status in Bangladesh

Pia Prytz Phiri...... 34 RAISE –The value of rapid RH response Without refuge: Chin refugees in India and Malaysia Diana Barnes-Brown...... 74 Amy Alexander...... 36 NRC – Azerbaijan: internally displaced amidst Migration and trafficking: putting human rights into action a booming economy Nikolas Win Myint ...... 38 Petr Kostohryz...... 76 Asia’s new boat people IDMC – Bearing witness to displacement in Georgia Chris Lewa...... 40 Anne-Sophie Lois ...... 77 Myanmar’s forgotten people UNHCR – Local integration: reviving a forgotten solution Nyi Nyi Kyaw...... 41 Alexandra Fielden and Jeff Crisp...... 78 Difficult to remain: the impact of mass resettlement Endnote – Clowns in Damascus Susan Banki and Hazel Lang...... 42 Sybella Wilkes...... 80  Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Forced displacement of Burmese people Inge Brees

This issue of FMR aims to help bring the crisis of forced Today, displacement is widespread. displacement of Burmese people back into the In June 2007, the ICRC issued a rare public condemnation of the Burmese international spotlight. military government’s actions, saying that they have “helped to With the ‘Saffron Revolution’ that started decades earlier. What create a climate of constant fear of September 2007, Burma was is certainly true is that refugee and among the population and have catapulted into the centre of IDP numbers rose considerably at forced thousands of people to join international attention. It was the end of the 1980s, in the aftermath the ranks of the internally displaced, briefly headline news as people of the demonstrations of 1988, and or to flee abroad.” Close to half a monitored the regime’s response with the loss of territory by the million people have been displaced and watched for hints of progress ethnic armies and the country’s internally over the last decade on the towards democracy and the growing economic emergency. eastern border alone. In addition, restoration of rights. With little action on either front (and no Free Burma Rangers/Nick Hill visible resurgence of violence or [email protected] protest), interest has since waned.

The September protests, led by Buddhist monks, were sparked by a sudden increase in oil prices which had a serious impact on the already impoverished population. After a few days, the government violently ended what it called the “disruption of stability”. Governments around the world condemned the crackdown and the UN Secretary-General sent Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari to negotiate with the Burmese rulers. At the same time, however, China and Russia used their right of veto in the UN Security Council to block discussion of matters which they considered to be internal to Burma, no ‘threat to international security’ – and therefore outside the mandate of the Security Council.

Most reports on Burma explain that the conflict started in 1988 when the Burmese junta cracked down on nationwide demonstrations. But is that really when it all started? How about the moment when the army took power in 1962? Or before that, after independence from the British Population: 48 million in 1948, when some of the ethnic Ethnic groups: Burman (68%), Shan minorities were granted autonomy (9%), Karen (7%), Rakhine (4%), Chinese (3%), Indian (2%), Mon (2%), while the plight of others was other (5%) ignored – who then, predictably, took up arms to fight this inequality? Naypyidaw, administrative capital Stating that conflict only started in [source: Burma Campaign UK] 1988 ignores the call for (cultural) autonomy by the ethnic minorities FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people  millions of Burmese have crossed into and India. Several articles in this population has to vote in a national neighbouring countries. In Thailand issue explain how resettlement, referendum. Elections will be held there are an estimated two million while ensuring protection for the in 2010. Finally a positive move? Burmese trying to make a living. refugees concerned, raises issues Maybe so, but with a lot of caveats. If they are fleeing armed conflict for community management of Opposition to or campaigning or political persecution, they can the camps and is causing tensions against the National Convention receive protection and assistance within the refugee population. and the referendum are regarded as in refugee camps. Those who fled treason, and incur a penalty of several after November 2005, however, are Thoughts on other durable solutions, years’ imprisonment. Additionally, ineligible for protection, due to the such as repatriation or local opposition leader and Nobel Peace moratorium on refugee registration. integration, are missing, however. Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi They have no choice but to stay Even if repatriation is currently is barred from taking part in the outside the camps, where they impossible, agencies should at least elections because of her marriage are considered illegal migrants, consider the possibility of unexpected to a British citizen. When Gambari subject to arrest and deportation. changes in Burma which would lead requested that international monitors to massive population movements. be allowed to observe the referendum, There are good reasons why Thailand Early planning is imperative. At the this was immediately rejected and he maintains such a strict demarcation same time, more thought should was accused of bias in favour of the between refugee and migrant status. be given to the alternative solution opposition. The carving out of both Those inside the camps not only of local integration. Although most humanitarian and political space thus get protection and assistance but host countries are against this so far remains extremely difficult. also have access to resettlement option, my own research indicates programmes – a recognised pull that many Burmese people are We would like to express our thanks factor. Thailand has had to carry already integrating, against the to the numerous academics, UN the burden of refugee inflows from odds, and are an economic asset agencies, NGOs and human rights neighbouring countries for decades to their host countries. An open organisations who have written and prefers to keep tight control debate on all durable solutions and for this issue – and to the refugees on its ability to respond according immediate improvements to the and IDPs themselves who wrote to its own interests. That is why ‘closed’ camps are urgently needed from inside the conflict zones Thailand has still not signed the for the sake of both the Burmese and the refugee camps to make Geneva Convention and why they refugees and their host populations. sure their views were heard.2 call refugees ‘temporary displaced persons fleeing fighting’, to emphasise Given that Burmese people are Inge Brees (inge.brees@ugent. that their stay in Thailand will come displaced throughout the region, be), guest editor for this issue, is to an end as soon as conditions in this humanitarian crisis will require a doctoral fellow at the Conflict Burma are conducive to return. regional solutions. UNHCR could be Research Group, based at the encouraged to set up a consultative University of Ghent in Belgium The exact number of Burmese committee involving all refugee- (www.conflictresearchgroup.be). refugees in other countries bordering receiving countries to discuss and She is currently conducting research Burma is unknown but Bangladesh, coordinate a common approach on livelihoods of both camp and India, China and Malaysia have all towards Burmese refugees – even self-settled refugees in Thailand. had to deal with substantial influxes if a comprehensive plan of action 1. ‘Protracted refugee situation in Thailand: towards of Burmese citizens. As Thailand is currently impossible due to solutions’. Presentation given to the Foreign Correspondents receives the bulk of the refugees and the actions of the Burmese junta. Club of Thailand, 1 February 2006. 2. For their protection, the names of most refugee is the base for the vocal Burmese But, as Loescher and Milner state, contributors have not been given; these articles have instead, opposition, many of the articles in this is only part of the solution: at their request, been attributed to their organisation. this issue of FMR focus on the Thai “A humanitarian response to the situation and the ethnic Karen. This needs of refugees in the region is Burma v Myanmar should not be seen to underplay the not a substitute for engaging in the plight of Burmese refugees in other question of resolving the conditions Using the name Burma, rather than countries or IDPs in other areas in the country of origin that continue the official name Myanmar, is a inside Burma. There is simply less to force refugees to flee.”1 The efforts politically sensitive choice, as the information available on them – a of the UN Special Representative opposition and several Western gap that needs to be addressed. to push for dialogue between the countries refuse to recognise the different stakeholders in Burma name change instigated by the junta. In terms of durable solutions for are essential if Burma’s large-scale Most Burmese people still use the this refugee population, the current displacement is ever to end. But from old name in private conversations, focus is on resettlement. As a form his latest visit to the country in March which is why ‘Burma’ is used here. of responsibility sharing, several 2008 it is clear that the prospects for Contributors to FMR were free to Western countries have agreed genuine dialogue remain gloomy. choose which name to use. The term to accept groups of Burmese ‘Burmese’ is used for any person refugees. This is resulting in large- In January 2008 the junta suddenly originally coming from Burma, while scale movements from the Thai announced that the National the term ‘Burman’ is used for people camps to the West, with some Convention had drafted a from the ethnic majority group. additional cases from Bangladesh Constitution, on which the Burmese  Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Burma: in urgent need of change Douglas Alexander

Last September, world attention focused on Burma’s ‘Saffron cents a day. Ten per cent do not have Revolution’ and its brutal crackdown by the country’s military enough to eat, half of the country’s 20 million children do not complete regime. The protests were sparked by ever-deepening poverty primary school, and 70% of people and people’s frustration with years of political repression and are at risk from malaria. In October, economic failure. I announced a doubling of the UK’s aid to Burma, from £9 million in Refugees who have fled Burma can Many spoke to me about having no 2007-08 to £18 million a year by 2010. testify to the brutality of the regime. community to return to because the We will do this by expanding on In January, I visited the Mae La army had burned down their villages. our work which has already proved refugee camp in Thailand, just five One father of three said he had to flee effective. That includes caring for miles from Burma, and heard from Burma because the military tried to refugees on Burma’s borders and dozens of the junta’s victims. When force him to work for free carrying internally displaced people inside the camp was first established in 1984 their equipment. The only choice the country; increasing the number it sheltered 1,100 refugees; today open to him was either to agree or of children able to complete primary it holds more than 40,000 people. pay off the army. However, with no school; helping to fight the main money, he tried to hide. But with the killer diseases of malaria, TB and military raiding the homes of those HIV/AIDS; improving income- who do not pay up, sometimes three earning opportunities for poor or four times in one night, he was rural families; and strengthening left with no option but to take his civil society organisations. We family and flee to Thailand. Sadly, will continue to work through UN similar stories of forced labour were agencies and NGOs, so that none a familiar theme during my visit. of our aid is channelled through the Burmese central government. One woman had organised an armed group of mothers to protect their Burma’s absence from the headlines villages from forced labour. A widow, since October does not mean that she took her three daughters across anything has improved. At the time the border when the military began of writing this article in February, to target them. Each family had a tale Aung San Suu Kyi remains under to tell about protection money being house arrest. The opposition is extorted from them by the military denied a role in drafting Burma’s or, in some cases, by the ethnic new constitution, and detention of militias. They talked of villages being its activists continues. The regime destroyed, systematic rape, chronic has described the September poverty, a lack of work and no access protests as “trivial”. Setting a to health care or education. Despite timetable for a referendum and the cramped conditions and rationing subsequent elections means nothing of food, at least the children had if all opposition is suppressed. schools to go to in the refugee camp, and the Camp Council gave people a Dialogue with Ibrahim Gambari, degree of democracy which they were the UN Secretary-General’s Special denied in Burma. In every refugee Envoy, has yet to make real progress. camp I have ever visited, including The international community, those in Darfur, the vast majority of including China, India and the the people wanted to go home. But ASEAN countries, must back the in Mae La, fewer than half of the UN’s efforts as a matter of urgency. refugees I spoke to said they wanted As the old guard clings to power, we Marc van der Stouwe der Stouwe van Marc to go back. Even those who hoped to must hope that younger elements return said there was no point until within the Burmese regime realise Refugee The number of refugees continues democracy had been established. that their rule will not stifle the school, to grow, despite 7,000 of Mae La’s need or demand for change. Thailand. inhabitants being relocated to other That is no surprise considering countries last year. Some of those millions of people inside Burma Douglas Alexander MP is the UK who remain have been there since lead a very harsh life indeed. Secretary of State for International the beginning; others have risked Surrounded by some of the world’s Development (www.dfid.gov.uk). their lives crossing the heavily mined most dynamic economies, a third of border in recent weeks and months. Burma’s people live on less than 30 FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people  The international community’s Responsibility to Protect Kavita Shukla

In the face of continuing grave violations of human rights to IDPs within their jurisdiction. by the Burmese government against its own civilians, it is They also grant displaced persons the right to request and receive imperative that the international community start to protection and assistance from respond to Burma in terms of the Responsibility to Protect national authorities. The Principles (R2P) principle. underline the right of international humanitarian organisations to Burma today has one of the worst sporadic events but widespread offer services to support IDPs, forced migration crises in the world. practice and an integral part of the and emphasise that a government More than 50 years of conflict and Burmese government’s strategy to should not arbitrarily withhold human rights violations have led maintain its control and as such consent to such aid, especially when to widespread forced migration: at are tantamount to crimes against it is itself unable or unwilling to least one million people internally humanity. To a lesser extent, provide the needed assistance. and more than a million refugees human rights abuses are also being to the neighbouring countries of committed by ethnic armies fighting In the case of Burma, where the Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia government forces. Hundreds of national authorities are largely and Thailand. Far from assisting and thousands of people have been responsible for the displacement, protecting those who have fled their left with no choice but to flee their the IDP issue has acquired political homes, the Burmese government is the biggest perpetrator of human rights violations in the country. The ethnic minority population of Burma, particularly the at least half a million people displaced in the eastern part of the country, remain exceptionally vulnerable to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. These grave violations continue to draw little attention from the outside world, despite an increasing momentum in recent years of the international community’s collective ‘responsibility to protect’ civilians.

In ethnic minority areas where pockets of armed conflict continue, especially along the eastern border, government forces have been responsible for widespread Burma Rangers Free persecution, torture, extrajudicial executions, forcible conscription areas of origin in search of safety. sensitivity. The government refuses Villagers of children, rape, demolition of Even in areas where armed conflict to acknowledge the existence of in flight, October 2007. places of worship and forced labour. has come to an end, human rights IDPs and has no programmes to Government forces have also violations by the army continue, identify or assist them. International carried out forced displacement of causing ongoing displacement. humanitarian agencies can provide civilians in a counter-insurgency some protection merely by their programme known as the ‘Four The Guiding Principles on Internal presence. In western Burma’s Rakhine Cuts’, which aims to cut off the Displacement1 – the international State, for example, where there are supplies of food, funds, recruits and framework for protection of and international aid agencies, there information to the resistance groups. assistance to IDPs – are founded has been a reduction in violations. on the concept of sovereignty as However, international humanitarian The deliberate targeting, persecution entailing responsibility. They affirm agencies are denied permission to and forced displacement of ethnic that national authorities have the reach IDPs and other vulnerable minority civilians by the Burmese primary duty and responsibility to populations in the conflict and government are not isolated or provide assistance and protection border zones of eastern Burma.  Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

The International Committee of state, the international community Acting on R2P the Red Cross was the only agency had been reluctant even to speak However, the resolution has so far with independent access to these about situations in which people not been translated into real action, zones but since political changes were suffering appalling human and there is still little agreement on led to the Burmese government rights violations in an environment how this principle should be applied. – currently known as the State Peace of impunity for the perpetrators. There also remain serious divisions and Development Council (SPDC)2 In recent years, however, there has within the Security Council between – becoming even more isolationist been an evolution from sovereignty Western nations that view massive in 2004, it too has been facing many as an absolute concept towards atrocities as a threat to international new restrictions on access. The small sovereignty as a responsibility to peace and security, and countries amount of assistance that does reach protect civilians and prevent grave such as China and Russia which this area arrives from community- violations and mass atrocities. agreed to the World Summit Outcome based organisations in Thailand Document and supported Resolution that undertake cross-border trips to According to the R2P principle, 1674 but which still promote the reach the displaced population. This sovereign states have primary sovereignty argument above R2P. type of aid violates the principle of responsibility for protecting their state sovereignty but remains the own people from genocide, war In the case of Darfur, actions are only way to reach this population. crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes increasingly being framed in terms against humanity, and it is only of the responsibility to protect. In very few countries in the world when they are unwilling or unable Security Council Resolution 1706 has forced displacement on such a to exercise that responsibility that was the first to cite and apply the large scale elicited such a limited responsibility shifts to the wider R2P concept to a specific situation, response from member states and international community. The action while Resolution 1769 emphasised the agencies of the UN. Many members of required by R2P is overwhelmingly importance of protecting civilians and the international community remain preventive and involves building humanitarian workers. Many sub- unaware of the scale of atrocities. state capacity, remedying grievances Saharan governments have strongly Virtually all international efforts to and ensuring the rule of law. If, defended the R2P principle in the case resolve the country’s political and however, prevention fails, R2P of Darfur. Divisions in the Security human rights crises have focused requires whatever economic, political, Council, however, have hampered on the conflict between the military diplomatic, legal, security or, in the strong collective action on Darfur.5 regime and the pro-democracy forces. last resort, military measures as are The conflict between the Burman- necessary to prevent mass atrocity.3 The situation in Burma was not seen dominated central government and as falling within the purview of the non-Burmans, which has triggered At the World Summit in 2005, Security Council until September 2006 most of the displacement in Burma, the world’s governments agreed when it was voted onto its formal has largely remained on the sidelines. to the R2P principle and to take agenda. This vote came after years collective action, in a timely and of Burmese government refusal to Despite most of the international decisive manner, through the abide by resolutions of the General community’s frustration with the Security Council on a case-by-case Assembly and the Commission on Burmese government, Burma’s basis should national authorities Human Rights that called for national powerful neighbours and trade fail to protect their populations reconciliation and democratisation. partners China and India generally from atrocity crimes. The 192 heads Since 2004, the government had back the SPDC. The Association of state who signed the World denied entry to the Special Envoy of Southeast Asian Nations Summit Outcome Document4 also of the Secretary-General on Burma, (ASEAN), a regional forum of recognised the Guiding Principles and the Special Rapporteur on which Burma is a member, also as an important international Burma had been denied access to avoids holding the government framework for the protection of the country since 2003. There was accountable for its transgressions IDPs and resolved to take effective a sense that all efforts outside the and tends to strongly support the measures to increase their protection. Security Council had been exhausted. concept of non-interference in the country’s internal affairs. Through its Resolution 1674 of The optimism which followed April 2006, the Security Council Burma reaching the agenda of the Responsibility to Protect acknowledged that the deliberate Security Council was short-lived, Since the Rwandan genocide, the targeting of civilians and other as permanent members Russia and international community has started protected persons and the China vetoed the first ever Burma taking on greater responsibility in commission of systematic, flagrant resolution in January 2007 that, certain situations where sovereign and widespread violations of among other demands, called upon governments are failing in their international humanitarian and the government to stop all attacks duty to provide for the security human rights law in situations of on ethnic minorities and to offer and wellbeing of their people. For armed conflict may constitute a unhindered access to humanitarian decades, in accordance with the threat to international peace and organisations. This was the Council’s UN Charter’s Article 2.7, which security. The Security Council first multiple veto since 1989. In their emphasises the principle of non- noted that it would be ready to statements, China and Russia argued intervention in matters that would fall consider such situations and, where that the situation in Burma was not under the domestic jurisdiction of any necessary, to take appropriate steps. a threat to peace and security in the FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people  region, and that the Security Council for a genuine dialogue with all If the R2P concept can be brought was not the place to discuss the concerned parties and ethnic up in the Security Council in the internal affairs of a state. Although groups to achieve an inclusive case of Darfur, there is every reason China and Russia acknowledged national reconciliation. There was for it to be raised in connection that Burma was facing a serious no mention of the protection of with Burma. International divisions human rights and humanitarian ethnic minority civilians who have may make progress difficult but situation, they emphasised that the experienced decades of violence if Security Council members Human Rights Council, which has and forcible displacement, and who continue to ignore the international no binding powers, was the best may be continuing to experience community’s obligation to ensure venue for action on Burma. The extreme danger and hardship. the protection of civilians from mass vetoing countries made no reference atrocity crimes in Burma they will be to any collective responsibility to Although the crackdown on Burmese setting a very poor precedent for a protect the population of Burma. democracy activists appears to have responsibility which all governments diminished, government forces are have agreed upon in principle. In September 2007, the largest pro- continuing to target civilians in democracy demonstrations in two Burma’s ethnic minority areas as part Kavita Shukla (kshuklaus@ decades rocked Burma and the of their counter-insurgency tactics yahoo.com) is a researcher subsequent government crackdown and are committing human rights on Burmese refugees and made the country the focus of violations with impunity. There is internally displaced persons. renewed international attention. concern that as memories of the 1. www.brookings.edu/projects/idp/gp_page.aspx Following intense diplomatic ‘Saffron Revolution’ fade and the 2. Formerly known as the State Law and Order pressure, the SPDC allowed the Burmese government makes token Restoration Council (SLORC). Secretary-General’s Special Adviser gestures of permitting a political 3. Gareth Evans, ‘The Limits of State Sovereignty: The Responsibility to Protect in the 21st Century’, Neelam and the Special Rapporteur into the dialogue, the Security Council will Tiruchelvam Memorial Lecture, International Centre for country in late 2007. After much once again view Burma as a low Ethnic Studies, Colombo, 29 July 2007. wrangling, the Security Council priority, more appropriate for other 4. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/ N05/487/60/PDF/N0548760.pdf?OpenElement passed a presidential statement UN bodies to tackle. It is imperative 5. Roberta Cohen, ‘Humanitarian Imperatives are deploring the violence against that the Security Council start to see Transforming Sovereignty’, Northwestern Journal of peaceful demonstrators and calling Burma in terms of the R2P scenario. International Affairs, Winter 2008, p6.

Landmines: reason for flight, obstacle to return Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan

Burma/Myanmar has suffered Although combatants have on new use and insist that all from two decades of mine repeatedly said that they give areas be marked, in a similar warfare by both the State Peace ‘verbal warnings’ to civilians living and unambiguous way, by all and Development Council and near areas which they mine, no combatants, and that civilians ethnic-based insurgents. There civilian mine survivor interviewed with knowledge of mined areas of are no humanitarian demining by the International Campaign the country should be trained to programmes within the country. to Ban Landmines reported do this now. This will have both having had verbal warnings. a preventative and an awareness- It is no surprise that those states raising impact, and will help in Burma/Myanmar with the most Much work needs to be done in reduce to the lowest possible mine pollution are the highest advance of any return of IDPs or level the number of casualties IDP- and refugee-producing refugees in order to map and mark that will inevitably occur. states. Antipersonnel mines mined areas, educate returnees planted by both government and control return movements. The Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan forces and ethnic armed groups reality is, of course, that thousands, ([email protected]) is a injure and kill not only enemy if not hundreds of thousands, of researcher and editor for the combatants but also their own IDPs will return home whenever International Campaign to troops, civilians and animals. they think it may be safe to do Ban Landmines’ Landmine so in order to secure land and Monitor (www.icbl.org/lm). There is no systematic marking rebuild their lives. No organisation of mined areas. Mines are laid can stop them from doing so. The Burma landmines report close to areas of civilian activity; is at http://www.icbl.org/ many injuries occur within half Humanitarian organisations lm/2007/burma.html. a kilometre of village centres. must encourage a moratorium 10 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Forced relocation in Burma’s former capital Donald M Seekins

The population of Yangon has experienced coercive anti-government demonstrations resettlement on a truly massive scale under military rule. the following month, since the cost of food and public transportation During the period 1958-60, the Law and Order Restoration Council skyrocketed. With its ‘huts to caretaker government of General (SLORC, renamed the SPDC in apartments’ scheme, the SPDC claims Ne Win made Burma’s armed forces 1997) seized power. Within a year to have placed many squatters in – rather than elected representatives it had established ten new satellite new multi-storey housing on the site – responsible for governing Yangon towns with a population of almost of or near their former dwellings. (Rangoon), Burma’s largest city and half a million, most of whom had However, forced relocation in Yangon, the country’s capital until the State been forcibly resettled. Many were Mandalay and other cities in central Peace and Development Council squatters but others were owners of Burma continues today; victims of (SPDC) moved its seat of power to substantial housing who were being fires, for example, are not allowed Naypyidaw in 2005. The government punished by the SLORC for actively to rebuild their old neighbourhoods established three new townships supporting the 1988 demonstrations. and residential areas are cleared to near Yangon to which 167,000 people, Not only did they lose their old make way for new roads, apartments one sixth of the city’s population homes but they were forced to pay for and shopping centres. This is an of one million, were involuntarily plots of land and materials to build environment where the land rights relocated.1 The government claimed new houses in the outlying areas, of ordinary citizens, whatever their that resettlement was necessary which generally lacked electricity, ethnicity, remain unrecognised. because the tens of thousands of water and other amenities. There people fleeing insurgency in the were few employment opportunities Donald Seekins (kenchan@ii- countryside who had become in the satellite towns, obliging the okinawa.ne.jp) is Professor of squatters in the city posed a threat relocated people to make long and Southeast Asian Studies at the both to public health and to law and costly commutes into central Yangon College of International Studies, Meio order. Deeply resentful of having lost to work in the informal economy.2 University, Nago, Okinawa, Japan. their former homes, the residents of 1. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), the new townships put up strong Today, resettled people live crowded Burma: Displacement and Dispossession, Forced Migration resistance against the Ne Win regime together in simple houses made of and Land Rights. November 2007, pp95-98. 2. ‘Interviews in Satellite Villages’, Dawn News Bulletin, during 1988’s Democracy Summer. thatch and bamboo, the poorest of vol. 2, no 14 (July 1990), pp3-9. Yangon’s poor. They were hardest In response to the demonstrations hit by the August 2007 increase in in the summer of 1988, the State fuel prices that sparked nationwide Under attack: a way of life David Eubank

Much of what is happening in the conflict zones of loot homes, beat, rape and torture eastern Burma is difficult to capture with photos, video indiscriminately, and sometimes burn homes or entire villages. Landmines and reports. It is a slow and insidious strangulation of the are then laid in the village and on population rather than an all-out effort to crush them. the routes that villagers use in and out of the village. If a villager is Burma’s rulers have divided the In the Karen and Karenni States of seen, he or she is shot on sight. country into three zones: white eastern Burma, the Burma army – those areas under their total regularly launches sweeping During these sweeps, resistance control; brown – contested areas; operations, involving up to four fighters will try to protect the and black – areas over which they battalions, in villages and areas population. Skirmishes may only last have no control. Black areas are where resistance is active and where a few minutes but they can buy time designated ‘free-fire’ zones where IDPs are suspected to be hiding. for people to escape into the jungle the Burma army can kill anyone it The soldiers will often mortar and with some belongings before the comes across. The area described machine-gun the village first and then soldiers arrive. On being attacked, in this article is a black zone. enter the village to harass civilians, villagers will flee into the jungle, to FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 11 prepared hiding places if possible. They flee with only what they can carry – their infant children, some utensils, a blanket or two for the entire family, some plastic sheeting and a few days’ supply of rice. Once the troops return to their camps, the villagers try to return to or near their fields and villages. During the current offensive, which began in February 2006, there have been many Burma army units attacking on different fronts. As one resistance leader said, “The last few months, the Burma army has attacked so much that many of the hiding places were overrun. Many people were scattered in the jungle. Now it is a Burma Rangers Free little better as the Burma army is busy building up their new camps. Some of those whose villages were During the current offensive, over Villagers But when they are finished with the attacked return to the same site, 370 villagers have been killed in the forced to carry loads new camps they will come again. rebuilding their houses. Many northern three districts of Karen for the Burma This is a very bad offensive for us others remain on the run, go into State and over 30,000 have been army, June all and we do not know how we hiding or attempt to flee the country displaced, many of whom are now 2007. will manage it. But we must try and altogether. Some set up camp in in hiding. Over 60 new Burma army we will not leave our homes.” less accessible places where they camps and three new roads have struggle to eke out an existence. been built. The slow but unrelenting Villagers are also forced to clear attacks and the building of new landmines and act as human The village of Maw Tu Der in camps and roads seem to be driven shields around bulldozers to help northwestern Karen State, for by a plan to dominate, chase out the army improve road networks. example, was burned down by the or crush any Karen people in these Forced labour is common, with Burma army in 2004. The villagers areas. This is the largest offensive many villagers forced to act as have been in hiding in the jungle against the Karen people since porters, subject to harsh treatment since then. They have built rough 1997. The scale of displacement and not infrequent execution. shelters hidden in the trees near trails and destruction is large and each that have deliberately been kept death an irreplaceable loss. small and difficult to travel on. They have some kind of security due to The disruption of food production, We had gathered together from ten the difficulty of access and the help burning of homes and the shoot-on- surrounding villages for a prayer of the local resistance forces (mostly sight orders of the Burma army have meeting when the Burma army providing early warning of troop made staying in their homeland forces appeared and captured movements) but food production has untenable for thousands more. Of some of us. We were tied up, plummeted and there is little cash to the more than 30,000 displaced, beaten and punched. Then we were purchase clothes, blankets, cooking over 7,000 people have already left given electric shocks to our body. utensils and farm implements. their homes for the Thai border. The My friend Saw Gwe was killed. I people here need food, medicine, managed to escape. The Burma Their health has suffered shelter and help to rebuild their army accused us of being in the dramatically because they have too homes, schools and lives. They also resistance but we are not. We are little to eat, are more exposed and need immediate protection and the farmers. We now cannot stay here share inadequate water sources. freedom to return to their homes. and so we will go to a refugee camp. There is no clinic nearby and Saw Nu Nu, a Karenni man Burma army patrols make regular David Eubank (eubank@pobox. who is now an IDP access by medical teams difficult. com; [email protected]) is The Free Burma Rangers, Karen Director of the Free Burma Rangers,

Human Rights Group1 and the Back which provides emergency assistance Why do the Burmese soldiers come Pack Health Worker Team2 have and human rights documentation to burn our villages? We do not go extensively documented this direct in the conflict zones of Burma to burn theirs. Why do they want correlation between Burma army (www.freeburmarangers.org) to come and bother us? We only oppression and the ill-health of the want to have our farms, do our work 1. www.khrg.org/ population.3 It is only through the and live in peace. Our life in the 2. www.geocities.com/maesothtml/bphwt/ efforts of the resistance groups – who mountains is already very hard. Why 3. See article by Heather Rae ‘Internal displacement in provide information, communication, eastern Burma’, FMR 28 www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/ do they want to make it harder? FMR28/25.pdf and the Back Pack Health Worker transportation, logistical and security Team’s 2006 report on ‘Chronic Emergency: Health and Karenni pastor support – that any humanitarian Human Rights in Eastern Burma’ at www.geocities. com/maesothtml/bphwt relief can reach those under attack. 12 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 State of terror: women at risk The Karen Women’s Organisation

Two reports researched and written by the Karen Women’s Recommendations Organisation – Shattering Silences in 2004 and State of The KWO requests the assistance 1 of the international community in Terror in 2007 – document the wide range of human the implementation of the following rights abuses against Burmese women and girls. recommendations, calling on:

The abuses were perpetrated across or I will kill you.” We walked to a n the SPDC to stop all forms of Karen State as part of the sustained valley and he said we should stop sexual violence and all other forms campaign of terror by the SPDC (State there. He ordered us to take off our of human rights abuses against Peace and Development Council). clothes. At first, we dare no, then women and girls, in particular The reports focus in particular on he made his voice strong and we in the ethnic areas of Burma the abuses experienced by women took off our clothes. He lay down and girls and draw on over 4,000 with his gun just beside him. He n the Royal Thai government to documented cases of human rights raped me first. He made my friend ensure survivors of rape and sexual abuses – in particular those of rape, just lie down beside him. After he violence fleeing to Thailand have sexual abuse and forced labour. raped me, he raped my friend. After access to adequate health and Forced labour is itself often committed a while he raped us again.” No psychosocial support systems in conjunction with other human action was ever taken against him. rights violations such as rape, n the international community to beating, mutilation, torture, murder In another district, a young woman provide secure refuge and timely and denial of rights to food, water, was gang-raped by four soldiers and appropriate service provision shelter and legal redress. The cases in her home. After raping her, they in countries of first asylum and documented cover a 25-year period killed her by shooting into her upon resettlement to women and from 1981 to 2006 but the human vagina. No action was taken. girls who are survivors of rape rights abuses continue today. and sexual violence, and to ensure Village chiefs are at constant risk of that refugee women and girls at Rape abuse and torture for failing to meet extreme risk are provided with Rape has been used and continues SPDC commands. Now, however, appropriate protection and support to be used as a method of torture to in the absence of men, it is often the including case management, intimidate and humiliate the civilian senior women who take on this role. safe housing and, if appropriate, populations. Many of the rapes are They of course face the additional risk resettlement under UNHCR’s perpetrated by senior military officers of being raped or forced to engage women at risk programme or done with their complicity. The in sex with SPDC soldiers as the perpetrators are aware that most price of protection for themselves, Formed in 1949 and with a of the civilian population will be their families and communities. membership of over 30,000 women, the too afraid to complain or that their Karen Women’s Organisation (www. complaints will not be taken seriously. Forced labour karenwomen.org) is a community- As a consequence, the rape of women Women and girls from across Karen based organisation of Karen women and girls across Karen State and in State report having been forcibly working in development and relief other states by SPDC soldiers and recruited to help build roads and in the refugee camps on the Thai officers continues with impunity. bridges, clear landmines and carry border and with IDPs and women Recorded cases of rape include the military supplies. They are at inside Burma. The KWO also rape of children and of Buddhist nuns. particular risk since men and boys flee encourages awareness of women’s the villages and hide in the jungle to rights and promotes women’s In a recent case a 25-year-old woman avoid arrest, torture or killing. Those participation in community decision was gang-raped by soldiers. Three forcibly recruited include aged and making and political processes. SPDC soldiers came to the village. frail women, pregnant and breast- They asked the village chief to feeding women, and schoolgirls The Karen Women’s Organisation give them one Karen woman. They as young as 11. Many women would like to thank all the threatened to kill the chief if he taken as porters are also raped. women who contributed, shared did not send for her. The soldiers their testimonies and gave their took the woman to the nearest “I had to go as a porter for one time and energy to inform the bush and two of them raped her. month. Every day we had to report from which this article is carry up the mountain and down taken. Special thanks to Linda Two young women describe their again. I was sweating and couldn’t Bartolomei, Eileen Pittaway and ordeal at the hands of a soldier. “The breathe because I am very old Colleen Bartolomei of the UNSW soldier ordered us to go with them and the soldiers prodded me with Centre for Refugee Research. and we did not even know where their guns because I am slow. I felt 1. www.karenwomen.org we were going. He said “Don’t cry like my heart was breaking.” FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 13 Carving out humanitarian space Jean-François Durieux and Sivanka Dhanapala

Agencies working inside Myanmar to assist forcibly displaced This over-reaction is, sadly, people work within an extremely constricted operational the reflection of an operational environment that is severely environment. Despite occasional glimmers of hope, carving constrained as a result of two abiding out sufficient humanitarian space to meet urgent needs assumptions in the military regime’s remains an uphill struggle. ideology: firstly, that the UN agencies and international NGOs are used On United Nations Day, 24 October In the charged atmosphere prevailing “by some big powers against the 2007, in Yangon, in the immediate at the time, this statement raised host country”2 and, secondly, that aftermath of events that had for a alarm in government circles, there is no armed conflict anywhere while put the country on the front especially the Ministries of Foreign in Myanmar and hence no internal pages of international media, the Affairs and Planning, whose displacement of potential concern Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator responsibility it is to rein in the UN to the international community. of the UN system in Myanmar agencies and international NGOs read out a statement on behalf of operating in the country. The Ministry Insiders and outsiders the UN Country Team (UNCT)1. of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a As though such challenges were Among other things, it said: note of protest as well as a detailed not serious enough, humanitarian refutation of the UNCT’s claim organisations operating within “[T]he peaceful demonstrations of a “deteriorating humanitarian Myanmar have also been criticised that followed the sudden hike in situation”. Furthermore, the Ministry by agencies and Burmese opposition fuel prices on 15 August […] clearly accused the Resident/Humanitarian groups based in Thailand (and by demonstrated the everyday struggle Coordinator of “acting beyond his the opposition groups’ supporters to meet basic needs, and the urgent capacity by issuing the statement” in the West). To their credit, Thai- necessity to address the deteriorating and concluded that “the Government based humanitarian actors, including humanitarian situation in the country. of the Union of Myanmar does those providing essential relief to These are the same messages that not want [the Coordinator] to stranded and displaced populations the United Nations Country Team continue to serve in Myanmar, across the border in south-east in Myanmar has been endeavouring especially at this time when the Myanmar, have historically played to bring to the Government’s cooperation between Myanmar and a crucial advocacy role on behalf of attention for some time.” the United Nations is crucial”. the victims of military ruthlessness

Medical treatment for IDPs in eastern Burma. Free Burma Rangers Free 14 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

and abuse in Myanmar. It is thanks Government counterparts, including setbacks. ICRC proved increasingly to their cross-border ventures, the traditionally more understanding unable to operate according to its and to the testimonies of refugees, Ministry of Health, played the card standards and by the end of 2006 the that the phenomenon of internal of caution. The Minister of Economic only field missions the agency carried displacement in the south-east has Development and National Planning out were related to its programme been documented, quantified and seized the opportunity to re-affirm his of prosthetic rehabilitation, the brought to the world’s attention. authority over international agencies, beneficiaries of which were Myanmar Regrettably, this powerful advocacy a process which led to the issuance military as well as civilians. UN was, at times, also used to discredit of the controversial Guidelines on agencies managed to complete their the efforts of those agencies who were Cooperation in February 2006. In 2005 micro-projects and even, in some pursuing, from within Myanmar, response, the UNCT submitted to cases, to strengthen their presence similar humanitarian objectives the Minister and other counterparts but only through their local staff. through other means and under a set of Guiding Principles for the a different set of constraints. provision of humanitarian assistance, Eventually, in April 2006, UNHCR describing both the objectives and secured a fresh legal basis for its By the end of 2003, though, a glimmer the modus operandi of the UN in programme in the south-east by of light began to appear within Myanmar as essentially humanitarian. signing a Letter of Understanding this rather gloomy picture. The (LOU) with the Ministry for Progress appointment of Khin Nyunt as Prime This ever more constrained of Border Areas and National Minister proved to be a significant operational environment coincided, Races (whose Burmese acronym is turning point. Within a context of sadly, with an apparent increase of Natala). According to the terms of ‘pacification’ of border areas but also humanitarian needs in parts of south- this document, which was renewed as a gesture of goodwill towards east Myanmar. The removal of Khin for two years in mid-2007, the the international community, the Nyunt had also presented a serious target groups of this programme Prime Minister opened up a number set-back to the tentative peace process in the south-east are “communities of areas in the east and south-east with Karen insurgents, and the affected by population movements” to international organisations for military forces on both sides prepared and agency staff should be given the provision of humanitarian and for confrontation again. The spark unhindered access to project areas, community development assistance. came in the final months of 2005 in the subject only to considerations of hilly areas of Eastern Bago Division, staff safety. UNICEF also opened Thus, in 2004, the UN obtained provoking an army offensive of a sub-office in the capital of Mon a qualified green light to assist proportions unseen for many years State; however, it has not been returning IDPs to areas of potential and displacing thousands of civilians. able so far to post an expatriate refugee return. The authorities were there on a permanent basis. careful not to use the term IDPs but Neither the UN nor ICRC got access rather referred to “those returning to these troubled areas. In July 2006, Natala is a relatively new player, to their homes within Myanmar”. the Prime Minister turned down the and remains a modest one, in south- Assistant High Commissioner for eastern Myanmar. There, as elsewhere Retrenchment Refugees’ plea for an inter-agency in the country, it is the Ministry of This era of relative optimism and mission to the area in order to assess Health that has the largest number expansion came to a rather abrupt the humanitarian needs resulting of operational partnerships with end in late 2004/early 2005. With the from “insurgency and counter- the UN and international NGOs. removal and incarceration of Khin insurgency measures”. During As a result, it is in the health sector Nyunt in October 2004, the regime the same period, the government that humanitarian assistance is started swinging resolutely back deployed extraordinary public most developed in the south-east to its tested ways, shutting down relations efforts to convince the – although it is far from compensating the few avenues through which international community, through for the dearth of public services. the international community had its representatives in Yangon, that come closer both to a humanitarian the situation was under control, Coordination dialogue with the authorities and to and to counter what it called the Since late 2004, flexible coordination the affected populations themselves. propaganda of the Karen National mechanisms have brought together Union (KNU). In the same breath, the all members of the humanitarian At the end of May 2005, the new government blamed the insurgents community in the south-east, mainly Minister of the Interior reassessed for any suffering inflicted upon the in order to exchange information his ministry’s relations with civilian population. It also accused and initiate a ‘mapping’ of actors humanitarian organisations. UNHCR the KNU of forcibly displacing and activities. This information was was denied permission to undertake populations out of their villages and fed into the work of the Population any further expatriate missions to into KNU-controlled areas (including Movement Working Group (PMWG), the south-east. ICRC was informed refugee camps in Thailand) – which established within the UNCT that its activities in the border at least was an acknowledgement that at the end of 2004. The PMWG areas would be subjected to intense forced displacement was a reality. commissioned a major study on scrutiny, as they appeared to be internal displacement and in-country “illegal” (meaning, based on verbal Further south, the latter part of 2005 migration, which introduced a much agreements only). The watchword of and 2006 witnessed some tentative needed typology of population the new era was clearly suspicion. humanitarian advances, as well as movements and made a number FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 15 of concrete recommendations Relocation Sites, Hiding Areas to the UNCT.3 The report & Ceasefire Areas in Eastern Burma, 2007 provided an impetus to consult more with community-based organisations (CBOs) and to assess which of these were best placed and equipped to reach out to isolated communities.

The establishment of the Humanitarian Coordinator function within the UN framework in Myanmar spurred on the establishment of the inter-agency standing committee.4 This in turn allowed for the inclusion of NGOs as an important voice in deliberating humanitarian strategies. While not all NGOs and CBOs could openly participate in these processes, innovative ways of safe consultation with them have ensured that they were heard.

The PMWG report, coinciding with TBBC’s 2005 report on IDPs,5 also provided the occasion for a first structured exchange of views, in Bangkok, between the Myanmar UNCT and those doing cross-border work out of Thailand. These exchanges were to be continued, and their frequency and depth improved with time. By 2007 these ‘convergence’ meetings, as they came to be known, were organised thematically – with health, education, livelihoods and protection each addressed in its own right. It is reassuring to see that, between the ‘insiders’ and the ‘outsiders’, complementarity rather than between Myanmar and the UN aid Rights and Refugee Law at the competition has become the order system, the regime brutally closed the Refugee Studies Centre, University of the day. Suspicions linger on, door on attempts at a humanitarian of Oxford. Sivanka Dhanapala though, as evidenced by the fact dialogue, which the now ousted ([email protected]) is UNHCR’s that, so far, very few international Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator Senior Regional Durable Solutions NGOs based within Myanmar had vigorously pursued throughout Officer in Kabul, Afghanistan. have welcomed the opportunity to his tenure. That military regimes interact with Thai-based agencies. loathe being taken to task in public This article is written in a personal statements is nothing new. This capacity and does not necessarily More significantly, the UN still does not mean that humanitarian reflect the views of the UN. has to find ways to bring IDPs principles cannot be used, even 1. The UNCT comprises FAO, ILO, IOM, UNDP, UNFPA, and other vulnerable populations in Myanmar, in innovative ways. UNHCR, UNICEF, UNODC, UNOPS, WFP and WHO. in the south-east out of the most Carving out humanitarian space 2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to the Statement pernicious form of ‘invisibility’, will remain a core mission of the of the UNCT in Myanmar, 31 October 2007. 3. Ashley South ‘Burma: The Changing Nature of namely the denial of their plight, UN and its partners in Myanmar. Displacement Crises’, RSC Working Paper 39, Feb 2007: if not of their very existence, in www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/WP39%20Burma%20AS.pdf the junta’s official discourse. Jean-François Durieux (jean- 4. Wherever there is a Humanitarian Coordinator, OCHA requires that there should also be an inter-agency [email protected]) coordination committee modelled on the IASC www.( The angry reaction to the UN Day was UNHCR’s Representative humanitarianinfo.org/iasc), which includes, in addition to UNCT members, the Red Cross movement and major message of October 2007 contains in Myanmar from May 2005 to NGOs. a bitter irony; while emphasising September 2007. He is now a 5. ‘Internal Displacement and Protection in Eastern Burma’, 2005: www.tbbc.org/idps/report-2005-idp- the need for greater cooperation Lecturer in International Human english.pdf 16 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Defining ‘forced migration’ in Burma Most Burmese people fleeing their homes do so for a combination of reasons. The root causes for leaving, however, determine which ‘category’ they belong to: ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) or ‘economic migrants’. There is some discussion as to whether people leaving their homes due to exhaustion of livelihoods options are IDPs according to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement1 – or not. Ashley South and Andrew Bosson present their views below. By analogy, this debate can be extended to Burmese people in exile. Are Burmese people outside refugee camps

‘economic migrants’ or ‘self-settled refugees’? The article ‘Invisible in Thailand’ (pp31-33) sheds more light on this. Towards a typology of forced migration The role of coercive measures in internal in Burma displacement in Burma Ashley South Andrew Bosson One can broadly define three types of forced migration in Forced migration in Burma may be caused by a single event Burma, according to the causes of population movement: such as a natural disaster, a military attack or a relocation/ eviction order from the military or civil authorities for Type 1: Armed conflict-induced displacement: this is either military, infrastructure or commercial purposes. Typically, as a direct consequence of fighting and counter-insurgency these events affect whole villages or communities or operations, or because armed conflict has directly sections of towns, and are relatively sudden. undermined human and food security, and is linked to severe human rights abuses. This type can be found across More commonly, however, displacement is caused Karen State, in eastern Tenasserim Division, southern by a series of events, including coercive measures Mon State, southern and eastern Karenni State, southern imposed by the authorities such as forced labour, Shan State, and parts of Chin State and Sagaing Division. land confiscation, extortion and forced agricultural practices. These measures, which constitute serious Type 2: Military occupation- and development-induced violations of human rights, typically act cumulatively displacement: this is generally caused by a) confiscation over time, reducing the family’s resource base, and of land – following armed conflict – by the Burma thus its income, until the household economy collapses army or other armed groups, including for natural and leaving home becomes the best or only option. resource extraction and infrastructure construction, This process first affects the poorer families, though and b) predatory taxation, forced labour and other the whole community may gradually migrate over a abuses. All the border states and divisions are affected period of years. This pattern of ‘gradual displacement’, by militarisation and/or ‘development’-induced in which people tend to leave as individuals or as displacement, as are a number of urban areas (including in family groups, may be recognised in regions of current the context of developing tourism and ‘urban renewal’). conflict and in the cease-fire areas as well in as the rest of Burma. The coercive measures operate in, are Both of the above two types of displacement are affected by and exacerbate a situation of widespread products of conflict. Type 1 is directly caused by poverty, rising inflation and declining real incomes. armed conflict; type 2 is caused by latent conflict or by the threat of use of force. As such, they constitute In other words, people leave home due to a combina­ forced migration, and cause internal displacement tion of interconnecting coercive and economic factors. (as defined in the Guiding Principles). One has to consider the whole process leading to displacement rather than a single, immediate cause. Type 3: Livelihoods vulnerability-induced displacement: Where coercive measures are involved, which is generally this is the primary form of internal and external the case in Burma/Myanmar, the resulting population migration within and out of Burma. The main causes movement falls squarely within the scope of the Guiding are inappropriate government policies and practices, Principles on Internal Displacement, even if the situation limited availability of productive land and poor access that actually triggers movement – frequently food to markets – all leading to food insecurity and lack of insecurity – may also be described in economic terms. education and health services. Such people make up a particularly vulnerable set of economic migrants. Andrew Bosson is an independent researcher. He is the author of ‘Forced Migration/Internal Displacement in Ashley South ([email protected]) is an independent Burma with an Emphasis on Government-Controlled writer and consultant on humanitarian and political Areas’, a report written in May 2007 for the Internal issues in Burma and South-East Asia. For more Displacement Monitoring Centre. Online at www. information, see his report ‘Burma: The Changing ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/IDMC-Burma_report_mai07.pdf Nature of Displacement Crises’, Refugee Studies Andrew Bosson’s analysis is developed further at www. Centre Working Paper No 39, Feb 2007, online at www. ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/IDPs-Coercive-measures2008-03- rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/WP39%20Burma%20AS.pdf. 17.pdf as well as in the IDMC report referred to above. 1. www.brookings.edu/projects/idp/gp_page.aspx FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 17 Humanitarian aid to IDPs in Burma: activities and debates Ashley South

There is a need for greater understanding and coordination Very few international organisations between groups working inside Burma and those operating operating in government-controlled areas of Burma implement cross-border. programmes that specifically target IDPs. In part, this is due to The majority of assistance and ‘liberated zones’ in the early/mid- the sensitivity of the issue; in part, advocacy – and most research 1990s, civilians displaced by armed it reflects a lack of appreciation – regarding forced migration in conflict could no longer settle behind of the nature and extent of the Burma has focused on the situation the frontlines of conflict, and IDP displacement crises in Burma. in armed conflict-affected areas numbers increased substantially. along the Thailand border. As With the help of international From the late 1990s, international international agencies do not have NGOs and donors who had been organisations in Burma began to direct access to conflict-affected parts supporting refugees in Thailand realise the benefits of working in of eastern Burma, they provide aid for decades, Karen and Mon IDP partnership with local NGOs and in partnership with local agencies. assistance programmes were CBOs in order to gain access to established. By April 2002, the vulnerable and remote communities. Assistance for displaced people annual cross-border aid budget During this period, a variety of civil inside Burma, sent from Thailand had grown to $1m, distributed society groups emerged within or other neighbouring countries, is through local Karen and, to a lesser and between ethnic nationality by definition illegal as it challenges extent, Karenni and Shan groups. communities inside Burma, in part the sovereignty of the Burmese as a result of the series of ceasefires government (which most cross-border Short-term humanitarian aid was negotiated between the government actors in fact consider illegitimate). intended to supplement villagers’ and most armed groups. These Some cross-border activities are rice-sharing and other coping civil society networks include carried out from Bangladesh and mechanisms, offering them a chance religious groups and traditional India (very limited amounts of relief to reconstruct their communities village associations as well as and documentation on human rights) once the immediate crisis had more formal organisations. and also from China (including low- passed. In 2005 several cross- profile medical assistance). Most border groups began to implement Such local actors often have access Thailand-based cross-border groups a range of community-based to conflict-affected areas beyond the work in Karen areas but also in Mon development initiatives, stimulated reach of international organisations. and Karenni States; security and local by the injection of significant new Their relief and development capacity constraints mean that much US government funds for cross- activities take the form of self- less work is undertaken in Shan State. border work. Several of these help initiatives, undertaken by organisations also implemented extended family and ethnic clan Cross-border programmes provide sometimes quite extensive health networks, as well as more systematic aid which may be characterised and education programmes in programmes implemented by CBOs as impartial – inasmuch as it is partnership with local communities.1 and local NGOs. Relief aid usually distributed according to need – but consists of food, medical supplies it is far from neutral. Working inside Burma (including mobile outreach teams) International relief and development and community rehabilitation Cross-border aid networks are projects in Burma are still spread development activities. In particular, closely associated with armed very thinly. Yangon-based three separate church-based opposition groups, on which they international organisations and UN networks working with IDPs have rely for security and logistical agencies generally take a long-term developed sophisticated capacities arrangements. In fact, most cross- incremental approach to expanding to assess needs and to monitor and border personnel are members (or access into conflict-affected parts of evaluate the impacts of assistance. affiliates) of insurgent organisations. the country, starting programmes in A number of local NGOs and CBOs areas adjacent to state capitals and Local community leaders – who are are also engaged in human rights gradually moving into more remote able to engage with those holding documentation and advocacy locations, although not in the most power (eg Burma army and work, and capacity building with severely conflict-affected areas. Over ceasefire group commanders) – also a range of opposition groups. the past few months, however, the undertake important protection military government has moved to work to improve conditions for As Burma’s ethnic insurgency groups further restrict the activities of most vulnerable communities. Their lost control of their remaining humanitarian agencies in the country. interventions may involve persuading 18 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

authorities not to relocate civilians Conclusion conflict-affected areas can help to nor to demand forced labour from Agencies working outside Burma, create the ‘humanitarian space’ in a village or to allow humanitarian especially opposition groups in exile which to engage in behind-the- access for international or, more and their support and lobbying scenes advocacy with national, often, local NGOs and CBOs. networks, should be encouraged state and local authorities. to gain a better understanding Civil society actors may also pass on of the important assistance and Ashley South ([email protected]) is human rights information to contacts protection work undertaken – despite an independent writer and consultant in Yangon or Thailand. Such informal government restrictions – by local on humanitarian and political issues ‘protection and advocacy networks’ civil society actors in Burma. in Burma and South-East Asia. help reduce the incidence of human Organisations working from inside 1. The total amount of aid provided by international rights abuses as, for example, army Burma cannot afford to be as bold organisations in Burma is approximately $250 million commanders may be reluctant to in their advocacy roles as those (less than $5/person), while the budget of international agencies on the Thailand border is about $50 million – for use forced labour in areas where based in Thailand and overseas. a refugee population of approximately 150,000 people this fact is likely to be passed onto However, the presence of local and – of which some $7 million is spent cross-border. advocacy groups in Thailand. international agency personnel in Supporting IDP resistance strategies Poe Shan K Phan and Stephen Hull

Whether in hiding or living under military control, displaced deemed those villagers in hiding to be villagers of Karen State and other areas of rural Burma enemies of the state, targeting them as such in military campaigns, shooting have shown themselves to be innovative and courageous them on sight and burning down in responding to and resisting military abuse. They their homes, fields and food stores. urgently need increased assistance but it is they who should determine the direction of any such intervention. IDPs as political actors Most displaced villagers in Karen A common external misrepresentation has had difficulty enforcing such State could, in principle, go to live of the conflict and displacement in demands and has therefore sought under SPDC rule. The fact that so eastern Burma is one which narrowly to forcibly transfer the disparate many civilians remain displaced depicts a civil war between the rural communities into contained in hiding sites is indicative of SPDC army and armed opposition relocation sites where they can be villagers’ aspirations to live free groups like the Karen National more easily exploited. This strategy from oppressive military control Liberation army (KNLA), with has undermined villagers’ livelihoods and their success in resisting the civilians as unintended victims and by preventing them from travelling SPDC army’s efforts to enforce this displacement a side-effect of the to work or trade and by requiring control. Fleeing into the forest is thus armed conflict. A closer examination that they submit their money and not an act of fear and helplessness of the situation, however, which resources to military personnel but a courageous way of resisting listens to what civilians themselves and take time away from their SPDC rule. Those unable to flee are saying, shows that this is not own occupations in order to meet resist in different ways, employing the case. Rather, the SPDC army SPDC demands for labour. These daily acts of subtle subversion and has overwhelmingly focused its inter-related abuses have combined non-compliance in order to mitigate military campaigns against civilian over time to exacerbate poverty, or wholly avoid the demands and communities and in many cases has increase malnutrition and worsen restrictions put upon them. actively avoided KNLA patrols. the region’s humanitarian crisis. Along with the act of flight itself, Military units of the SPDC active Aware of conditions of life under villagers in hiding have developed in Karen State depend for their military control, many villagers have additional response strategies. For day-to-day operations on labour, therefore chosen instead to go into example, those remaining in their money, food and other supplies hiding. By evading demands and villages but expecting to have to flee extracted from the local civilian restrictions, villagers not only claim hide rice stores at secret locations population through various forms of their right to be free from such abuse in the forest and build concealed forced labour and extortion. In non- but also weaken the operations of shelters to which they can escape military controlled areas, especially local army units and thus frustrate should SPDC troops suddenly arrive. the more mountainous regions of the spread of militarisation over Using advanced warning systems to northern Karen State, the SPDC army Karen State. The SPDC, in turn, has relay messages between communities, FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 19

project in 2005. This project has two components: firstly, to document – along with the abuses which rural people face – their stories about the efforts they make to resist this abuse and, secondly, to help villagers identify and strengthen their resistance strategies.

In our Village Agency workshops, with the help of KHRG field researchers Displaced as facilitators, villagers villagers discuss their perceptions fleeing the SPDC in of human rights and local Toungoo KHRG events, are introduced to District. basic international human villagers can learn of the impending to resist this control, the pursuit of rights norms and explore how these arrival of troops and thereby gather subsistence, healthcare, education relate to their own situation. They belongings and head into the forest and other social programmes outside are encouraged to recognise and prior to the actual arrival of soldiers. of military control becomes a highly discuss what they are already doing Upon reaching relatively secure political act. As such, aid to displaced to respond to and resist human rights hiding sites, displaced communities communities likewise becomes a abuses and, finally, to discuss ways are quick to re-establish schools to political act. Where aid programmes to strengthen, extend and implement educate their children and provide support IDP efforts to survive in local strategies. The objective is not some measure of structure despite hiding, they directly challenge the to ‘teach’ villagers about human the disruptions of a life on the run. regime’s efforts at civilian control rights but to get them thinking more Villagers share rice with others who and the SPDC views such aid with consciously about human rights, to have been unable to bring along hostility. Acknowledging the right help them recognise the ways they sufficient reserves. If they expect to of displaced people to resist military are already claiming their rights remain for a longer period at one abuse is a necessary aspect of trying and to catalyse discussion on ways hiding site, villagers often establish to address their various needs. to strengthen their strategies. The small hillside paddy plots or cultivate External intervention which seeks the hope is that these workshops will cardamom, betel nut and other return, resettlement and reintegration kick-start a process where villagers crops which, being relatively small of displaced communities to SPDC- will regularly discuss and share and durable, are practical trade controlled villages and relocation approaches amongst themselves, goods for displaced communities. sites and provides aid through trying out new ones as appropriate. SPDC channels would strengthen Using traditional knowledge of their the SPDC and weaken the villagers. The more villagers strengthen environment, villagers have been In contrast, aid delivered directly their own strategies to claim their able to concoct natural remedies for to civilian communities outside rights, the more they will be seen as a variety of ailments out of locally military-controlled channels actors participating in the processes available ingredients. As the SPDC strengthens the position of the and decisions which affect them. enforces heavy restrictions on villagers in relation to the military. In turn, local and international travel and trade, the establishment actors will be encouraged to work of temporary and covert ‘jungle Village agency in ways that strengthen villagers’ markets’ allows displaced villagers While international awareness of the own strategies, rather than in hiding to trade with those living human rights situation in rural Burma imposing strategies upon them. under military control. Displaced has increased in recent years, it has villagers also actively seek out tended to favour a simplistic view Poe Shan K Phan (poeshan@ local aid groups providing cross- of villagers as helpless ‘victims’ who khrg.org) is the Field Director of border medical, educational and lack the knowledge and means to the Karen Human Rights Group nutritional support. Civilian lookouts address their own needs. Thousands (KHRG www.khrg.org) and a monitoring the military presence of interviews with local people former IDP from eastern Burma. at their abandoned villages inform conducted by the Karen Human Stephen Hull (stephen@khrg. others if and when army patrols move Rights Group (KHRG1), however, org) is a researcher for KHRG. on, allowing for a possible return make it clear that villagers in rural Thanks to KHRG staff member to reclaim their homes and land or Burma have strong views about what Jennifer Haigh for her assistance. at least to fetch items left behind. needs to be done to improve their situation and how these aims can For email updates on new KHRG In the context of the SPDC’s efforts be practicably realised. In response reports, please visit www.khrg.org. to control and exploit the civilian to what villagers were telling us, 1. www.khrg.org population and villagers’ efforts KHRG introduced its ‘Village Agency’ 20 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Responses to eastern Burma’s chronic emergency The Thailand Burma Border Consortium

Humanitarian agencies and community-based organisations schooling and early childhood are working in partnership to assist remote communities in development programmes. the most contested areas of eastern Burma. Smaller amounts of assistance are channelled towards the protection Humanitarian responses to this vulnerable communities in eastern of civilians caught in conflict and chronic emergency have come Burma will remain cross-border. the promotion of civil society. As the both from agencies based inside ‘citizen-journalists’ of the independent Burma and from agencies based Cross-border assistance media disseminated uncensored in neighbouring countries and Agencies based inside the country news during the Saffron Revolution working discreetly across national can reach more stable areas, in 2007, so ethnic community- borders. Government restrictions including some internally displaced based organisations have resisted on programmes and travel by communities in government- the suppression of fundamental international staff in remote controlled relocation sites and civil and political rights inside areas were formalised in a set ethnic ceasefire areas, but the scale Burma by working cross-border of guidelines for humanitarian and scope of this assistance remain to document gross human rights agencies in 2006. These government limited. Cross-border aid not only abuses. Despite the ongoing conflict, regulations have particularly reaches these areas but is also the in some communities it has also been restricted agencies that prioritise main means of accessing communities possible to supplement emergency the field presence of expatriate hiding from SPDC patrols in more relief activities with social capital staff as a protection strategy. unstable areas. In 2007, approximately development and the rehabilitation US$7 million was channelled into of natural, physical or social assets. Ironically, the contraction of cross-border initiatives supporting humanitarian space may present livelihoods, health care, education, Given the military regime’s lack of opportunities for agencies based human rights, environmental political legitimacy, even UN agencies inside Burma to reinforce coping protection, independent media in Burma have challenged the strategies by focusing more on and community rehabilitation. relevance of neutrality as a guiding developing national staff and principle.1 The use of armed escorts partnerships with community-based The largest sector of cross-border to secure access for delivery of some organisations. Just as cross-border assistance is support for livelihoods, cross-border assistance is another operations have primarily been including both food aid for IDP aspect of this debate. The UN Office implemented by community-based camps situated close to the border, for the Coordination of Humanitarian organisations for over a decade, and cash transfers for communities Affairs (OCHA) has recognised humanitarian responses into conflict- deeper inside Burma. The benefits that exceptional circumstances exist affected areas from agencies based of cash transfers include ease of where armed escorts are necessary in country are also now more mobility, speed and security, allowing for humanitarian convoys.2 The dependent on local capacities. The beneficiaries rather than the aid context in conflict-affected areas international community is now agencies to prioritise their needs, of eastern Burma embodies these dependent, for example, on surveys and supporting peace building by exceptional circumstances and conducted by community-based reinforcing remote markets which justifies the use of armed escorts. organisations to gauge the level of maintain economic and social links During the past few years, similar vulnerability in contested areas. across political conflict lines. circumstances have led NGOs to use armed escorts to deliver humanitarian There is a challenge how to increase The other two main sectors are health aid into northern Iraq, Somalia, humanitarian space in the areas of and education. Just as humanitarian Chechnya and northern Kenya. ongoing conflict of eastern Burma. agencies based inside Burma provide For agencies and governments in technical support to relevant SPDC Strategic challenges dialogue with the military junta, ministries, some cross-border Cross-border aid programmes into this requires an extension of assistance is implemented through, eastern Burma have responded to the geographic access and the relaxation and develops the capacities of, the challenge of ensuring that aid is not of restrictions on monitoring, ethnic nationalities’ own formal inadvertently prolonging violence as well as policy-level dialogue health and education departments. and abuse in three main ways. about protection of civilians from This is complemented by non- Firstly, the larger programmes are systematic violence and abuse. Until formal approaches to health and based on formalised agreements in such concessions can be secured, education such as support for which basic humanitarian principles the main way of reaching the most traditional birth attendants, monastic and respective responsibilities FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 21

IDPs in hiding, eastern

Committee for Internally Displaced Internally for Committee (CIDKP) People Karen Burma, 2007. are clarified. These agreements due to restrictions on access and will be best served by developing acknowledge that the relevant funding than to active coordination. a continuum of response capacities ethnic opposition party is to secure The level of trust and dialogue on both ‘sides’ of the conflict. access, while decisions about between humanitarian agencies the distribution of aid are the across the national borders has Meanwhile, with the international independent domain of the local increased significantly over the past community dependent on ethnic humanitarian agency. Agencies also few years. However, efforts need community-based organisations need to redouble their efforts in to be strengthened to overcome to reach and assist the most promoting awareness among armed ongoing constraints such as logistical vulnerable groups in eastern non-state actors of their obligations difficulties (including restrictions on Burma, it is essential that donors under international humanitarian visas and censorship), political risks and UN agencies recognise and law. Secondly, risk assessments prior (by association with ‘government support these local capacities for to, and conflict impact assessments informants’ or ‘rebel sympathisers’) cross-border aid. It is equally vital after, the distribution of aid monitor and budgetary concerns (arising that diplomatic pressure for the whether there have been negative from ‘competing’ for funds). expansion of humanitarian space in repercussions for villagers instigated conflict-affected areas is intensified. by any of the armed groups. Thirdly, For donors, a strategic challenge independent field surveys have been remains how to reconcile funding This article was written by the conducted with both beneficiaries of needs for nation-wide poverty Displacement Research Team programmes and non-beneficiaries alleviation programmes and for ([email protected]) of the Thailand to get a clearer picture of the impact emergency responses to the chronic Burma Border Consortium (www. of cross-border aid. These surveys protracted conflict in eastern Burma. tbbc.org). The TBBC comprises identified strong and positive impacts The sheer size of the population 11 international NGOs providing in mitigating conflict and promoting impoverished by decades of poor food, shelter and non food items local capacities and linkages for peace. governance needs to be balanced to refugees and displaced people against the humanitarian imperative from Burma. TBBC also engages Among the institutional challenges to prioritise resources for the most in research on the root causes of is the promotion of information vulnerable groups. Pending a political displacement and refugee outflows. sharing and coordination between solution, it would be short-sighted 1. UN Country Team, 22 April 2005, ‘Strategic framework humanitarian agencies based on to confine cross-border agencies for UN Agencies in Myanmar, Yangon’. www.unicef. both ‘sides’ of the conflict, that is, to emergency relief responses. org/about/execboard/files/Myanmar_UNDAF.pdf 2. UN OCHA, 14 September 2001, ‘Use of Military or in-country and cross-border. While Instead, the potential for any future Armed Escorts for Humanitarian Convoys: Discussion there is currently minimal overlap transition from relief to development Paper and Non-Binding Guidelines’ www.who.int/ hac/network/interagency/GuidelinesonArmedEscorts_ in existing services, this is more assistance to sustainable livelihoods Sept2001.pdf 22 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Reproductive health in Burma: a priority for action John Bercow

With per capita expenditure on health in Burma estimated infections and HIV. Young women at less than $0.50 per year,1 it is not surprising that are particularly vulnerable, as they are at risk of being forced to health status in Burma is lower than elsewhere in the work in one of the many brothels region. This is particularly true of reproductive health. located in western Thailand.

There is an urgent need for improved not widely available in government Reproductive health needs of both reproductive health services in health centres and that the private internally displaced populations Burma. At 360 per 100,000 live births2 sector is reported to be the main in Burma and refugees in Thailand the estimated maternal mortality source of contraception. This is and Bangladesh are far from ratio is lower than for a number of particularly relevant to women being met. There is a need to: other countries in the region but living in conflict-affected States there is widespread belief that this and the border areas where private n support development of human number is not a true representation practitioners and private clinics resource capacity as well as of the maternal deaths in the are less likely to be available and provide supplies and equipment country. Contraceptive use is also where few international agencies low, with large regional variations; are able to work. There are also tight n develop or update relevant women in those areas most affected restrictions on the use of permanent policies and guidelines by conflict are less likely to use a methods of family planning. modern contraceptive than those n encourage the Burmese living in the central plains region. Without access to family planning government – despite its pro- In Arakan (Rakhine) State, where services women tend to have babies natalist stance – to recognise the many people are displaced from too young, too close together, too importance of family planning their homes or are returnees from many and too late – the four main in reducing maternal mortality. refugee camps in Bangladesh, the factors which increase the risk of contraceptive prevalence rate among maternal and child death. Lack Policy response married women is particularly low. of family planning also leads to The British government is one unplanned pregnancies, which may of the largest donors to Burma. The government of Burma has stated result in unsafe abortion. Despite Its Department for International that it is committed to achieving efforts by a number of international Development (DFID) works with the Millennium Development and national agencies, HIV prevalence UN agencies, international and Goals (MDGs) by the target date of is among the highest in the region. local NGOs, rather than funding 2015 and that reducing maternal the government of Burma directly, mortality by 75% (MDG 5) is a SRH services on the border in order to ensure that funds priority for action in 2008. However, Reproductive health needs are being are not diverted to support the reproductive health (RH) services in addressed by a number of agencies repressive and illegitimate regime. Burma are predominately through working on the Thai-Burma border, private provision and therefore only though these are often limited to In 2007, the International accessible to those able to pay. There reaching only those refugees living Development Committee3 of the are limited services available in rural in camps. There have been significant British parliament held an inquiry areas and the areas along the borders improvements in the camps since the into DFID’s assistance to Burmese are particularly poorly served. late 1990s. For example, emergency IDPs and refugees along the Thai- obstetric care is now available in Burma border which published its Despite the government’s stated most sites 24 hours a day, seven recommendations in October 2007.4 policy of focusing on MDG 5, one of days a week. However, use of The report highlights key areas the major barriers to contraceptive contraceptive methods is still low. where support is needed, including use is the government’s stance in High levels of unsafe abortion are in sexual and reproductive health. favour of raising the birth rate. In a reported, with correspondingly high recent speech, the Chairman of the levels of morbidity and mortality. Both the Global Fund to Fight State Peace and Development Council AIDS, TB and Malaria and the Fund clearly indicated the desire for a There is a particular need for sexual for HIV and AIDS in Myanmar much larger population, referring to a and reproductive health (SRH) (FHAM)5 reflected the need to work “projected population of 100 million” education. Many refugees have only through national and international (almost double the current estimated limited knowledge of basic methods NGOs but recognised the challenge population). It is not surprising, of contraception and how to protect of achieving the national-level therefore, that contraceptives are themselves from sexually transmitted coverage required to meet the FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 23 needs of the most vulnerable The International Development UK Parliament and is Chairman of when operating through NGOs. Committee recommends a the All-Party Parliamentary Group quadrupling of aid for Burma. The for Democracy in Burma. He is also Donor recognition of the need real challenge for donors, however, a member of the UK’s International to support community-based is to find effective development Development Committee. organisations and NGOs inside partners able to provide good 1. www.burmacampaign.org.uk/total_report.html#8 Burma marks something of a shift SRH services within the country in 2. UNFPA, 2007 in policy. As with IDPs elsewhere addition to those NGOs working 3. www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/ in the world, it is those not living across the Thai-Burmese border. international_development.cfm in camps and not recognised as 4. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/ cmselect/cmintdev/1070/107002.htm displaced who are most excluded John Bercow (BERCOWJ@ 5. http://myanmar.unfpa.org/projects.htm from access to services. parliament.uk) is a Member of the A sense of home in exile Sandra Dudley

Material objects and the physical actions of making and using often do precisely that. It renders them are a fundamental part of how forced migrants, far the experience understandable from being passive victims of circumstance, seek to make and the present more bearable. the best of – and make a home in – their displacement. The cultural experience of displacement is reflected in how The Karenni are the second largest to a prolonged refugee situation, refugees act in the physical world grouping remaining in camps in has also augmented anxieties of which they are a part. How, for Thailand and by late 2007 numbered and tensions within the camp. example, does life in the camps around 23,000, about 13% of the Unsurprisingly, Karenni refugee life relate to cultural aesthetics about total Burmese refugee population.1 is increasingly problematic – and, the ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to live and Humanitarian conditions in Karenni as a result, all agencies appear feel? In what ways do the memories State are by all accounts dire, variously to be identifying and and imagination of the home that even by Burma’s low standards. seeking to address a significant has been left behind influence the rise in both mental ill-health and ways in which refugees seek to The Karenni refugee leadership is social and legal problems. create a sense of home in the camp? dominated by the Karenni National What particular material objects and Progressive Party (KNPP), which ‘Materialising’ exile aspects of the physical environment has remained committed to armed Displacement inevitably complicates (if any) are important in these opposition to the Burmese regime. and changes people’s relationships processes, and why? What does it There are also various other with objects and places, as well as physically feel like to be a refugee? armed groups vying for control with each other. In order to live of territory, resources and people as ‘normally’ as possible within a At least three elements in human inside Karenni State. High-minded new place, Karenni refugees seek interaction with the physical world ideology is often lost as conflict and to make it as familiar in material have become particularly significant its civilian consequences become a ways, and as like the old, as possible. in Karenni forced displacement. way of life and ultimately contribute In so doing, they are attempting to Firstly, opportunities to repeat to patterns of displacement. In connect two points in space (the physical actions familiar from the the four years between 1996 and refugee camp ‘here’ and the pre- past, such as building houses and 2000, for example, it is estimated exile ‘there’) and two time periods other creative processes possible in that more than 15% of Karenni (the displaced ‘now’ and the pre- the camp, are important – and not State’s population were displaced migration ‘then’). The connections only because they ameliorate the because of military activity.2 are continually being renewed boredom and anxiety of displacement through ritual practices, clothing, and provide necessary physical The basic structure of assistance food and myriad everyday activities. objects. They may be comforting provision to Karenni refugees has in their familiarity, enable the changed relatively little in the past Essentially, this is about creating a structuring of time, and provide 12 years, despite increases in the sense, however flawed, of ‘home’ – distraction and a sense of doing the refugee camp population, camp somewhere people feel is comfortable best one can. They also allow the mergers and the tighter physical and intrinsically linked to who and continued development and practice and legislative confinement of all what they perceive themselves to of valued skills. Furthermore, the border refugees since 1998. The be. While it is unhelpful for relief reassurance provided by utilising increasing impact of UNHCR’s agencies and anthropologists subconscious cultural knowledge large resettlement programme, alike to idealise the worlds that to use one’s body in established whilst an understandable approach refugees have left behind, refugees ways, while hardly unique to 24 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

images not only of friends and activities in the camp but also of persons and places significant in life before displacement. The value of such artefacts is evident in both their continued existence in the refugee camp and in the ways in which they are kept and frequently engaged with in private or with visitors as a springboard for remembering and re-telling the past.

Thirdly, as well as being an important vehicle for memory and link to the past, photographs and other personal objects, as with building houses in a familiar style and weaving traditional textiles, also enable Karenni refugees partially at least to colonise or possess a new place within which they otherwise feel inadequately at home.

A better understanding of these cultural and material processes would contribute to more effective and sympathetic assistance for refugees. Suthep Kritsanavarin for TBBC, 2007 for Suthep Kritsanavarin

Sandra Dudley ([email protected]) Karenni refugees, does have particular a key component of mechanisms works in the Department of Museum refugees in importance in forced migration as for coping with displacement. Studies, University of Leicester. Site 1/Ban another means of simultaneously Mai Nai So 1. Thailand Burma Border Consortium 2007 ‘Burmese refugee camp, preserving continuity with the pre- Secondly, material forms such as border refugee sites with population figures: November 2007’, www.tbbc.org/camps/2007-11-nov-map-tbbc- Thailand. exile past and adjusting to the loss photographs can stand for past unhcr.pdf of some of life’s rhythm. Indeed for personal and communal experience 2. Human Rights Watch 2007 ‘Burma: army attacks Karenni refugees, being busy, be it and create connections with that past. displace hundreds of thousands’ http://hrw.org/english/ in making things such as textiles Many people possess photograph docs/2007/10/25/burma17168.htm or baskets, teaching or cooking, is albums, for example, which include

Technology in the borderlands Rachel Sharples

Displaced Karen in the border- provided previously unimaginable New technologies such as lands are taking advantage of opportunities to access the blogs, websites and multimedia new technology not only to international community, have allowed Karen activists to maintain connections with their including UN mechanisms, reach more diverse audiences homeland but also to inform sympathetic governments and with targeted messages. In the international community funding sources. By accessing turn, increased knowledge of of human rights violations. international networks the Karen injustices, whether it Karen are able to appeal to a is a sympathetic audience or A key connection between the wider audience while at the an audience that can equate it borderlands and homeland same time maintaining a close with their own experiences, has is their shared subjection to geographical and emotional created networks of solidarity. atrocities arising from military attachment to their people and conflict. Displacement has culture. At the same time they Rachel Sharples (sharples. provided opportunities and have learnt a number of skills [email protected]) is a PhD space to advocate against human – including the ability to negotiate student at RMIT, Melbourne. She rights violations – and this has complex global structures and is studying how displacement been facilitated in particular by to communicate cross-culturally has impacted Karen constructs the presence of international – which will serve them in an of identity and culture along networks and new technology increasingly globalised community. the Thai-Burma border. in the borderlands. These have FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 25 Neglect of refugee participation Marie Theres Benner, Aree Muangsookjarouen, Egbert Sondorp and Joy Townsend

The participation of affected populations in planning or as well as on the international NGOs’ implementation of humanitarian aid in conflict or post- philosophy regarding participation conflict situations has too often been neglected. of those affected by conflict. This refugee population has There has been a notable progression and tuberculosis, laboratory therefore moved from relative to systematic aid dependency among training and services, training of independence in the early years the Myanmar refugees living in nine refugees in health-care services and to an almost total dependency on camps along the Thai-Myanmar management, water supply and aid. Refugee ‘participation’ has border. Refugee participation shifted sanitation. NGOs also needed to been reduced to providing staff from self-reliance for shelter and food provide food supplies and shelter as for health and education services to the current situation in which the the refugees were no longer allowed and food distribution – to the refugees have become fully dependent to organise their own. The level of administration of activities rather on the international community for humanitarian assistance was not than the design and planning of their living in Thailand, tempered allowed to exceed the living standards programmes. If this is to be avoided by partial self-management of of the Thai host communities, in here, and in other protracted their own health care, education order to avoid inequalities. refugee crises, the international services and food distribution. community and host governments There was a consolidation of the need to pay far greater attention to: The first documented Burmese camps in the late 1990s, resulting refugees arrived in Thailand in 1976, in larger camp settlements with n involving refugees early scattering to several small so-called up to 45,000 refugees in the largest on in the planning and ‘displaced persons camps’ along camp. The number of camps was designing of programmes the Salween river that forms the reduced from 29 in 1994 to nine border. Camps held between 300 camps by 2007. Additional stringent n providing work opportunities and 2,000 refugees, who made their movement restrictions set by to ensure self-sufficiency and living by trading goods. At first, aid the host government resulted in reduce aid dependency agencies provided essential drugs, increased confinement in the camps vaccines, basic health-care training with limited work and educational n ensuring that aid supports the and services, as well as certain opportunities, which has led to integration, rather than isolation, basic commodities. During the mid- almost complete dependence on of refugees, with an emphasis eighties the refugees continued to be aid over the last five years. on building trust, synergy and able to earn their own income, and good relationships between retained control over their housing Income was and is still only possible refugee and host communities. and most of their food supply. They for the refugees working with one were able to plant their paddy fields of the 19 aid agencies providing Marie Theres Benner (mariet. and vegetables across the border humanitarian assistance, or from benner@malteser-international. in Myanmar and to raise domestic daily labour work in the camp. org) is a Senior Health livestock in the camps. Assistance was Although many refugees have been Coordinator for Malteser minimal, and mainly organised and trained with support from the Royal International (www.malteser. managed by the refugees themselves. Thai Government, donors, local de/61.Malteser_International). and international and NGOs in Aree Muangsookjarouen (aree@ The large increase in the number aspects of health-care management, searo.who.int) works on Burmese of refugees entering Thailand after education, food distribution and migrant and refugee health issues 1988 and again in 1994-95 resulted camp management, very few refugees with the World Health Organisation in a more systematic ‘top-down’ are now able to earn an income in Bangkok. Egbert Sondorp approach, providing health care, working outside this structure. ([email protected]) shelter and nutrition, with planning is a Senior Lecturer on Conflict and implementation mainly through Over the years some small refugee and Health, and Joy Townsend NGOs, who were requested by the community-based groups have been ([email protected]) is Royal Thai Government to increase established and supported, including Emeritus Professor of Primary their services in order to avoid the Karen’s Women Organisation Health Care, both at the London outbreaks of disease. These services and the Karen Women’s Education School of Hygiene and Tropical included implementation of a health Group, which are mainly engaged in Medicine (www.lshtm.ac.uk). surveillance system, provision women’s and adolescents’ health and of essential drugs, immunisation education, and which operate more or The views expressed in this against communicable diseases, less independently of the international article do not necessarily reflect treatment of the most problematic NGOs. They depend on donor those of the organisations. diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria commitment and availability of funds 26 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Community-based camp management Sally Thompson

In 1984, 10,000 refugees crossed from Burma into Thailand services remained under CCSDPT. seeking temporary refuge. No one imagined then that In coordination with the Thai refugees would still be arriving almost 25 years later. authorities, UNHCR organised the first registration for 15 years. This Villagers fled as whole communities, cost effective and with minimal was a turning point for the refugee negotiated land with local Thai international staff, in stark contrast camp committees who had been authorities and established to the high-profile assistance reporting the population figures on a themselves in camps around their programmes coordinated by the UN monthly basis. Although some NGOs traditional village leaders. The Thai on the Indochinese border. If change and donors had been sceptical of the government invited NGOs already had come in Burma, refugees would committees’ reporting standards, providing assistance to Cambodian, have been able to return relatively the registration came within 5% of Laotian and Vietnamese refugees unaffected by their stay in Thailand. their reported population figures, to respond to this new caseload thereby raising the credibility – on condition that assistance was UNHCR was largely absent of the camp committees. minimal and low key, nothing throughout this period. There was no which would encourage more official screening process. Refugees The model under review refugees into the country or which crossed the border, entered the The policy for 10 years was non- would raise the profile of the nearest camp, reported to the refugee interference in order to maintain people fleeing from Burma. camp committee and were generally traditional culture, minimise the added to the camp register. NGOs effect of displacement and leave NGOs coordinated through the accepted these figures and provided people ready for return. In reality Committee for Coordination of support for services accordingly. it was leaving people behind as Services to Displaced Persons in the world around them continued Thailand (CCSDPT)1 to provide The Burmese army gradually gained to move forward. It failed to basic relief assistance and services nominal control over the homelands recognise that their situation had through refugee committees initially of the ethnic nationalities in the fundamentally changed and that appointed by the ethnic political border areas; no longer was the different skills were needed to meet groups. The refugees used systems border a safe haven. Between 1995 the responsibilities placed upon that they had brought with them. and 1998, 12 camps were attacked them. Instead it ‘preserved’ a culture They set up camp committees and and burnt, resulting in a shift in and tradition which clashed with health and education departments. Thai policy. Containment became the more progressive thinkers in the They built warehouses, maintained the order of the day and whereas camps who wanted to move ahead. monitoring systems and built upon camps had been spread far and wide their community networks for justice along the border, now they were Community-based organisations and social welfare. Teachers from consolidated and fenced in. From (CBOs) were given training to enable within the communities taught in a situation of relative self reliance, them to effectively implement their own languages. Health agencies the refugees were on the road to services supported by NGOs but provided training to community dependency on external assistance. the skills required to deal with the health workers to treat common wider needs of a community were diseases in the border areas. Village communities turned into largely ignored. Camp committees, urban centres as camps expanded section leaders, women’s and youth For ten years this model was seen as from a maximum of 6,000 people organisations were all expected to be ideal: refugees taking care of their then to an average of 17,000 today. mediators, negotiators, counsellors, day-to-day lives, Thai authorities Mae La, the largest camp, holds managers, administrators and providing local security, and 45,000. Anyone caught outside the accountants, translators and trainers, international NGOs providing camps was considered an illegal as well as being the interface with minimum assistance. The refugees migrant. With access to asylum the NGOs, the donor community remained close to the border and no longer assured, the need for and the Thai authorities. The their intent was to return as soon UNHCR became essential. required skills base was huge. as the situation allowed. The ethnic nationalities still controlled territory After the Thai army forcibly pushed Increased demands from the inter- adjacent to the border, which acted back a group of new arrivals, national community for accountability, as a buffer zone between refugees UNHCR negotiated a Memorandum transparency and the fulfilment of across the border and advancing of Understanding and was given minimum standards for humanitarian Burmese army troops. The refugee a mandate for protection and responses challenged the NGOs programme was extremely lean, monitoring, while coordination of to review the model. While new FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 27

Mae La Oon refugee camp, EC/ECHO/J P Aparicio Thailand arrivals continued to enter the camps, formalised. In addition to the formal issues such as birth registration, the focus was on monitoring and needs of the camp, support was administration of justice and ensuring standardising systems. The camps’ also needed for activities such as the civilian character of the camps. supply management, while in many liaison with local Thai authorities The inter-dependency between respects perfectly adequate, no and host communities, security, and NGOs, CBOs, UNHCR and the longer met procedures required by cultural and religious occasions. Thai authorities is evident through donors for tendering, quality control a host of coordination meetings and monitoring. Thus began a long The Camp Management Project at camp, provincial and national process of re-design, training and supports relationships with local levels, ranging from coordination of implementing new systems to fit with communities whose land provides services through child protection, the global humanitarian community’s them with sanctuary. It helps to resettlement, donor interests and expectations. The systems had maintain relationships with local general information updates. functioned on trust and informal authorities and it provides support agreements. Rejection of these for CBO activities which in turn Long-term confinement without systems implied a breakdown in trust help to strengthen the voices of gainful employment has given rise which then had to be re-established. others in the community. Currently, to increasing social problems from women hold 28% of camp committee rising domestic violence to substance Camp Management Project positions and participation of abuse to youth gangs, which in turn In 2004, the Thailand Burma Border women in food distributions has require more skills in handling. The Consortium (TBBC) agreed with been increased to 35%. camps have been accused of being the Karen and Karenni Refugee lawless. The refugees’ response was Committees to set up a Camp Both formal networks and “we have our laws but they can Management Project that would partnerships have evolved, with be very harsh”. The camp justice acknowledge the true cost of NGO coordination through CCSDPT systems are in the process of aligning demands placed upon the camp well established from the beginning. customary law with national and committees. Support was needed UNHCR’s late entry 14 years into the international law, in cooperation for a number of areas, such as a core refugee crisis heightened the need for with the Thai Ministry of Justice. budget to cover administrative and partnerships. With no implementing management costs (for example, partners initially, their dialogue was All of these initiatives require human office supplies, communications and largely with the local Thai authorities, resources in the camps where the transport) and stipends for staff. Not alienating the very people they percentage of skilled and educated only were staff not being sufficiently had come to protect. The merits of people is relatively small (only rewarded for their work but the lack partnership were soon clear and 2% of the camp population have of funding left them feeling under- UNHCR and the NGOs established any further education). If there are valued. For years the camps were run protection working groups to be genuine community-based by ‘volunteers’. It was the medical from field level to national level, programmes, then efforts have agencies who first began paying including camp-based organisations to be made to ensure that NGOs stipends in an attempt to retain committed to sharing responsibility provide capacity-building support trained staff. Staffing and stipend for protection. The focus was on not only for the skills required to levels have now been determined practical protection in the field but deliver humanitarian assistance camp by camp and responsibilities has since widened to address policy but also for the skills to promote 28 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

Karenni Refugee Committee meeting, Site 1, Mae Hong Son

Province, TBBC for Suthep Kritsanavarin Thailand

greater community representation be replaced. Technical resources to compliance with international and to address issues arising on a are also necessary. NGOs all use standards and procedures. Systems daily basis, from family disputes to computers, email, trucks and phones. continue to evolve. The NGO negotiations with local authorities. More emphasis should be placed on community needs to build on the ensuring that camp management incredible coping skills that refugees The need for adequate capacity- staff can meet the responsibilities possess. With appropriate support building programmes has been expected of them. Finally, if refugees the communities will continue to accelerated by the opening up of had more freedom of movement address the daily realities of camp opportunities for third country and refugee organisations had some life where the possibility of return is resettlement. The impact on status then this would open up unlikely in the near future and where community-run systems is proving opportunities for them to engage new arrivals continue to crowd into to be a significant challenge. The very in the wider discourse of the the already overcrowded camps. people responsible for implementing humanitarian and donor community. the programmes – the educated, Sally Thompson (sally@tbbc. the skilled and the community Community-based camp management org) is Deputy Executive Director leaders with years of experience has focused on keeping refugees in of the Thailand Burma Border – are the first to go. By the end of control of their own situation and Consortium (www.tbbc.org). 2008 approximately 70% of NGO as autonomous as possible. It has 1. www.ccsdpt.org/ and CBO staff will have had to moved from complete ‘hands off’ Access to justice and the rule of law Joel Harding, Shane Scanlon, Sean Lees, Carson Beker and Ai Li Lim

Due to the nature of displacement and encampment – trafficking (although even in these entailing resource scarcity, geographic isolation, restricted categories in practice many cases mobility and curtailed legal rights – refugee victims of crime to date have not been referred or reported to Thai police by refugee often have inadequate legal recourse. leaders, except where Thai citizens are involved). Whilst this approach Historically, Thai officials overseeing some crimes or civil disputes to the may be seen as laudable in terms of the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma refugee leadership. This excludes empowerment, the dispute resolution border have assigned a fairly high serious crimes, such as murder, mechanisms that have emerged in degree of responsibility for handling rape, drug offences and human the camps are less than perfect. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 29

Camp justice officials are influential methods applied by some camp training and their task is made in their communities and often have institutions dealing with justice, more difficult by confusing and significant practical experience in community-driven outcomes can put inappropriate laws. Camp justice dispute resolution through their work weaker residents at a disadvantage. officials are unanimous that there in camp. Under the overall authority is an urgent need for legal reform. of the Ministry of Interior, refugee Women are significantly more leaders have, generally speaking, threatened by violence in the The constraints of encampment tried to administer camp affairs camp, and in particular by gender- often do not allow justice officials fairly and, considering the scale of based violence. Marital status has to deliver the outcomes expected the challenge, have done a great deal a strong impact on the security of by the community. Camp detention with limited resources. However, refugees in the camp. Divorced, facilities are more like holding cells, they themselves agree that they often separated and unmarried refugees inappropriate for long-term detention. lack the capacity to administrate feel more vulnerable to certain Heavy fines or compensation orders justice effectively in the camps. risks, particularly exploitation for are not realistic in the camp context goods and services and physical as few have the capacity to pay. Against this backdrop, in 2005- abuse. Widowed respondents also 06 UNHCR and the International reported more difficulties in the Some refugees complain that Rescue Committee (IRC) developed camp; they are more concerned, for camp justice institutions do not a legal assistance project.1 The example, about access to food rations satisfactorily protect vulnerable Royal Thai Government saw than their married counterparts. groups such as women, the poor and merit in the proposed project ethnic minorities. In most instances, and played an important role in Access to justice survivors of crimes have no choice establishing an advisory board Contrary to popular belief, the but to continue sharing the same to oversee implementation and majority of respondents want a neighbourhood as the perpetrators, provide support to activities. criminal justice system capable of a months and years after the criminal In August 2006, a Working vigorous response to, punishment incident. In many cases, perpetrators Committee, including relevant of and prevention of actual crime, are not prosecuted for the crimes they Thai government departments, rather than a focus on compromise, commit or may be released without UNHCR and IRC, approved a financial compensation or mediation. significant punishment. In some comprehensive assessment of the There are manifold barriers to cases, due to a lack of capacity on administration of justice in three achieving this, however. the part of camp leaders to handle pilot project sites in order to better violent criminals, and a preference understand a) the security and Many people do not know whether for dealing with them within the protection-related concerns of camp and when Thai law applies to them, refugee community, cases have been residents and b) access to justice or do not clearly understand the referred to representatives of ethnic and the rule of law as experienced rules applied by camp justice or opposition groups in camps. These by the refugee community and have confidence in them. This lack groups sometimes also act as an ad leadership. This Access to Justice of knowledge acts as a barrier to hoc appeal forum for camp residents Survey involved 2,299 respondents, accessing justice for three main who are dissatisfied with the with in-depth interviews and reasons. Firstly, it makes it difficult decisions made by leaders in camp. focus group discussions. for refugees to regulate their behaviour according to the law The camp institutions struggle to Key protection concerns that emerged and to know what kind of judicial deliver justice to their constituents were: alcohol and drug abuse; fear response to expect. Secondly, while judicial institutions provided of the Burmese military; inability to refugees have little idea of the legal by the host government remain, in access food entitlements; physical procedures they should follow practice, difficult to access. Refugee violence in the community in general inside or outside the camp, resulting respondents to the survey report that and rape specifically; lack of proper in the choice of inappropriate fora they are deterred from accessing the documentation; deportation; inability for pursuing justice. Finally, their Thai legal system for various reasons, to access justice; and incidents lack of knowledge of basic legal such as language, lack of transport, involving Thai security volunteers rights also means that refugees fear of reprisal, concern about the (Or Sors). These protection and are more vulnerable to abuse or police reaction and ignorance of the security concerns are not particularly exploitation in the system and are system. They may also fear shame or surprising as they reflect concerns less likely to receive a fair trial, community rejection if they report common to protracted, closed whether as victim or defendant. a crime outside the camp. Moreover camp situations where movement some camp officials may be reluctant and work are restricted. A major barrier in the camp justice to allow cases to go outside the system is the institutions’ lack of camp. Some Thai officials may be Some groups, those usually capacity to deliver appropriate reluctant to assert jurisdiction due to designated as vulnerable, feel less judicial processes and outcomes resource or workload implications. confident in the ability of camp to complainants and defendants, institutions to resolve disputes fairly. particularly in relation to more The roles and responsibilities of the Although consensus building and serious crimes. Camp justice various camp authorities dealing support from the community can be officials are easily pressured by with these issues are ill-defined and strengths of the dispute resolution influential refugees. They lack in some respects overlapping. Camp 30 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

Awareness- raising session on legal assistance centre services and Thai law, Mae La camp, Thailand. IRC staffIRC

residents are also unclear about the generally are often denied justice given the size of the communities, demarcation between the jurisdiction or dissuaded from accessing they have done their utmost to of the camp and Thai judicial justice because of camp officials’ cope in an extremely complex and systems. Following discussion of lack of sensitivity and/or capacity, sensitive protection environment. this issue in various meetings and and the community emphasis on conferences, the Thai authorities have reconciliation and compromise that Since the assessment, IRC has been indicated that the national justice puts pressure on women to accept able to implement activities focused system would focus on prosecuting inadequate judicial outcomes. on addressing gaps identified in serious crimes, with the camp the survey, such as: direct service justice systems continuing to deal Ethnic minorities in the camps can provision of legal advice assistance; with civil disputes and minor crime also have different experiences of mediation and arbitration training for (although exact distinctions between the overall accessibility, efficacy and leadership; training and awareness these have still to be clarified). fairness of camp justice and security on Thai law; civic education for institutions, and some have voiced youth; material and technical support There is a gap, however, between less confidence in camp structures to justice and security officials; legal desired outcomes and what is that are commonly dominated by and rights training for Thai security feasible. Camp residents over- members of majority ethnic groups. volunteers; and the development whelmingly prefer camp justice of community service orders with structures to resolve disputes, even Conclusion justice committees in camp. Thus for serious crimes such as murder. The survey results should not be far, stakeholders are highly engaged But for murder, most respondents interpreted as a failure of refugee in the project and have received it felt that the appropriate penalty leaders in their efforts to administer with enthusiasm and support. was 10 years or more in prison – or justice in camps. Indeed, there are the death penalty. Neither of these many examples where mediation Joel Harding (joel.harding@theirc. punishments can be delivered by has been conducted adeptly using org) is Legal Assistance Project the camp fora – but they are within an impressive range of techniques Coordinator. Shane Scanlon the legal power of Thai authorities to help parties reach mutual ([email protected]) is and the de facto power of the ethnic understanding. However, without Legal Assistance Manager for the military groups across the border. clear guidelines or standards, this International Rescue Committee, varies greatly from case to case and Thailand (www.theirc.org/where/ Camp governance structures are between different mediators and the_irc_in_thailand.html). Sean ill-equipped to deal with children justice officials. Bearing in mind Lees, Carson Beker and Ai Li Lim in conflict with the law – although that refugee leaders have previously were all project fellows during the children feel more susceptible to had very few external resources, assessment and survey phase. violence and a substantial majority either technical or material, to 1. Previously funded by the Italian government and of all rape and attempted rape support them in the administration UNHCR, now co-funded by UNHCR and Austcare/ victims are minors. GBV survivors of justice inside the camp, and DIAC, the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 31 Invisible in Thailand: documenting the need for protection Margaret Green, Karen Jacobsen and Sandee Pyne

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has conducted a differences in the demographic and survey to document the experiences of Burmese people living socio-economic make-up of the three sites. Respondents were selected in border areas of Thailand and assess the degree to which through a randomised sampling they merit international protection as refugees. technique and interviewed about a) their experience in Burma – why IRC is concerned that there are The US, Canada, Australia, they left home, whether they had significant numbers of Burmese living Sweden, Norway and others have experienced violence related to the in Thailand who qualify for and determined that many Burmese do conflict, and whether they had been deserve international protection and have credible, well-founded fears internally displaced in Burma before assistance but who do not have access of persecution according to the coming to Thailand – and b) their to proper registration processes. international refugee definition and experience in Thailand, including Without a transparent, humane and have offered them asylum, or an return movements to Burma, lawful asylum policy for Burmese opportunity to re-settle. The Thai humanitarian assistance received people entering Thailand, it is government, however, steadfastly and treatment by Thai authorities. impossible to estimate the percentage refuses to acknowledge international of bona fide refugees within the legal standards governing the We divided reasons for leaving group of migrants who have left identification and treatment of Burma into four categories: Burma for other reasons. The lack refugees, instead viewing the of systematic data to document application of external standards n conflict-related reasons: where the reasons people flee Burma or norms as an encroachment on respondents mentioned any provides the Thai authorities with Thai sovereignty and contradictory direct or indirect experience the excuse to treat those Burmese to national interests. of violence, torture, forced living outside the refugee camps as labour or armed conflict. mere economic migrants, subject Thailand has not ratified the 1951 to deportation. It also weakens the Convention, nor has it created n economic reasons: where leverage that agencies working domestic legislation that would respondents only mentioned with the Burmese living in Thailand provide the framework for the economic factors, such as have to advocate on their behalf. determination of refugee status and seeking employment. the corresponding body of rights Since 1988, over one million Burmese that accrue to bona fide refugees. n education or family reasons: citizens have left the country without Although the government permitted where respondents said they permission, although it is a crime the establishment of rudimentary left Burma to follow a relative to do so. Even though they have camps along its border for Burmese or in search of educational fled one of the most repressive “fleeing fighting”, fewer than one- opportunities for their children. countries on earth, the overwhelming tenth of Burmese in Thailand have majority of Burmese in Thailand been able to access the camps. The n other reasons (ie not have either no legal status or only camps exclude certain minority included in above). temporary migrant worker status. groups altogether, and lack a fair They live on the peripheries of Thai and fully functioning admissions Experiences in Burma society, often working in unsafe board to screen and admit newly Most respondents provided conditions, underpaid and at risk arriving Burmese who qualify. multiple reasons for flight. When of trafficking and exploitation. UNHCR is no longer permitted people mentioned conflict-related They are subject to Thailand’s 1979 to conduct individual status reasons, we inferred fear on the Immigration Act, which considers determination interviews in Bangkok part of respondent, which is an all undocumented aliens (including as it once did on a limited basis. essential component of satisfying those in need of asylum) to be ‘illegal the refugee definition. During the immigrants’ subject to deportation. In an effort to underpin its advocacy survey testing phase it became clear Thailand’s aggressive deportation efforts with accurate data, IRC that respondents would not answer policies contravene not just the 1951 collaborated with Karen Jacobsen questions about their political Convention but also the principle of Tufts University to conduct a views or specific activities in Burma of non-refoulement, which applies to survey of Burmese people living because they worried that their all countries and forbids them from outside the camps in three sites in families would get into trouble if the returning an asylum seeker to a the Thai-Burma border area: Chiang SPDC found out. While additional country or territory where s/he has Mai, Mae Hong Son and Mae Sot. data on this topic would have a well-founded fear of persecution. The surveys reveal significant enriched the findings, we deemed 32 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

persecution are Sot had never made a return trip. In present in Thailand. Chiang Mai, 38% of respondents said

IRC-MDU For example, 64% it would not be possible to return to of respondents in Burma even if they wished to do so. Chiang Mai reported Christianity as their In an effort to gauge interest in faith. It is clear that durable solution options, participants many unprotected in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai Burmese once lived were asked about resettlement in areas significantly elsewhere. In Mae Hong Son, only affected by conflict. 10% said they would prefer to In all three sites, most resettle in a third country. In Chiang respondents gave Mai, when asked where they would multiple reasons for like to be living in three years’ leaving Burma but time, 44% said they would like to in both Mae Hong be in a third country, 27% would Son and Chiang like to stay in Thailand and 26% Mai more than 50% would like to return to Burma. of respondents mentioned flight Recommendations from violent abuse, Clearly, each Burmese citizen’s forced labour or the story is different but many stories destruction or forced share similar threads of violence, appropriation of displacement due to conflict, and their livelihoods or fear of return. These potential property as a reason refugees lack adequate access for their flight. to assistance or protection in accordance with international refugee Reasons for coming standards. Therefore, the IRC has to Thailand were the following recommendations: significantly related to ethnicity. In n The international community Mae Sot, Burmans must increase support for were more likely essential services to bona fide to cross the border (albeit currently unrecognised) to Thailand for refugees. Thailand should not economic reasons have to shoulder the responsibility only, with only of hosting the Burmese refugee 15% citing reasons population on its own. related to the conflict in Burma. n Thailand must take steps to ensure Other ethnic groups that (unrecognised) refugees cited conflict more can access essential services Burmese it unethical to probe too deeply frequently. In each site, significant if without fear of harassment, migrant in this area. Given this reluctance, varying numbers of people reported arrest or deportation. worker in Thailand. it is likely that our results are experiencing violence, either skewed and that more respondents towards themselves or witnessed n Thailand must cease its experienced violence and conflict perpetrated on others – another deportation practices unless or than were willing to say so. strong indication that they deserve until the individuals at risk are refugee protection. Of those targeted first given an opportunity to Our findings suggest that a great by violence, 22% in Mae Sot and state their claim for asylum, in number of Burmese people currently 62% in Mae Hong Son attributed a fair and informed process. living in Thailand without legal it to their political activities. protection merit further investigation n Thailand must create a fair as to their refugee status; and that Experiences in Thailand and accessible refugee status only a small number of Burmese Respondents in all sites had most of determination procedure, either who warrant refugee status and their immediate family members with for individual or large group attendant services actually receive them in Thailand. Very few had lived prima facie determinations. any aid or protection either from in a refugee camp and around 80% in the Thai government or from each site had received no assistance n Thailand must confer legal status international aid agencies. at all. The frequency of return trips to on recognised refugees and Burma could be another telling factor provide proof of that status. The findings indicate that significant of migrants’ fear of their homelands; numbers of people from ethnicities most respondents in Mae Hong Son n Thailand should, within a and faiths that have long endured and Chiang Mai and 52% in Mae prescribed time frame, regularise FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 33

refugees’ status in Thailand so the Refugees and Forced Migration based, are available for researchers that they may eventually become Program at Feinstein International who wish to conduct further analysis. permanent residents or citizens. Center, Tufts University (http://fic. To obtain the Excel data base, contact tufts.edu). Sandee Pyne (sandee.pyne@ Karen Jacobsen at karen.jacobsen@ Margaret Green-Rauenhorst (margaret. thailand.theirc.org) is Advocacy tufts.edu. [email protected]) is Senior Technical Coordinator for International Rescue Advisor-Protection/Rule of Law in Committee, Thailand. The IRC would like to thank Research the International Rescue Committee’s Fellows Julia Fisherman and Lindy Governance & Rights Unit (www. The full results of the survey are online Worsham and our community partners theirc.org). Karen Jacobsen (karen. at http://fic.tufts.edu/?pid=76. The without whom this research would not [email protected]) is Director of survey data, on which this report was have been possible. Burmese asylum seekers in Thailand: still nowhere to turn Chen Chen Lee and Isla Glaister

Until the Thai authorities and UNHCR can provide an asylum assistance to be provided to them by process that is systematic and fair, as opposed to one that is UN and other relief agencies. So far, advocacy efforts by UNHCR and a conditional on particular events and dates, the current asylum handful of international organisations system will offer nothing more than pot luck. have met with limited success.

If there is one positive result from the Thai asylum process known as A 2005 report2 by JRS and the the Burmese junta’s brutal response the Provincial Admissions Board International Rescue Committee to the peaceful demonstrations in (PAB). All now have recognition (IRC) on the conditions of Burmese Yangon in September 2007, it is as camp refugees. However, for slipholders in Thailand found that the re-opening of registration by the remaining slipholders, despite almost all of the 353 individuals UNHCR for new asylum seekers ongoing discussions between surveyed had experienced from Burma. This comes after a UNHCR and the Thai authorities, persecution in Burma and risked hiatus of two years beginning in none has been transferred to a camp. serious human rights violations if November 2005 when UNHCR, at The majority of asylum seekers they were to return. As they did the request of the Thai authorities, have remained without protection not possess legal documents, they stopped registering anyone from since the beginning of 2004. would be regarded by the Thai Burma who sought asylum and authorities as illegal immigrants international protection in Thailand. On 15 September 2007, UNHCR and were therefore subject to arrest, re-opened registration for all those detention and deportation. In order Up until January 2004, UNHCR had arriving in Thailand after this date to survive, many of them ended up been able to conduct full Refugee for reasons related to the protests working illegally in Thailand, often Status Determination (RSD) for in Yangon. However, as with the in exploitative conditions. Unlike Burmese asylum seekers. Due to the previous batch of slipholders, the new camp-based refugees, refugees and Thai authorities’ wish to retain greater slips offer no legal status in Thailand asylum seekers living in urban areas control over the asylum screening and do not grant any rights; they are not able to receive basic services process, asylum seekers arriving from are only proof of their registration from NGOs. Many of them do not Burma after January 2004 could only with UNHCR and merely represent have adequate shelter and food, and register with UNHCR and obtain a a request to the Thai authorities not are frequently arrested and have their slip (hence now commonly referred to arrest or deport the bearers. money and property confiscated.3 to as ‘slipholders’). Those arriving since November 2005 have had no In the last few years, international The provision of slips to the opportunity to register or receive organisations, including the Jesuit September protestors is welcome. any form of documentation or Refugee Service (JRS), have been It gave hope that those with protection. advocating for slipholders and genuine asylum claims could now non-slipholders alike to undergo register with UNHCR again and Previously, there were three groups national screening for refugee that eventually the Thai authorities of slipholders, based in Bangkok, Mae status and admission into the nine would reactivate the PAB system to Sot and Kanchanaburi provinces, official camps along the border. screen all Burmese asylum seekers. comprising a total of 10,887 people.1 Recommendations have been made Although established in 1999, the In September 2006, more than 2,000 to the Thai government to allow PAB has been largely dysfunctional slipholders were transferred to camps registered Burmese asylum seekers to in practice. This is partly due to in Tak province and underwent stay temporarily in Thailand and for the fear that accepting the current 34 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

caseload would create a pull factor There is a danger that unless the Thai in Burma for Thailand and the for more arrivals from Burma. government allows the new arrivals international community to redress to be screened for refugee status soon, their situation will lead to significant For those asylum seekers who a new group of Burmese slipholders improvement and a better future. fled Burma in the aftermath of will be created, adding to a backlog the September crackdown, and of those who are still waiting for Chen Chen Lee ([email protected]) who have been issued temporary some form of durable solution. is Information and Advocacy registration slips by UNHCR, it Officer and Isla Glaister (isla@ still remains uncertain when or if The greatest concern is for those who jrs.or.th) is Mae Sot Programme they will be screened by the PAB. have had no access to a process of Coordinator for the Jesuit Refugee registration and therefore have no Service Thailand (www.jrs.or.th) However, for the thousands of protection and no hope of asylum. 1. Email exchange with UNHCR Bangkok, October 2007 slipholders and others who had been Undocumented, unwanted and 2. Nowhere to Turn, Jesuit Refugee Service and anticipating a change in policy and largely invisible, these Burmese International Rescue Committee, 2005.www. reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/RMOI- greater international attention to their slipholders and asylum seekers will 6E83HG?OpenDocument plight, UNHCR has made it clear that continue to live on the fringes. It 3. See article by Vera den Otter on ‘Urban asylum seekers they will have to continue to wait. remains to be seen whether the crack and refugees in Thailand’, FMR28: www.fmreview. org/FMRpdfs/FMR28/27.pdf opened up by the September protests Rohingyas and refugee status in Bangladesh Pia Prytz Phiri

The Rohingya refugees from northern Rakhine State and to better themselves, restricted in Myanmar are living in a precarious situation in their until recently to informal education classes taught by refugee volunteers country of asylum, Bangladesh, but have seen significant with limited courses and grades. improvements in recent times. UNHCR in Bangladesh has had some In 1991 some 250,000 Muslim international rights Covenants and success lobbying for the improvement Rohingyas were recognised as Conventions1 and has provisions of standards across all sectors by refugees on a prima facie basis by within its Constitution that uphold strongly advocating to bridge the the Government of Bangladesh. The the rights and duties within the discrepancy between international vast majority were repatriated by UN Charter and further safeguard protection principles and practice the Government of Bangladesh to the legal protection of non-citizens on the ground. The agency reached Myanmar in the following years, within its territory2. As a result, it landmark agreements with the leaving only two of the 20 refugee recognises a body of international previous government in 2006, before camps in existence. For the last law which provides the framework recent political events and the 16 years, a residual number of for protecting refugees. declaration of a state of emergency. approximately 27,000 Rohingyas The present interim government is have been living in two refugee The difficulty lies in ensuring also showing very positive signs of camps in the southernmost tip of compliance and sustainability in engagement with refugee issues. the country, near Cox’s Bazar. the standards of protection when there is no law regulating refugee What can be observed thus far are Bangladesh is neither a signatory status itself. The situation of the milestones in negotiations between to the 1951 Convention relating Rohingya refugees demonstrates the government and UNHCR to the Status of Refugees nor to the challenges in providing which are changing the shape of its 1967 Protocol and has not protection in an ad hoc, arbitrary the delivery of protection. First, enacted any national legislation and discretionary system. Although in 2006, the government agreed to on asylum and refugee matters. 16 years have passed, Rohingya allow UNHCR to construct new Nevertheless the government, refugees are still denied freedom of shelters for refugees in both camps, on its own initiative, recognised movement, the right to work and recognising the abysmal conditions the Rohingya arrivals in 1991 as the right to education – and thus are of the current structures which fall refugees and has, in partnership denied the chance of self-reliance below international standards. The with UNHCR, been providing and self-determination. Refugees maintenance of the shelters built them with assistance to this day. are forced to engage in clandestine in 1992 had been restricted by the activity, working illegally and for government to the bare minimum It is significant that Bangladesh has low wages. They have been denied for fear of promoting any form of acceded to several of the existing the opportunity to develop, to learn permanent presence of the refugees. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 35

Burmese refugee children play in front of new houses built with UNHCR funding in Nayapara refugee camp, Bangladesh, February 2008. UNHCR/K McKinsey

Since that agreement was reached, the level of international standards, contrary to the principles of refugee UNHCR has been successful it certainly points in the right protection, human rights and human in starting to raise funds – and direction. Since the first successful dignity. The need to engage in construction in the two refugee camps resettlement to Canada, resettlement dialogue with the Government of has begun. It is hoped that both for those refugees in urgent need Bangladesh and other stakeholders camps will have new accommodation of protection has been negotiated to discuss durable solutions for the facilities by end of 2009. with other interested countries; Rohingyas continues. It is too early both New Zealand and the UK have to predict the outcome of discussions A second major recent achievement confirmed an intake for 2008. but what is extremely positive at this was that, for the first time in the stage is that both UNHCR and the history of UNHCR’s operation A further development of great government agree on the importance in Bangladesh, resettlement to a significance has been agreement of taking a more holistic longer- third country was used to provide with the Government of term perspective to resolving the protection and a durable solution Bangladesh in 2006 to allow other plight of the Rohingya refugees. for some. Twenty-three refugees UN agencies and NGOs to work were resettled to Canada in 2006 in the refugee camps, bringing Pia Prytz Phiri (BGDDA@unhcr. and a further 79 in 2007. expertise in the different sectors. org) is UNHCR’s Representative in Bangladesh (www.unhcr. The agreement to re-settle was Nevertheless, there is still some org/country/bgd.html). piloted by UNHCR in part to lobby way to go before the refugees are the government to allow more skills able to enjoy the rights they are due The views expressed are those training and enhanced education under international law. UNHCR of the author and do not facilities. As a consequence, the Bangladesh has made its position necessarily represent the views government in 2006 agreed to allow very clear that the status quo is of UNHCR or the UN. skills training and an increase in the simply untenable. The provision 1. www.un.int/bangladesh/misison_arc/treaty_ number of courses as well as the of external assistance for a period adherence.htm grades taught in schools. Although of 16 years without progress to, 2. Articles 25, 31 & 32 of the 1972 Constitution this progress still does not reach and attainment of, self-reliance is 36 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Without refuge: Chin refugees in India and Malaysia Amy Alexander

Most Chin refugees have never set foot in a refugee camp; UNHCR and are awaiting refugee they live as urban and undocumented refugees in India status determination. In mid 2006, UNHCR also began resettling and Malaysia. the Chin to third countries.

Like many other ethnic nationalities Chin live along the Indo-Burma Obtaining refugee status through in Burma, widespread human rights border. A smaller number journey UNHCR, however, has become abuses have caused tens of thousands onward to New Delhi, hoping to gain increasingly difficult for the Chin of Chin from Burma’s western hills UNHCR protection. Both locations community in India. Most Chin live to flee Burma in search of survival provide little protection for Chin in Mizoram, where UNHCR is not elsewhere. While Thailand plays host refugees and daily existence is fraught operational. As a result, Chin living in to a majority of Burma’s refugees, with difficulties and hardships. Mizoram seeking UNHCR recognition the Chin population in Thailand must make an arduous and expensive journey to Delhi. Chin weavers Once registered, in Mizoram, India, where they are required they live to remain in Delhi, and work. where it is difficult to make a living and assimilate culturally.

Further limiting the accessibility of refugee status for the Chin, UNHCR recently announced the closure of general registration in September 2007. Only ‘priority’ cases or those considered especially vulnerable, such as pregnant women, the elderly and the infirm, are now eligible for registration. ‘Non-priority’ cases will have Amy Alexander Amy to wait until the general registration remains very small. Most Chin Since India is not a signatory to process re-opens, which is instead seek refuge in India and the 1951 Convention Relating to unlikely to happen soon. Malaysia. There they face challenges the Status of Refugees or the 1967 distinct from those faced by their Protocol, there is no procedural Life for Chin refugees in Delhi is compatriots living in Thailand. mechanism for providing official extremely difficult as they must protection or benefits to refugees compete for limited resources Chin refugees in India living in India. UNHCR, however, with the local poverty-stricken A majority of Chin forced to flee does have a presence in India and population who are struggling Burma cross into neighbouring continues to register, recognise for their own survival. To address India and settle in the Mizoram and resettle Chin refugees. Of the the growing needs of the refugee hills, which are adjacent to the Chin 1,800 Chin living in Delhi, 1,000 population, UNHCR, in coordination Hills. Although it is impossible have been granted refugee status with implementing partners, had to accurately determine their true by UNHCR. Another 300 Chin developed a network of social service number, it is estimated that 60-80,000 cases have been registered by programmes in financial support, FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 37 education and health. This included, Chin in Delhi and Mizoram. In Delhi, Chin in Malaysia. In addition to raids firstly, a short-term subsistence discord between the Chin and the on neighbourhoods and workplaces, allowance for newly recognised local population is accentuated by immigration officials approach refugees. In 2003, however, UNHCR the general lack of resources. As and threaten individuals in public began to phase out this allowance, they compete with the locals for areas. Those unable or unwilling cutting amounts by half after six scarce commodities, the Chin live to pay bribes risk arrest, detention months and eliminating it altogether in constant fear of eviction, physical or deportation. Refugees who are after one year. This shift in policy violence and other abuses. Most detained in Malaysia are often kept fails to account for the realities of abuse is perpetrated with impunity, in overcrowded, unhygienic cells. refugee life in Delhi, where self- either because it is unreported or They are inadequately fed and reliance is not feasible for most through a lack of law enforcement. given little access to basic amenities. of the refugee population. Illness is common. Complaints of In Mizoram, despite Mizos and harassment and physical abuse by Secondly, it includes a salary top- Chin sharing common ancestry, guards and officials are widespread. up scheme under which UNHCR discrimination is pervasive. In the agreed to supplement the salaries past, the Young Mizo Association Chin refugees are not allowed to work of refugee workers to bring them (YMA), a non-political but extremely in Malaysia and are relegated to the up to the official Delhi poverty line. influential civil organization in informal work sector. Fewer than However, since August 2007, no new Mizoram, targeted the Chin, leading one third of the Chin community in applicants have been accepted into to several crackdowns against them. Malaysia are employed while those the programme. Meanwhile, the The most serious incident occurred in who secure employment are often top-up scheme has in effect created 2003 when the YMA forced thousands subject to exploitative employers a secondary labour market, where of Chin back to Burma. Possibly and abusive working conditions. employers have grown accustomed indicating an easing of tension to paying lower wages for refugee between the Mizo and Chin, in Basic health services are provided workers. Without continued October 2007 the Mizo demonstrated through mobile clinics to both supplementary payments by alongside the Chin in their calls for urban refugees and those living UNHCR, Chin labourers can expect change in Burma. Nevertheless the in the jungle camps. Médecins to consistently earn less than the Chin continue to fear more evictions Sans Frontières (MSF) had been local population for the same work. and forced deportations by the Mizo. operating in Malaysia providing translators and reimbursements for A third form of assistance is provided Chin refugees in Malaysia hospital care until early last year by the Young Men’s Christian Due to substantial militarisation when it withdrew its operations. Association (YMCA) to cover the along the Indian border, many educational expenses of school-aged Chin fear the dangers associated Conclusion refugee children. But these subsidies with crossing into India. So, despite Tens of thousands of Chin have fled are calculated based on the cost of the distance, Malaysia has become torture, persecution and the threat attending government schools, where a destination for the Chin and of death in Burma. They take great it is almost impossible for refugee currently hosts some 23,000. risks, endure extreme hardships and children to meet the admissions confront dangerous challenges in the criteria. Meanwhile, the subsidies Like India, Malaysia is not a signatory hope of finding refuge somewhere. are insufficient to cover the cost of to the Refugee Convention or its 1967 What they find in India and private schools. As a result, many Protocol and since the beginning of Malaysia, however, is a lack of legal are left without an education. 2006 the general registration process recognition, limited access to UNHCR has been closed. As the exodus of protection, and difficulty in obtaining The fourth programme seeks to Chin to Malaysia continues, more and work, receiving an education and address the health and medical more Chin find themselves waiting accessing health-care services and problems suffered by refugees due to be registered. Holding UNHCR acceptable living accommodation. to their poor living conditions in documents at least provides hope of Like their brothers and sisters Delhi. Language barriers and intense resettlement to a third country even if from Burma living in Thailand, discrimination inhibit Chin patients it provides no guarantee of protection the Chin in India and Malaysia from receiving prompt or proper or access to benefits in Malaysia. are living without true refuge. treatment in local hospitals. The Voluntary Health Association of Delhi The majority of Chin refugees live Amy Alexander (amyalex_thailand@ (VHAD) had been responsible for in devastating poverty in extremely yahoo.com) is the Advocacy providing basic health-care services cramped accommodation in the and Campaigns Coordinator to refugees in Delhi. However, in capital, Kuala Lumpur. Others live in for the Chin Human Rights early 2007, VHAD closed its doors makeshift camps outside the city or Organisation based in Chiang due to a lack of resources. Medical in the distant Cameron Highlands, Mai, Thailand (www.chro.org). care is now prohibitively expensive where they work for low wages on for Chin refugees living in Delhi. farms, with unreliable water supplies CHRO is grateful to all those and inadequate protective gear. in the Chin communities who In addition, tension with the local generously shared their time, population is an enormous obstacle Harassment and abuse by the stories and experiences which to achieving self-reliance for the authorities is a daily reality for the formed the basis for this article. 38 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Migration and trafficking: putting human rights into action Nikolas Win Myint Across Myanmar people are on the move, both inside the Migration and trafficking country and across its borders, either pushed by necessity or There are many different ways in which people are exploited, pulled by the prospect of a brighter future. For many, these and just as many ways in which hopes are at least partially fulfilled. For some, however, this people are trafficked. Trafficking migration brings them face-to-face with exploitation, abuse, is fundamentally a crime against disease and even death. an individual, and, as with other crimes of this nature (murder, rape, kidnapping), it is difficult to Human trafficking – the modern- coercion (force or the threat of force) generalise about it. Nonetheless, day slave trade in women, children or deception; and, thirdly, the purpose based on interviews with trafficking and men – occurs around the world of trafficking, which is exploitation, victims and perpetrators as well but the limited data available shows be it sexual or labour exploitation.1 as victim service agencies and south-east Asia to be a particular We speak of trafficking only when all law enforcement personnel, an hub. Within this region, Myanmar three of these elements are present.2 overall picture of trafficking in is a key country of origin, with Myanmar emerges, which is mainly people being trafficked into both Using this definition, trafficking is one of migration gone wrong. Thailand and China. It is not known not always a clear-cut crime. Often how many people fall victim to people may move willingly, even Myanmar, located at the nexus of this crime each year but estimates into labour situations that might be ancient trading routes, has long range from 3,000 to 30,000. considered exploitative, as a relative seen migration. Today, economic disparities in the region fuel This Burmese Few perhaps would expect cross-border migration by woman, much to be done about this many young people in search who escaped after being crime in Myanmar. Not only of more promising futures. trafficked into is human trafficking driven Most of this migration does not a garment- by poverty and relative lead to trafficking. For some, making economic differences, which however, the migration process sweatshop, is are not easily remedied, but goes terribly wrong and they now learning traditional fighting human trafficking find themselves at the mercy crafts in the also requires a complex of traffickers. Sometimes these government- response, including respect are brokers that take people run Baan for human rights and the to destinations different than Kredtrakarn shelter in rule of law, across many those agreed; sometimes they Bangkok, government departments and are employers who coerce Thailand. non-governmental service victims into exploitative work. providers. In its annual While the sexual exploitation report on human trafficking, Department. the US State Chernush for Kay of women through forced the US State Department prostitution has garnered gives Myanmar the lowest grade, improvement over their present many of the headlines, there have a Tier 3 placement, stating that the situation. Alternatively, people also been reports of trafficking for government had failed to address might be deceived into situations labour exploitation involving both human trafficking. Yet a small with lower pay, longer hours or women and men in factories, as well group of anti-trafficking workers, worse conditions than those they as of men into the fishing industry. along with supportive government agreed to; yet as long as they stay in policies, have been able to make a these circumstances without being Alleviating poverty at home may significant difference in recent years. forced to, it is not legally trafficking. remove some of the impetus to Conversely, people may initially migrate but much migration is In the Convention against migrate voluntarily but later fall into driven by the perception of relative Transnational Organized Crime, a trafficking situation. Implementing economic differences, the gap trafficking is defined as consisting this legal definition in practice has between opportunities at home and of three distinct elements: firstly, been a central challenge of anti- perceived opportunities abroad. The the act of trafficking, which can be trafficking interventions. Nonetheless, goal of responsible anti-trafficking recruitment, transport or harbouring it is imperative to do so to ensure interventions should thus not be to of a person; secondly, the means of that protection and assistance are stop movement but to stop trafficking. trafficking, which must involve either available to those most in need. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 39

Recent years have seen a number space to provide assistance to While these are encouraging of encouraging developments in trafficking victims, through developments, much remains to this regard in Myanmar. Significant counselling, financial and medical be done. The challenges ahead for progress has been made both support, family tracing and vocational the anti-trafficking community in in keeping migrants safe and in and livelihood training. With Myanmar are, at least, three-fold: providing support for victims training provided to a wide range of trafficking. Myanmar’s Anti- of community-based organisations, n Ensure that help is Trafficking in Persons Law, enacted local communities are increasingly targeted towards those in September 2005, provides specific empowered to combat the trafficking who need it the most. legal protections for victims of taking place in their midst. trafficking, including immunity n Reduce the number of people from prosecution and legal, Lessons learned trafficked through effective financial and medical assistance Dedicated workers at all levels prevention interventions: debate as needed. The law also aims to – community organisers, government continues as to whether the make it easier for victims to access officials, UN and NGO workers focus of prevention should be assistance, while reducing fear of – have brought this system to life at source or destination, along police and immigration officials. and have made it work. Yet a key transit routes or at border towns condition for bringing human and other points between. At the same time, since 2005, a trafficking out of the shadows was number of prevention campaigns to secure acknowledgement by n Coordinate anti-trafficking have been initiated on long-distance the Myanmar government of this activities to ensure buses and at highway bus terminals. problem – and the desire to do complementarity in approaches: Trained facilitators are educating something about it. Both are in some the Myanmar government has people not only about the risks measure linked to an innovative drafted a National Plan of Action and dangers of trafficking but are regional process in which the six in consultation with UN agencies also providing information about governments of the Mekong Sub- and victim protection agencies. basic rights, useful contacts and region, supported by technical experts key phrases. Initially begun in bus provided through the UN, pledged Much remains to be done in the fight stations around Yangon, this has to work together to combat the against human trafficking, and the now been expanded to the city of problem of human trafficking. This current response is far from perfect. Mawlamyine, a transit hub near the process, known as the Coordinated Nonetheless, in an environment Thai border. Trafficking videos are Mekong Ministerial Initiative against where humanitarian assistance shown and pamphlets distributed Trafficking, or COMMIT Process, faces a challenging operational and to passengers on buses bound for was formally launched in October political environment, the initiatives the border. In 2006, this initiative 2004 by Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, against human trafficking are a reached over half a million people. Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.3 welcome ray of light. The fight against human trafficking is also a In parallel with these efforts to make COMMIT served not only as official fight against HIV, against corruption migration safer, efforts are also recognition of human trafficking and against organised crime. Even underway to increase the protection as a pressing problem in Myanmar more importantly, it is a fight for and assistance available to victims but, by bringing the country into a human rights, for personal freedoms of trafficking. One promising regional partnership to address the and for the rule of law. Progress initiative has been an effort to build problem, it also provided a platform may be slow, and it may be small on the Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) for action. The COMMIT process built – but it should not go unnoticed. – border offices established through up a network for government officials cooperation with the UN Office from across the region to share their Nikolas Win Myint worked in on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to experiences and thus facilitated Myanmar from 2003 to 2007, most combat drug trafficking – to extend early adoption of international recently as Country Programme their mandate to cover human best practices in Myanmar. This Manager for the UN Inter-Agency trafficking. In this task, the primary has provided the necessary space Project on Human Trafficking in focus is not on stopping people for NGOs and UN agencies to the Greater Mekong-Subregion from crossing the porous borders work on human trafficking in (UNIAP www.no-trafficking.org). but rather to facilitate cross-border Myanmar and has also created This article is written in a personal cooperation between government support inside the government capacity and does not necessarily agencies to help victims of trafficking for a victim-centred approach, reflect the views of the UN. return home safely. Working with including far-reaching provisions 1. Complete definition at: www.unodc.org/unodc/en/ immigration, police and social for the protection of trafficking treaties/CTOC/index.html See also FMR 25 on ‘People welfare officials on both sides of victims. Finally, by including regular trafficking: upholding rights and understanding vulnerabilities’ at www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR25/ the border, the BLOs now provide evaluations of progress at inter- FMR25full.pdf services to victims of trafficking governmental meetings, the process 2. The exception to this are children under the age of 18, where the means becomes irrelevant as governments to help them on their journey. led to competition among the six decided in the Convention that minors cannot consent to governments which has proven such actions, nor anyone on their behalf. At the end of that journey, local useful in maintaining momentum 3. See article by Susu Thatun of UNIAP ‘Mekong sub- region committed to ending trafficking’, FMR 25, www. and international NGOs are being in the fight against trafficking. fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR25/FMR2509.pdf encouraged and given the necessary 40 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Asia’s new boat people Chris Lewa

Thousands of stateless Rohingyas are leaving Burma and preferred destination. Travel agents Bangladesh, dreaming of a better life in Malaysia. in Bangladesh arranged ‘Bangladeshi passports’, Hajj or Umra visas to Bengali in terms Mecca and air tickets. The trip was of ethnicity, usually paid for by migrants’ relatives language and who had already settled there. religion. The Rohingya were In previous years, several boats rendered stateless had carried Rohingyas to Malaysia by the Burma via Thailand but their number Citizenship Law swelled considerably from the end of 1982.3 Gross of October 2006. While the human human rights rights situation in North Arakan abuses and remains a constant push factor, there discriminatory has been no significant deterioration practices against which would explain this sharp them since then increase in boat people but rather include severe the combination of several pull restrictions on factors. Tighter security measures their movements, implemented by Bangladesh requirement following the nation-wide bombing of special campaign by Islamic extremists permission in 2005 made the procurement of to marry, Bangladeshi passports very difficult. confiscation of GHRE www.ghre.org land, forced This coincided with stricter labour and regulations governing the issuing of Boat people On 25 November 2007, a trawler arbitrary taxation as well as neglect visas plus reinforced immigration arrested in and two ferry boats carrying some of health and education services. control at airports in Saudi Arabia. Thailand 2008. 240 Rohingyas being smuggled As other alternative migration routes to Malaysia sank in the Bay of Bangladesh was the destination are now virtually closed to the Bengal. About 80 survived; the rest of two mass exoduses in 1978 Rohingyas, Malaysia is currently the drowned. A week later, another and 1991-92 of a total of 250,000 only affordable Muslim destination boat sank, allegedly fired at by the Rohingya refugees, each followed and the sea voyage the only option Burmese Navy. 150 are believed to by a repatriation exercise often for leaving Bangladesh and Burma have perished. Many Rohingyas conducted under duress. To date, without travel documents. are ready to embark on a risky sea 26,000 remain in Bangladesh in two journey in order to escape oppression, official refugee camps supervised Malaysia: primary destination discrimination and dire poverty. by UNHCR. An estimated 200,000, In August 2006, Malaysia started On 3 March 2008, the Sri Lankan including many repatriated refugees registering Rohingyas for residence/ Navy rescued 71 passengers, most who then fled for a second time, work permits. Although the of them Rohingya, from a boat that have settled in precarious conditions process was soon suspended due had drifted for 22 days in the Indian in villages and semi-urban slums to allegations of fraud, rumours of Ocean with a broken engine. Twenty outside the camps or in an unofficial registration and job opportunities in had already died from starvation and makeshift site near Teknaf, with a booming economic environment dehydration.1 The Arakan Project2 little or no access to humanitarian spread like wildfire among Rohingyas estimates that, from October 2006 assistance and protection. in North Arakan and Bangladesh. to mid March 2008, more than 8,000 Local smuggling and recruiting boat people departed mostly from the Migratory movements of Rohingyas networks in North Arakan and coast of Bangladesh towards Thailand beyond Bangladesh are nothing Bangladesh swiftly emerged. Two and then Malaysia, including about new. For decades, smugglers and deals are offered to prospective 5,000 during the sailing season from traffickers have sent Rohingyas to candidates: sea passage to the shores the end of October 2007 to the present. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE of southern Thailand for less than where many obtained a temporary US$300 or an all-inclusive package up The Rohingya are a Muslim minority permit to stay. At the end of 2005, to the final destination in Malaysia for group numbering some 725,000 and 11,000 were also registered for between $700 and $1,000. Most boat inhabiting North Arakan (Rakhine) temporary protection with UNHCR passengers are males aged between State, adjacent to Bangladesh. They in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 and 40 but children as young as are related to the Chittagonian although Saudi Arabia remained the eight have been found among them. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 41

The route, which for most starts in fee of around $700 and carry them departures continues to rise, more North Arakan with a brief transit across Thailand to Malaysia. The and more families are desperately in Bangladesh, passes through Thai authorities later attempted seeking news of missing relatives. Thailand and continues overland to deport a few directly into the to Malaysia. The sea crossing hands of the Burmese immigration Responses in the region lasts about one week. As most, if authorities, probably as a test case, The Burmese regime does not not all, boats are captured upon but these deportees were pushed appear interested in stemming the arrival, the itinerary via Thailand back to Thailand the following day. movements of Rohingya boat people. is deemed safer. Arrest in Malaysia In 2007, some boat people caught would mean a longer detention However, since the onset of the new in Burma were briefly detained period and eventual deportation sailing season in November 2007, the and released – after payment of across the border to Thailand. whereabouts of the boat people after a bribe – or simply towed back Complex networks of smugglers and initial detention remain unknown towards Thai territorial waters. brokers, mostly but not exclusively and a matter of serious concern. It is However, more recently, a couple Rohingyas, are involved at various believed that the Thai immigration of boats landed on the Burmese levels in transporting Rohingya authorities hand them over to brokers coast and boat people were given from North Arakan to Bangladesh, in south Thailand who allegedly seven-year jail sentences for having from Bangladesh to Thailand and, detain them near the Malaysian re-entered the country illegally. finally, overland from Thailand to border until a fee is paid for them Malaysia. The networks operate to be smuggled across. As on the So far, Bangladesh has only taken in collusion with law enforcement Thai-Burmese border, brokers on the minor steps to counter the smuggling personnel in these four countries. Thai-Malaysian border routinely beat of Rohingya boat people. Since their detainees to pressure them into October 2007, Bangladesh law Until 21 March 2007, boat people arranging payment. Those unable enforcement agencies have intensified arrested along the coast of South to pay have reportedly been sold to raids at departure points and at Thailand were briefly detained and plantation owners or fishing boats Burmese border crossing points. subsequently deported ‘informally’ as bonded labour. Many ultimately A few people were even pushed into a cease-fire zone in Burma reach Malaysia and find jobs as illegal back across the Naf River to Burma. close to Mae Sot. Brokers would migrants but many also disappear Usually only passengers are caught release them upon payment of a on the way. As the number of boat – not the smugglers themselves, who Myanmar’s forgotten people Nyi Nyi Kyaw

The Rohingyas have a history Foreign Affairs of Myanmar on 26 remain greatly restricted. The which dates back to the February 1992, the government presence of UNHCR and some beginning of the 7th century declared: “In actual fact, although other international NGOs in when Arab Muslim traders there are [135] national races living northern Rakhine State can help settled in Arakan (Rakhine). in Myanmar today, the so-called ameliorate the current plight Rohingya people is not one of them. of the Rohingyas but without They were recognised as an Historically, there has never been political will from within the indigenous ethnic group by a ‘Rohingya’ race in Myanmar.” Myanmar military government, the U Nu government during their plight cannot be resolved. the parliamentary era in the In response to criticisms from 1950s but lost their political and the UN Committee on the Rights Nyi Nyi Kyaw (nnkster@gmail. constitutional identity when of the Child in April 2004, the com) is an MSc candidate the military government of junta stated that it had granted (International Political Economy) General Ne Win promulgated full and equal treatment to the at the S Rajaratnam School of the Citizenship Act of Burma Rohingyas, as with other races, in International Studies (RSIS), in 1983. This effectively denied matters relating to birth and death Nanyang Technological University, the Rohingyas recognition of registration, education, health Singapore. A Muslim native of their status as an ethnic minority and social affairs. Moreover, the Myanmar, Nyi Nyi Khaw lived all group. Harsh discrimination junta also mentioned that the his life in Myanmar before moving against them soon followed. Rohingyas are listed as a Bengali to Singapore to do his MSC. A racial group and recognised as longer version of this article first The military junta maintains permanent residents of Myanmar. appeared online in February 2008 a clearly articulated stance on at: www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/ the Rohingya people. In a press However, in practice, the rights Perspective/RSIS0122008.pdf release issued by the Ministry of of the Rohingya population 42 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

pay kickbacks to the authorities to UNHCR’s involvement. There is no stateless people, UNHCR should operate freely. Brokers who have doubt that Rohingya boat people be involved and, in collaboration been arrested are soon released. embark on these perilous journeys in with receiving countries, seek order to escape systematic oppression, appropriate solutions for them. Thailand, as a transit country, faces discrimination and human rights Adequate protection strategies should a particular challenge. The Thai violations, and not only for economic take into account the legitimate authorities perceive the Rohingyas reasons. One could thus argue that concerns of these governments as a threat to national security. the Rohingya boat people are ‘persons about irregular movements but ‘Informal deportation’ in the form of of concern’ on a prima facie basis. should also guarantee the rights a transfer to brokers who will move of the Rohingya boat people. them to Malaysia appears to be the These irregular movements by order of the day, an approach that boats are generally identified as Chris Lewa (chris.lewa@gmail. is exploitative rather than punitive. human smuggling rather than com) is coordinator of The Arakan However, such a response is likely trafficking because they fail to meet Project, a local NGO dedicated to create an additional pull factor. all three conditions of the Palermo to research and advocacy on the Protocol4 definition of trafficking: a Rohingya minority of Burma. Malaysia’s promise to issue work/ movement, a means (deception or residence permits to Rohingyas force) and delivery into a situation appears to have vanished; the of exploitation. However, if brokers On 28 March 2008 the Thai Prime registration process has been who receive them in Thailand Minister announced that Thailand indefinitely postponed and is unlikely or in Malaysia are forcing them was exploring the option of detaining to resume. Crackdowns against illegal into forced labour or slavery as Rohingya boat people on a deserted migrants, which include refugees, defined in the Protocol, it would island. “To stop the influx, we have to are commonplace. UNHCR ceased be trafficking. Thailand has signed keep them in a tough place. Those the registration of Rohingyas for but not ratified the two Protocols who are about to follow will have to temporary protection at the end on trafficking and smuggling and know life here will be difficult in order of 2005 and has yet to restart it. recently passed a new anti-trafficking that they won’t sneak in,” he said. domestic law. Malaysia is not party See www.bangkokpost.com/290308_ These maritime movements present to any of these international legal News/29Mar2008_news03.php a serious challenge in a region instruments. Nevertheless, all where protection mechanisms for concerned countries have ratified 1. See www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47cd360411.html asylum seekers are already weak the Convention on the Rights of 2. The Arakan Project is a research and advocacy and where there is an ever shrinking the Child and children should be NGO based in Thailand primarily focusing on the plight of the stateless Rohingya in North Arakan space for UNHCR to exercise its protected under the provisions of State of Burma. Papers and reports produced by mandate. None of the concerned this convention. The fact that the Chris Lewa are available on the Online Burma Library www.burmalibrary.org countries has ratified the Refugee Rohingyas are stateless further 3. The 1982 Citizenship Law defines citizens as Convention nor have they enacted complicates this issue and exposes members of ethnic groups that have settled in Burma before 1823, the start of British colonial rule any domestic legislation for the more acutely the inability of the in Burma. The Rohingya do not feature among the protection of refugees. They identify international community to address 135 ‘national races’ listed by the government and are these movements as the smuggling their plight and to protect them. therefore rendered stateless. 4. Trafficking and smuggling protocols at www. of economic migrants and are not unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CTOC/index. prepared to view the Rohingya boat Because of its international html#Fulltext people as asylum seekers and to allow mandate to protect refugees and Difficult to remain: the impact of mass resettlement Susan Banki and Hazel Lang

In a context where the durable solutions of repatriation and refugees from the camps resettled to local integration are not available, resettlement has become third countries and as many as 20,000 increasingly attractive. are expected to resettle in 2008. “Chuwa ma yeh, ga ma ye” is an of the 145,000 refugees on the Thai- On the one hand, it is difficult expression in the Karenni language Burmese border who, after decades to move forward; refugees are that translates roughly as “between of living in refugee camps with their understandably anxious and confused a rock and a hard place” or, more eyes metaphorically turned towards about what life in a new country accurately, “difficult to move forward, Burma, are now being offered the will hold if they choose to resettle. difficult to go back.” The phrase aptly possibility of resettlement to a third Most recognise that even the best characterises the emotions of many country. In 2007, more than 14,000 educated among them will experience FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 43 grave social, economic and cultural generally translates as the best quality health care. Non-refugee challenges, particularly at the outset. educated and most highly skilled. doctors (generally Thai or expatriates) On the other hand, it is not only supervise the refugee staff and difficult but virtually impossible Furthermore, one method of provide training but the day-to- to go back. Given the abuses and prioritising applicants, the ‘first in, day activities of the health agencies intransigence of the Burmese first out’ approach, meant that those currently rely on refugee staff. military junta, refugees cannot who had been in the camps the Training new staff members takes return home at the present time. longest were the first to be resettled. not only time – eighteen months for These individuals strongly correlate medics and between nine months and One might add a third component with the most educated and skilled one year for maternal health workers to the Karenni phrase: difficult camp residents, and in the early – but experience. Newly trained to remain. Although refugees in stages of resettlement this further recruits, even if they have the time camps in Thailand have been the reinforced the rapid depletion of to receive the full term of training, beneficiaries of assistance from skilled workers from the camps. are poorly positioned to serve as more than twenty humanitarian leaders in the health sector. One camp organisations, living in legal limbo Loss of capacity has already had to close one of its has taken its toll. At present, camp It is true that the US group primary health centres because of residents are restricted in their resettlement approach, movements and few are permitted which has a relatively speedy to leave the camps to pursue resettlement process and livelihoods or continue education. for which there is neither a quota for the total number However, as the resettlement of refugees to be accepted programme gains momentum, nor ‘integration potential’ it is important to remember that criteria for acceptance, not every refugee will resettle. should eventually redress Refugees who will never resettle, the disproportional drain or who will resettle in some years’ of skilled leaders from the time, deserve the attention of camps. As UNHCR has practitioners and policy makers, noted, the demand for because their protection needs in services in the camps will the short and long term are even decrease as the population greater than those who resettle. decreases significantly. But For this reason, the Committee for in some camps, the damage Coordination of Services to Displaced has already been done, and Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT1), is nearly irrevocable. the coordinating body for NGOs operating on the Thai-Burmese As the skilled and educated border, commissioned a report to leave, it is increasingly difficult determine the impact of resettlement to find replacements within on the remaining refugee population.2 the existing population, which is placing a strain on service The research indicates that, first, delivery in the camps. Since while resettlement has done much refugee camps are not an open to boost the hopes of those who labour market, there is only are resettling, many of those who a limited supply of skilled remain have experienced a loss of workers for essential jobs IOM 2007/MTH0239/ Thierry Falise morale as their friends and colleagues – including vital leadership depart. Resettlement has sapped jobs. In some camps, particularly staff departures. Another camp has A young the energy of those refugees who those where the resettlement process reported high increases in the number Burmese refugee files have been working for change started before the US adopted of referrals its staff are making to documents of in Burma, and has done nothing its group resettlement approach, nearby hospitals because of a lack of identification to improve conditions for those virtually every person with higher capacity in the camps. As the number for her internally displaced in Burma. secondary education is already of medical staff falls, so the risk of resettlement employed. Camp leaders and public health crises in the camps rises. file, Mae La refugee camp, Second, while resettlement is taking experienced administrators have left Thailand. place en masse, a higher proportion these camps in higher proportions as In the education sector, teachers are of educated, skilled and experienced well. This has had its strongest impact resettling in relatively higher numbers refugees have resettled first, relative on two sectors of camp life: the health as well. Finding good teachers has to the rest of the population. This sector and the education sector. always been difficult, even prior is partly because some resettlement to the start of resettlement, and countries have tended to select In the health sector, the departure of will continue to be so. Of greater refugees for resettlement based not many highly trained refugee health concern, however, is the loss of on their status as refugees but on staff has severely affected the ability supervisors, school principals, subject their ‘integration potential’ – which of health NGOs to deliver good coordinators, teacher trainers and 44 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

other long-serving education staff. to resettlement as the most feasible n Encourage the host country to Many of these individuals have durable solution. Our research expedite permission for refugees, been trained in key education tools indicates that, in the short term, mass expatriate workers and local staff such as curriculum development, resettlement increases the needs of of NGOs and CBOs to work in classroom management and school the remaining population as refugee and travel between camps. supervision. The loss of personnel camps require more training input who can provide educational to replace departing skilled workers. n Encourage longer-term contracts guidance heightens the problem The following recommendations for expatriate and national staff to of losing long-serving teachers, were developed specifically for the ensure continuity in the system. influencing the quality of teaching, refugee population on the Thai- monitoring and training. Burmese border, and incorporate n Advocate for greater integration of additional recommendations remaining refugees into national The education sector is also affected from UNHCR.3 Many of these health and education systems, by resettlement for two other suggestions are already being taken in addition to formal approval reasons. First, as teachers receive up. In other mass resettlement of livelihood programmes lower remuneration than other NGO situations, similar recommendations inside and outside the camps. workers, losses in other sectors will may be appropriate. compound the shortages in the There have been some positive education sector, as teachers will be n Encourage donors to fund training benefits of resettlement, such as a tempted to move into empty, higher and capacity-building programmes decrease in camp overcrowding, more paid jobs. Second, the capacity- and initiatives for inexperienced remittances, increased opportunities building approach adopted by and new staff in the camps. for positions for younger refugees education agencies was designed and streamlining of camp services. with repatriation in mind, specifically n Implement trainings for But for many of those who remain, to empower refugees to conduct new replacement workers as particularly in the short term, the their own trainings, monitoring early as possible and pursue depletion of skilled workers in and reporting. This very approach ‘shadowing’ with a pool of the camps has exacerbated the now makes the education system available individuals. difficulties of camp life. Predicting more vulnerable to decline. how and when the gaps will occur, n As early as possible, undertake a and planning for the future, will The camp administrator sector survey of skills and employment help to alleviate at least one of the has also felt some of the effects of abilities of the refugee camp consequences of resettlement. resettlement, though not to the population in order to identify same extent. Here the impact of refugees who could be included Susan Banki ([email protected]) resettlement on the number of staff in a pool of replacement staff. and Hazel Lang (hazellang@yahoo. of Community-Based Organisations com.au) are both research fellows (CBOs) has been manageable to n Recruit camp workers from among at Griffith University in Australia date, given the way their structures new arrivals in the camps and (www.griffith.edu.au), where they allow for the relatively smooth from the local (Thai) population. are currently engaged in a three-year succession of staff in these roles, Australian Research Council project although gaps in key personnel n Promote, as much as possible, exploring protracted displacement have resulted in heavier workloads an open and predictable in Asia. The linkage partner for for remaining committee members. resettlement process so that the project is Australian NGO Overall, comparatively small refugees know how long it will Austcare (www.austcare.org.au). numbers of their staff have departed take for resettlement to occur, and or applied for resettlement. agencies involved in delivering This article is based on research assistance in the camps know commissioned by the Committee As the overall pool of skilled, when their staff will be departing. for Coordination of Services to educated and experienced people in Displaced Persons in Thailand the camp decreases, NGOs search n Streamline service delivery (CCSDPT). However, the analysis, out the best available staff – and by reassessing the assistance conclusions and recommendations will inevitably compete for qualified needs of the camps, combining are those of the authors only and camp-based people serving in CBOs. some facilities and simplifying do not necessarily reflect the views People recruited to work full-time management structures. of the members of CCSDPT. in NGOs will have less time to 1. www.ccsdpt.org n dedicate to working with CBOs, Encourage skilled refugees to 2. Report by Susan Banki and Hazel Lang, ‘Planning which generally do not pay stipends. relocate between camps. for the Future, The Impact of Resettlement on the Remaining Camp Population’, July 2007; online at www. tbbc.org/resources/2007-07-ccsdpt-resettlement-impact- It is not only in Thailand that n Consider seeking voluntary study.pdf. The findings summarised in this article incorporate comments by UNHCR from their assessment resettlement has negative implications commitments from refugees, in of the original report: UNHCR, ‘Assessment of – particularly in the short term – for cooperation with the resettlement Recommendations Relating to the Impact of Resettlement on the Remaining Camp Population in Thailand’, the remaining refugee population. country, that they will delay their October 2007. Refugees from Bhutan living in Nepal resettlement for a certain period 3. Ibid, and Herve Isambert, UNHCR, ‘Impact of are poised to resettle en masse, and of time, or until replacements Resettlement on the Health Sector in the Thai/Myanmar Border Camps: Towards a Strategic Approach’, other refugee groups may also turn have been fully trained. September 2007. FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 45 Karen voices on resettlement The Karen Women’s Organisation, with Sarah Fuller and Eileen Pittaway

With little support and often under threat, members of the are refugees. The people in the camps Karen Women’s Organisation have conducted research, need us to be a voice and to speak out on their behalf. The authorities provided programmes and support, and challenged the (donors, UNHCR, supporters) need wisdom of international NGOs and UNHCR. to talk to the people in the camp and they do that through In 2005 the Royal Thai us. However, when we A Burmese Government eased look at ourselves we are refugee weeps as a relative restrictions and allowed weak because Thailand leaves Mae resettlement from the is not a signatory to the La camp to camps on the Thai- Refugee Convention start a new Burmese border to and has no obligation to life in a third countries in the West. The support refugees or even country. impact of resettlement accept them. They do not in the camps has been want to jeopardise their of great concern to relationship with the the Karen Women’s de facto government in Organisation (KWO)1 Burma but they do have for several years. They humanitarian obligations. want the voices of the As a result, we can refugees, in particular work and live here but refugee women, and of we are kept in hiding. their community-based They will seldom permit organisations to be heard foreigners into the camps, in discussions on the especially the media. We provision of durable are always cautioned solutions. Sadly, refugee to be discreet when women have to scream speaking with foreigners. to be heard whispering. We have lived in these As a result of the ongoing camps for 20 years. The conflict, persecution conditions are very and human rights poor. What has kept abuses suffered by the people going is hope Karen people, caused – and the belief that by the SPDC and one day we will return ongoing encampment in to our homeland, to a Thailand, resettlement peaceful and democratic was requested by local Burma. We have kept refugee-run Community- these dreams and have Based Organisations fought to educate our (CBOs) on behalf of children and maintain some refugees in the Falise IOM 2007/MTH0279/Thierry a community structure camps. Approximately which would sustain 4,500 refugees were resettled to They do not look at resettlement from them when they return. several third countries in 2006, and a cultural identity perspective and up to 15,000 by the end of 2007.2 they do not show the full impact of The introduction of the resettlement resettlement on people living in the programme is a major challenge Since the resettlement programme camps. Despite the fact, for example, to that dream. While the Karen began, the situation in the camps that rape and sexual violence community fully supports the along the border has worsened are part of the SPDC’s strategy rights of its people to seek safety significantly; as many key community and a big problem in the camps, and security in a third country, this members were speedily resettled, there is little acknowledgement comes at a high cost. It challenges camp facilities and services suffered of gender issues in the reports. the struggle we have been engaged from lack of structure and capacity. in for the past 20 years and the Various reports compiled by Refugees’ voices meaning of this to so many families. NGOs detail some aspects of the The KWO and the Karen Refugee This is causing a deep loss of consequences – but mainly present Council (KRC) are part of the refugee hope and grief for a homeland the NGOs’ and UNHCR’s views. entity; we are from the camps and we that may never be regained. 46 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

n third country governments, Journey to the new country UNHCR, IOM and other “Our home is not home anymore; our For those who opt to resettle and are agencies a) consult with Karen beautiful land is no longer beautiful. selected, the process of resettlement leaders to discuss the whole This is why we called for resettlement itself is often traumatic. IOM and process of resettlement before for our young Karen people.” the NGOs in the camps do not tell implementation and b) plan Karen Refugee Activist the community the negative aspects of a country or the challenges. how best to handle the negative People choose quickly because they consequences of resettlement Initially people wanted repatriation. are encouraged to put their names n all information be made available This is not possible – but people down. The process happens very in the Karen language need a place to belong so we were fast and then they find themselves n resettlement country governments the first to call for resettlement, in the third country and many provide information about especially for the young people who want to come home again. their country's resettlement need good education. Education in policies to the Karen CBOs the camps stops at level ten, which is CBOs report that there is insufficient n general information about third not enough. We do not worry about time allocated and information countries and their social welfare, the old people. Our concern is the provided for pre-departure briefing. political and legal systems young people; they are our future Only three days’ orientation is be provided, in a way that is and they need citizenship and a place provided – insufficient for covering accessible for rural refugees from to belong where they are treated as all the information needed to extremely isolated situations human beings. Some young people facilitate a dignified, positive and n have been in camp for 20 years. stress-free transition to a new life. the experiences and circumstances Many refugees have lived in these of families already arrived in Resettlement has become a love/ camps for much of their lives. They third countries be reported hate issue for us. On the one hand have not been to doctors’ surgeries, back to the Karen community it can provide good opportunities, driven cars, lived in Western-style in Thailand – including both including education. On the other houses; they do not speak English positive and negative aspects hand, however, our camps need and know little or nothing about the n the process of resettlement be harmony and organisation and culture or laws of their destination. slowed down so that refugees skilled people. We don’t want to If they had more information, they have more time to make object, because we called for this and could make better decisions. decisions and sufficient time to it will be good for those resettling, hand over their work to others but it has left the community Something else that is needed is and so that the community has without resources and support gender sensitivity from staff and time to train replacements and fearful for the future. All the translators. Refugee women report n an in-depth evaluation be educated and skilled people are that they have to sit in public waiting conducted of the impact of being taken. From what we hear, rooms and are not given the option to resettlement on the community their skills will be of little use to the have a female translator or a female remaining and funding be country they are going to but they doctor for medical check-ups. allocated to enable CBOs to are important here. People think provide intensive training for that if they have been teachers in As conflict continues in Burma, more new staff in the community to the camps they can be teachers in refugees are seeking entry to the replace those leaving to resettle. the new country but it does not camps. Fearing that resettlement is happen like that. And for those left becoming a ‘pull factor’, the Thai The Karen Women’s Organisation in the camps it is having a terrible government has closed the border (www.karenwomen.org) is a impact on health and education. with Burma, and UNHCR is not community-based organisation registering new arrivals. Those of Karen women working in We already struggle for our identity newly arriving have generally development and relief in the and our freedom, and we are losing spent long periods in hiding in the refugee camps on the Thai border this even more through all the jungle before crossing the border. and with IDPs and women inside people who are leaving. Community Their health is not good and they Burma. The KWO also encourages structures are falling apart because are suffering from malnutrition. awareness of women’s rights and everyone is waiting for resettlement. But they receive no food rations nor promotes women’s participation It is causing a lot of stress and health services. There is not enough in community decision making conflict within families. Some family food in the camps for everybody and political processes. members wish to resettle while and this is causing great hardship. others wish to stay. We still need Eileen Pittaway (e.pittaway@unsw. to consider those refugees who Recommendations edu.au) works at the University remain here. It is the people who The Karen CBOs and Karen of New South Wales Center for can speak out and have capacity leaders do not wish to stop people Refugee Research, Australia (www. who are leaving. Those left are resettling to third countries but crr.unsw.edu.au). Sarah Fuller illiterate, simple, hidden people. they do want concerns openly ([email protected]) was They will have no voice. Some of discussed in order to maximise an intern and student at the Center. us need to stay because we need to the possibilities for successful 1. www.karenwomen.org help and work for the people here. resettlement. We recommend that: 2. www.tbbc.org/resources/2007-6-mth-rpt-jan-jun.pdf FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 47 Educational change in a protracted refugee context Marc van der Stouwe and Su-Ann Oh

The provision of education in the refugee camps along the or secondary school in the 2007-08 Thai-Burmese border has evolved over 20 years, adapting academic year. The more than 1,500 teachers are paid meagre wages. They its purpose, expanding its reach and improving its quality also face noisy and overcrowded and relevance. classrooms, few resources and mixed ability classes. Many of them strive Throughout this time, political The Royal Thai Government to teach well but are constrained by uncertainties, protracted and constant (RTG) has overall authority over lack of experience and know-how.3 refugee flows, and a changing policy the refugee camps and it enforces environment have affected refugees’ policy and implementation. It Learning programmes are provided access to education, the quality and allows international and local for adults and young people who are relevance of the education they NGOs to provide resources, not attending school. These include receive and their ability to use the services and capacity building to courses in literacy (Skaw and Pwo skills and knowledge acquired for support education in the camps. Karen), languages (English and Thai), income generation vocational skills and community (such as agriculture, Secondary development. sewing and cooking), school student in crafts (soap-making Mae Ra Ma In this article, we and knitting) and Luang Camp, look at education community skills Mae Hong provision in the seven (HIV, mine risk, Son Province, predominantly Karen domestic violence), Thailand. refugee camps. The and limited general Karen Education education in night Department (KED), schools. Participants which is linked to gain valuable skills the Karen National and knowledge but Union (KNU1), plays a the opportunities role in policy making for refugees to earn and implementation a livelihood with in these camps. The these skills are sorely education system is lacking. The Thai funded by a range government refuses Marc van der Stouwe der Stouwe van Marc of organisations and to allow them to leave implemented by the camps and the local NGOs (eg the Karen Women’s Range of educational services camp economy is too small to support Organisation and the Karen Youth The general education system consists such a large number of tailors, Organisation) and international of nursery, primary, secondary and welders and cooks. However, in NGOs (eg ZOA Refugee Care and post-secondary schools. The RTG’s 2007, after concerted lobbying, ZOA International Child Support). policy on education in the camps Refugee Care – in partnership with only allows education up to the post- UNHCR – received approval from the There are approximately 115,0002 secondary level as security concerns RTG to begin an unprecedented pilot residents in the seven predominantly prohibit anyone from leaving the project allowing 80 refugees to set Karen camps, about 54,000 of whom camps to pursue their studies. up agricultural activities just outside are children and young people. Mae La refugee camp and to sell their There are roughly equal numbers The school curriculum is approved by products in a market outside camp. of men and women in the camps, the KED and textbooks are constantly The involvement of Thai Ministry of whose populations range from about being updated and made relevant Education (MoE) vocational colleges 4,000 to 45,000. The diversity in to the camp environment. Children as well as the participation of local geographical location, population study three languages (Karen, Thai villagers has contributed to the density, population groups and Burmese and English), science, maths, RTG accepting this new initiative. community organisational abilities geography, social science and health. pose distinctive challenges to From emergency to providing and coordinating relevant Registration figures, however, show protracted refugee context and good quality education across that about 18% of the children in the After years of trial, error and seven widely spread camps. camps were not attending primary practice, educational services 48 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

are now provided in a relatively KED as an institution to a multi-level providers to set up short-term effective and efficient manner, capacity-building approach with a courses to prepare refugees for jobs with high levels of commitment stronger emphasis on strengthening – such as in the catering and care and involvement from the camp capacities at the micro (camp) level. sectors, where reports from resettled communities. However, NGOs have refugees indicate that employment worked according to a traditional Resettlement opportunities are more likely to basic service delivery approach, The resettlement of an increasing be – and to provide them with despite the fact that the refugees number of refugees to third countries recognised certification. It has also set have been living in the camps for has had a major impact on camp up an English learning programme many years. This situation now communities and the education in all camps to provide refugees with requires longer-term development system in particular. Among the basic English skills for resettlement. and educational strategies which refugees opting for resettlement is a Interest and participation in the newly emphasise enhanced quality disproportionate number of better established programme are very high. of education and sustainability qualified people, including education over basic service delivery. workers. Although resettlement Policy change and advocacy can offer excellent opportunities, If the RTG is unwilling to allow The provision of basic services it does make the implementation refugees to engage in economic such as school construction and of educational activities in camps activities or to access services outside school supplies, however, cannot particularly complicated. It is the camps, the current mechanisms be neglected, because refugees difficult for NGOs to continue of service provision and the lack of live in camps where there is programme implementation at sustainability of interventions will minimal interaction with local Thai existing quality levels as many remain. There are some signs of communities and travel outside the educational staff members are changes in its approach, however. camps is forbidden. Consequently, leaving the camps during training The RTG is gradually accepting they are fully dependent on or just after having been trained. A that the refugee situation is likely to external organisations for even completely new and inexperienced continue for the foreseeable future the most basic forms of support. group of education workers has to and the MoE, in particular, appears To complement this basic service be trained quickly in order to ensure open to improving the educational delivery, more resources have had the continuation of service delivery, opportunities of displaced persons as to be made available for longer- with the risk that they too will leave part of its commitment to achieving term interventions in educational in the short- to medium-term. Education for All (EFA) goals. content areas such as teacher training, curriculum and materials Possible initiatives to consider NGOs along the border have development, and capacity building in order to address these responded by complementing their of education management staff. concerns include: roles of ‘basic service providers’ and ’capacity builders’ with a third role The focus on these long-term n the establishment of ‘crash as ‘lobbyists and advocates’. They are capacity-building initiatives at the courses’ in teaching skills so that actively working to influence decision camp level serves the dual purpose new teachers can start classroom making within the RTG so as to of addressing both educational teaching as quickly as possible improve the quality of life of refugees quality and sustainability. in the areas of education, training Progress can be made on further n complementing the existing and livelihoods. In such lobbying and improving the quality of teaching cascade training model with a advocacy activities, a special focus on and learning through new and more direct NGO presence in the further opening up of the camps innovative interventions that are the camps, such as field-based is needed, to ensure that refugees increasingly delivered in partnership trainers providing intensive can leave the camps to benefit from with specialised institutions and ongoing support and coaching to educational opportunities and/or to individuals, including the MoE. new and inexperienced teachers allow new educational opportunities Sustainability in a protracted refugee to ‘move into’ the camps. context is a complicated issue, as n an intensification of the refugee context is not meant to recently established peer Currently, the KED uses its own be sustainable. In contrast with the training mechanisms. curriculum, which is predominantly KED, whose institutional future based on the Burmese curriculum is highly uncertain, those actors Apart from trying to adjust existing but which has adopted many currently playing a role in education programmes to deal with the impact components from curricula from management at the camp level are of resettlement, NGOs have also been other parts of the world. This has likely to be similarly involved in looking to establish new activities resulted in a curriculum lacking community education management for refugees planning to resettle in coherence among grades and in the future, whatever that future order to better equip them for life subjects, lacking relevance to the local holds: repatriation to Burma, in a Western country. Examples context and often lacking quality. resettlement to a third country or of this are the vocational training Additionally, the curriculum is not integration into Thai society. That is and non-formal education projects accredited; when students finish their why educational NGOs have shifted established by ZOA Refugee Care. education they receive a certificate their approach from a restricted Discussions are taking place with that has no value outside the camps. focus on building the capacity of the Thai MoE and other local service Based on initial discussions with FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 49 the MoE, there now seems to be a RTG approval for internet access provision, and linking this directly willingness to identify options for is required (a politically sensitive to policy changes in Thailand. certifying the camp curriculum issue). Advancement on this front while keeping as much of the current is expected to take more time and Marc van der Stouwe (mpvdstouwe@ local content as possible. This is to require continued lobbying hotmail.com) led and advised on a a highly politicised process, with by NGOs and other actors. large-scale education and training sensitivities among both the RTG and programme for Burmese refugees the refugee communities. However, Conclusion in Thailand, implemented by ZOA the refugees now have opportunities Individuals and organisations Refugee Care (www.zoa.nl) from that were previously out of reach. working along the border are striving 2003 to 2007. Su-Ann Oh (suann. to provide relevant and good quality [email protected]) is a sociologist Recent discussions have also been education within considerable policy specialising in refugee education held with the RTG to consider and practical constraints. Given the and has been working as a research options for refugees to access protracted nature of the situation, consultant to NGOs along the higher education opportunities. however, it is now increasingly Thai-Burmese border since 2005. An initial eight refugee students necessary to work beyond the relief 1. www.karen.org/knu/knu.htm. are to be permitted to study in Thai model and to make strategic decisions 2. TBBC Burmese border refugee sites with population universities, paving the way for based on developing the camp figures: January 2008 www.tbbc.org/camps/populations. other refugee students in the future. communities and their education htm. 3. Oh, S-A, Ochalumthan, S, Pla Law La and Htoo, J. Access to distance education in the system. Moreover, it is imperative (2006) ‘Education Survey 2005’, Thailand: ZOA Refugee refugee camps is more complicated, to work proactively, lobbying and Care. www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=2020. as more players are involved and advocating for educational rights and To Sheffield with love Patricia Hynes and Yin Mon Thu

Some 174 refugees from the Thai-Burma border have The UK government works with three been resettled in Sheffield in the UK between May 2005 UK organisations – the International Organization for Migration,2 the and September 2007. Better preparation and more Refugee New Arrivals Project and practical assistance could have eased their integration the Refugee Council – to facilitate into British society. this resettlement. Once in the UK, the Refugee Council provides Since March 2004, the UK has run a The majority are from the Karen casework, housing and interpreting resettlement programme, known as ethnic group who have lived in support to new arrivals for the first the Gateway Protection Programme, refugee camps along the Thailand- 12 months, in collaboration with for ‘quota refugees’. Refugees are Burma border. The rest are from Sheffield Community Access and selected by UNHCR field officers other groupings including Mon, Pa’O Interpreting Service (SCAIS) and and arrive in the UK with permanent and Rohingya as well as Burmese a housing association, Safe Haven legal status. To date, refugees from students in opposition to the military Yorkshire. At the end of the 12 Burma, the Democratic Republic regime who fled to the border areas months, support is provided by local of Congo and Liberia have arrived following a national uprising in Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB), the through this programme and have 1988 and who are recognised as Northern Refugee Centre and the been accommodated in cities such Persons of Concern to UNHCR. government’s Sure Start programme. as Sheffield, Hull and Norwich. There is no doubt that the resettlement of Burmese refugees Resettled allows for lives to be rebuilt and Burmese refugees, dignity to be regained. The camps including

Htun Linn Latt in Thailand are rigidly controlled co-author Yin environments with serious gaps in Mon Thu, services – particularly those services adjusting to life in relating to protection, education and Sheffield, UK. training, and the significant mental health needs of refugees suffered as a direct result of the prolonged nature of the conflict and lives lived in refugee camps. Refugees arriving in Sheffield have an opportunity to emerge from the camps’ environment 50 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30

of disempowerment but the effects Language issues I told the truth to the benefits of life in the camps impacts on the As with many other asylum and agency they cut my benefit straight resettlement process and this needs to new migrant arrivals within the away for not looking for a job.” be taken into account when providing UK, language acts as a barrier to support arrangements. Although communication, even though some Needing to prove intention to find some counselling services were language training is provided a job is particularly difficult in these available for the resettled refugees, before arrival. People are made cases. If the officer they encounter at the waiting times and difficulties aware of emergency telephone the Job Centre is particularly stern, accessing this care were problematic. numbers, for example, but clear and interpreters are not available, Extra funding is needed for explanations of when to use them this puts pressure on the individual counselling to help people deal with and what to do and say once their and may lead to misunderstandings the trauma they have experienced. call is answered were missing in and the ending of benefits. If a the training. Communication when refugee finds unskilled employment, Better orientation and information dealing with benefits agencies was their inability to understand safety about rights and entitlements upon also reported as an issue, as were regulations may become an issue. arrival in the UK could have increased dealing with problem or noisy Those providing refugee employment their confidence and training in the IOM staff – such as knowing UK should be aware member with a group that they had a right that refugees coming of young to use interpreters or from Thailand have Burmese could ask for help. had little opportunity refugees Some months after of working, as during a arriving in Sheffield, restrictions on cultural orientation one female refugee refugees working session about who needed repairs outside camps were the US. to the electricity strictly enforced. supply in her new The scale and accommodation range of obstacles commented: facing refugees being resettled in “I don’t want to keep an industrialised complaining to them. country without I am afraid to receive training for the their anger and I am employment afraid they will ignore sector need to be my requests because borne in mind. I keep complaining.” Many refugees may This lack of Falise IOM 2007/MTH0229/Thierry need to re-skill or confidence and gain accreditation their fear of authority of any kind neighbours, buying bus tickets and for skills already gained – which are a barrier to accessing other following directions or signs. can be both demoralising and services necessary for settlement. disempowering. Even when they The need for resettlement aid The provision of English language have the required skills, the maze agencies to factor in this fear factor classes is central. Those arriving to accreditation or further training became clear early on in the process around the UK’s September again acts as a barrier. As one and it was widely considered enrolment date can access classes, Karen refugee woman explained: that the 12 months of support with childcare available for those in offered initially was inadequate. receipt of benefits. Refugee Council “I worked for almost 20 years as a volunteers assisted with language qualified midwife in the camp but here Over time, three main challenges homework and extra learning I feel almost like a disabled person.” were evident during this early support. Children enrolled in certain period of resettlement. These are: schools were eligible for Ethnic Technology language issues; problems with Minority Assistance Support (EMAS). Moving from a refugee camp where technology; and difficulties associated But these places were not always water is carried from wells every day with living within a different close to their homes so they needed to a country where hot and cold water culture and new environment. to travel by bus, again experiencing run out of a tap is easily accepted. communication problems. However, the technology involved in banking, computing or using the “The UNHCR field officer turns up The language and employment internet takes time to learn. Not all and refugees in the camps have issues are inextricably linked. banks accept Home Office papers to make this life-changing decision One Karen man reported: proving residence in order to open with no knowledge or facts about a bank account, something essential 1 the countries they can go to.” “I cannot speak English. It means for receiving benefit payments. it is difficult to find a job. When Basic banking transactions such as FMR 30 Burma’s displaced people 51 paying in money or using automatic understanding the laws, systems and in the US during the 1980s received machines to withdraw money proved unwritten rules of a society follows. six months’ intensive language difficult to learn. Refugees who had People experience loss of status training and cultural orientation been used to using cash in camps did (especially for those who had been prior to departure, covering most not automatically trust the banking fully employed within the camps), of the issues highlighted within system, sometimes preferring to keep shifting gender roles and different this article. Better orientation for their cash more readily accessible. cultural norms. For a Burmese or resettlement for Burmese refugees Karen woman, shaking hands and should be prioritised if this For some new arrivals, it took around receiving a stranger’s hug, especially particular durable solution is to be six months to become fully familiar if the stranger is male, is completely given its best chance of success. with using kitchen appliances. alien. Seeing people kissing in public Learning how to open doors on buses or women with short skirts will Policy recommendations and trains and use lifts or escalators shock new arrivals, male or female, also took time. A system of volunteers as commented on by one man: n Provide better information to available during the initial stages refugees about resettlement of resettlement would have helped “I feel really shy when they kiss in countries prior to arrival. refugees meet these daily challenges. front of me at the bus stop and I don’t really know where I can hide my face.” n Provide good quality, accessible Unchanged gender roles for new information about rights, arrivals and the need to cook, wash, The realisation that health and entitlements and regulations feed children, clean and shop meant education are free is good news for upon arrival. that women had fewer chances all but the refugees need to adjust to develop these skills or further to different customs – such as those n Provide extra funding for their education. Projects to address surrounding ante- and post-natal counselling services throughout this and women’s empowerment care. Traditionally, Burmese post- the process. would be beneficial. For older natal care involves women staying in women, building confidence in the house for 45 days and following n Extend the initial 12-month period use of technology is essential. specific health treatments such as of support. eating plain food; the UK’s focus Most of these considerations have on post-natal depression is not n Use refugee advocates during been well documented before and something Burmese women will have the initial stages to help with many of these points should be encountered previously. Furthermore, bureaucracy and daily practical known. Failure to address them appointment times with doctors challenges. early on has contributed to the is a new concept and a motto has social worlds of Burmese refugees developed within the community n Set up projects to address women’s becoming smaller and smaller. of ‘Do it or cancel it’ following empowerment and training. Because of problems with transport several missed appointments. and technology, some individuals n Provide accessible skills become afraid to venture out of Depression, loneliness and a lack training for employment. their houses and have to rely on of social support have all been other members of the group. The identified but a stigma around mental n Regularly evaluate the aims desire to live in close proximity to health remains and counselling is and successes of the Gateway other Burmese refugees is therefore often declined in favour of pills. Protection Programme. unsurprising and is comparable This is due in part to translators to the energy and effort previous coming from within the community n Develop culturally sensitive access groups refugees have put into and refugees’ fear of having to mental health professionals. secondary migration to be close their problems made public. to community members. n Provide workshops in domestic Information about the laws law involving child protection A different culture surrounding child protection or and domestic violence on arrival. and environment domestic violence is provided prior to “You all right, love?” Refugees arrival but it has been found that the Patricia Hynes ([email protected]) arriving in Sheffield are familiar with serious consequences of these laws worked on the Thailand-Burma the word ‘love’ in English, relating are not fully understood. Workshops border between 1996 and 2000. Yin this to personal relationships. Upon to discuss these issues would require Mon Thu (soa07ymt@sheffield. arrival in Sheffield, however, they sensitive handling but would assist ac.uk) has worked alongside the new were surprised to find locals putting in the process or resettlement. arrivals in Sheffield since 2005. this word at the end of greetings and many were uncomfortable The challenge of developing a sense This article is based on the observ- with this. Whilst this may seem to of belonging whilst maintaining ations, interviews and experiences of be a minor cultural adjustment, for an identity rooted in the customs both authors and does not represent many new arrivals it was difficult. of Burma is not easy. In contrast the views of any organisation. to provisions for these Burmese 1. Conversation with NGO employee, Thai-Burma After the initial shock and adaptation refugees, the Lao, Vietnamese and border, March 2007. to the UK weather, the task of Khmer refugees who were resettled 2. www.iomlondon.org 52 Burma’s displaced people FMR 30 Palestine refugees in the contemporary context: a view from UNRWA Additional resources

Please refer to individual articles for links to many organisations, reports and websites. Below we list some additional links to resources on Burma and displaced Burmese.

A useful portal with links to Burmese organisations, International Crisis Group Burmese support organisations worldwide ands sources n Burma/Myanmar: After the Crackdown. of news about Burma and displaced Burmese: January 2008 www.burmacampaign.org.uk/links.html n Myanmar: New Threats to Humanitarian Aid. The Online Burma/Myanmar Library is an annotated, December 2006. classified and hyperlinked index to full texts of documents on the Internet. It also houses a collection of articles, All their publications are listed at: conference papers, theses, books, reports, archives and www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=2958&l=1 directories: http://burmalibrary.org/ Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Myanmar Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2007 (Burma): A Worsening Crisis of Internal Displacement. http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Asia-Pacific/ March 2007. Myanmar www.internal-displacement.org/myanmar/overview Other reports are to be found at: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, The www.internal-www.internal-displacement.org/countries/ Darkness we see: torture in Burma’s interrogation centres myanmar and prisons www.irct.org/Default.aspx?ID=159&M=News&PI D=549&NewsID=1005 Migrant Assistance Programme Foundation (activities with migrants on the Thai-Burma border): Burma Economic Watch www.mapfoundationcm.org/resoure/eng2.html www.econ.mq.edu.au/burma_economic_watch Refugees International CCSDPT and UNHCR, A Draft Comprehensive Plan Addressing the Needs of Displaced Persons on the n Therese M Caouette and Mary E Pack Pushing Past Thailand/Myanmar (Burma) Border in 2006/7, CCSDPT, Definitions: Migration from Burma to Thailand, Bangkok www.tbbc.org/resources/2007-2008-ccsdpt-unhcr- RI and Open Society Institute. 2002. www. comprehensive-plan.pdf refugeesinternational.org/files/3074_file_burma.pdf. n Ending the Waiting Game: Strategies for Responding Center for Public Health and Human Rights, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Gathering Storm: to Internally Displaced People in Burma, 2006. www. Infectious Diseases and Human Rights in Burma refugeesinternational.org/content/issue/detail/8705 www.hrcberkeley.org/pdfs/BurmaReport2007.pdf Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) n Internal Displacement in Eastern Burma: 2007 Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Survey www.tbbc.org/idps/idps.htm Land Rights in Burma www.cohre.org/store/attachments/ COHRE%20Burma%20Country%20Report.pdf n Burmese border refugee sites with population figures: November 2007 www.tbbc.org/ Global Health Access Programme (focus on health in ethnic camps/2007-11-nov-map-tbbc-unhcr.pdf, minority areas within Burma and along Burma’s borders): www.ghap.org/reports/ TBBC resources are to found at: www.tbbc.org/resources/resources.htm Huguet, J and Punpuing, S International Migration in Thailand, 2005 UNHCR www.iom-seasia.org/resource/pdf/SituationReport.PDF n UNHCR Global Appeal 2008-2009 (Myanmar, Human Rights Watch pp247-250) www.unhcr.org/home/PUBL/474ac8dde.pdf n Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma vol. 19, no. 18 (C), December n Livelihoods Programme for Refugees. Executive 2007. Summary. 2007. www.unhcr.org/publ/PROTECTION/4691ec6f2.pdf n Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma. October 2007. n Pia Vogler, In the absence of the humanitarian gaze: refugee camps after dark, New issues in Refugee n Out of sight, out of mind. Thai policy towards Research: Research Paper No. 137, December Burmese refugees and migrants 2006, UNHCR Policy Development and Evaluation Service All their publications are listed at: www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/457ff97b2.pdf http://hrw.org/doc/?t=asia_pub&c=burma FMR 30 Palestine refugees in the contemporary context: a view from UNRWA 53 Palestine refugees in the contemporary context: a view from UNRWA Karen Abu Zayd Serious deprivations feature regularly in the lives of are imposed also on bringing cash Palestinians and Palestine refugees. Among them, into Gaza, thereby crippling the banking system, impeding the inflow measures restricting or prohibiting the movement of of badly needed remittances and people and goods stand out as particularly severe – and forcing normal business activity are in blatant contravention of human rights provisions. to grind to a halt. Furthermore, seriously ill patients have been There are 4.4 million refugees of fuel and spare parts, public health prevented from obtaining the registered and residing in the conditions have declined steeply care they require in Egypt, Jordan countries and territories served by as water and sanitation services or Israel. Several thousand more UNRWA (UN Relief and Works struggle to function. The electricity Gazans are languishing in limbo Agency for Palestine Refugees supply is sporadic and for some in Egypt, having been denied in the Near East), in addition to 210,000 of the poorest people, piped entry into Gaza since the Rafah four to five million Palestinians water is available for no more than crossing was closed in June. living in the diaspora, almost two hours a day. In mid-November all of whom identify themselves 2007, the World Health Organization In November 2007, the Palestinian firmly as Palestine refugees. reported that Gaza had less than one Federation of Industries reported month’s supply of 91 essential drugs the closure of 95% of Gaza’s factories In the West Bank, the illegal and necessary medical supplies. and workshops, swelling the ranks separation barrier divides and isolates Palestinian communities, stifling livelihoods and affecting or preventing hundreds of thousands of people from reaching their jobs, families, markets, schools and hospitals. The barrier and its regime of permits, security checks, towers, trenches and electronic fences constrict movement to a point where normal Palestinian life has become a thing of the past. The West Bank is splintered into multiple enclaves, with Palestinian movement between sections strictly controlled.1 By contrast, the million and a half Palestinians of Gaza are held captive as a whole. They are free to move within Gaza but prohibited – with very few exceptions – from Due to almost daily electricity cuts, Palestinian families in Gaza often have leaving it. Human rights instruments IRIN/Asmaa Waguih to eat their dinner by candllelight. state that everyone has the right to leave any country, including his or her own, and to return to that The humanitarian and human of the unemployed by 80,000. More country. Many Palestine refugees, development work of UNRWA than 30% of Palestinians now live particularly those in Gaza and the and other agencies and the private below the poverty line. In Gaza, West Bank, are denied that right. sector is hampered by the closure 80% of the population is now of Karni and Sofa crossings, Gaza’s receiving humanitarian aid. The Since last June there has been a 70% main access points for goods. World Bank conservatively estimates reduction in the supplies coming into Projects valued at over $370 million unemployment at 44% in 2007. 2 Gaza. The World Food Programme have been suspended, of which reports that by the end of 2007, only some $93 million are UNRWA’s Statistics alone, however, cannot just over half (56.5%) of the territory’s and another $120 million those of convey the misery, frustration and food needs were met. Owing to a lack other UN agencies. Restrictions poverty that threaten to engulf Gaza 54 Palestine refugees in the contemporary context: a view from UNRWA FMR 30

also needed. Without a cessation of silencing of the refugee voice and hostilities and a significant increase a disregard for refugee choice. in the level of respect for human rights, efforts towards economic Under the universal refugee revival will, at best, be fraught. protection framework, informed individual choice is the foundation on Issues outstanding which durable solutions are identified One outstanding question relates to and applied, and this principle should the identity of the Palestine refugee. If equally benefit Palestine refugees. the political challenges were resolved Indeed, given the complexities of and a just settlement agreed, by what return and settlement issues in the criteria would Palestine refugees be Palestinian context, informed choice identified? UNRWA’s refugee rolls must be the essence of any effort to and the over 16 million records in sift through and clarify the range the Agency’s archives (currently of varying Palestinian expectations being digitised under the Palestinian and rights. And yet the reality of Refugee Records Project) would representational needs has not been certainly be the first port of call. These reflected in practice, as witness the records would be an indispensable trend of peace proposals negotiated resource for tracing family histories, mainly by non-refugees. There is talk tracking property titles and verifying of resolving the refugee issue but individual residence in mandate there is no system or mechanism in Palestine prior to 1948. place to solicit, record and respond to the views of Palestine refugees.3 An issue of possible contention is whether the international community The way forward is towards could deny or exclude from the Palestinian self-determination, benefit of a just solution those who and just and lasting solutions to maintain their claim to be Palestine the plight of refugees through refugees and yet are outside an informed choice. But first, Victoria Hazou/IRIN Victoria UNRWA’s refugee records. The list and more immediately, what of such claimants could be long. It are needed are open borders, A Palestinian and parts of the West Bank. Statistics would include refugees who are freedom of movement, access for woman also do not speak to the potentially registered by states and governments goods and people, and, above all, carries a irreversible damage being done but not by UNRWA; those who are a unified government equipped, container of food she to the economic foundations of registered neither by UNRWA nor willing and able to represent, purchased in the occupied Palestinian territory any state, such as the so-called ‘non- protect and defend Palestinian Egypt after (oPt). Investors and entrepreneurs ID Palestinians’ (as those in Lebanon); and Palestine refugee interests. crossing are moving their capital to Jordan, and those Palestinians who fall through a destroyed Egypt and elsewhere, and skills lost within the terms of the Statelessness Karen Abu Zayd is Commissioner- section of the from long periods of unemployment Convention. It would include those General of UNRWA (www.un.org/ border wall are not easily regained. In addition, who for a variety of legitimate reasons unrwa). For more information please between the tens of thousands of Palestinians cannot provide documentation to contact [email protected]. Gaza Strip are applying to emigrate – a new meet the UNRWA definition (proving and Egypt, January 2008. phenomenon and a sad indicator that their normal place of residence This article is extracted from a of their living conditions. was Palestine during the period of paper given at the International June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and that Association for the Study of Forced The size of the funding pledges they lost both home and livelihood Migration conference, January 2008, made at the Paris conference in as a result of the 1948 conflict). Cairo. Full paper online at: www. December 2007 – totalling $7.4 reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/ billion, almost $2bn more than A second outstanding issue is that of LSGZ-7AWFEG?OpenDocument the amount requested – reflects refugee representation. A prominent the international community’s failing of peace processes to date See also Greta Gunnarsdóttir’s recognition of the scale of the has been the practice of shying away article ‘UNRWA: assisting challenge and the imperative from issues deemed too thorny. The Palestine refugees in a challenging of solid economic and fiscal preference has been to concentrate environment’: www.fmreview.org/ foundations for the oPt. They small steps in areas where progress FMRpdfs/FMR26/FMR2604.pdf imply an acknowledgement of the has been thought possible and to 1. See article by David Shearer ‘Territorial fragmentation indivisibility of security, socio- postpone all others to the indefinite of the West Bank’in FMR 26 at www.fmreview.org/ economic stability and the peaceful future. One outcome of this approach FMRpdfs/FMR26/FMR2610.pdf 2. ‘Prolonged Crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian has been to shunt the refugee issue Recent Socio-Economic Developments’, UNRWA, conflict. However, a more explicit into the shadows where it has more November 2007 www.un.org/unrwa/publications/ focus on fulfilling the rights and or less languished for six decades. pubs07/RecentSoEcDev.pdf 3. The power of informed Palestinian voices was freedoms to which Palestinians are This inclination to disown the demonstrated in 2004 and 2005 by the Civitas Project entitled under international law is refugee issue has as its corollary the www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/projects/Civitas/index.aspx FMR 30 Improving Kenya’s response to internal displacement 55 Improving Kenya’s response to internal displacement Alex Otieno

Over 300,000 Kenyans were displaced by post-election n integrate refugee and IDP studies conflict between December 2007 and January 2008. Kenya into university curricula in relevant disciplines in order to foster needs a coherent policy and capacity building for addressing broader sensitivity to international internal displacement. standards and to professionalise humanitarian response Kenya’s December 2007 presidential and dramatic increase in rape and sexual abuse parliamentary elections were highly during and since the post-election violence.3 n develop systems for accurate reporting contentious and within a few days of the and needs assessment, including use announcement of Kibaki’s re-election as State obligations of geographic information systems president, communal violence spread In December 2006 Kenya signed the across the country. Within a few weeks Security, Stability and Development Pact n facilitate collaboration – among it had led to over 1,200 deaths and over for the Great Lakes Region. The Protocol on actors such as the Kenya Red Cross 300,000 internally displaced people (IDPs).1 the Protection and Assistance to Internally Society (KRCS), the government Displaced Persons arising from Article 13 and faith-based groups – and The capacity of the government, faith- of the Pact mandated the incorporation coordinate service provision. based and relief organisations to meet of the Guiding Principles into domestic the needs of IDPs was surpassed as the law. It addresses the protection of the Alex Otieno ([email protected]) number rose during the weeks that followed physical safety and material needs of IDPs teaches in the Department of Sociology, the outbreak of violence and reprisals. and obligations to prevent and address Anthropology and Criminal Justice Crowding and inadequate water and causes of displacement. However, Kenya and the MA Program in International sanitation supply in camps made IDPs lacks legal and institutional frameworks Peace and Conflict Resolution susceptible to a range of diseases. Insecurity defining and recognising IDPs since it at Arcadia University, US. and violation of IDPs’ human rights by has not made the Guiding Principles 1. See IRIN country report www.irinnews.org/ both state and non-state actors were on Internal Displacement national law. country.aspx?CountryCode=KE&RegionCode=EAF evident when two camps in the Rift Valley Broadly, Kenya urgently needs to: 2. www.internal-displacement.org Province were attacked in January 2008. 3. See following article and www.ohchr.org/Documents/Press/ n tackle the corruption that marred OHCHRKenyareport.pdf While the UN Emergency Relief previous attempts to compensate Coordinator, John Holmes, described the IDPs by developing a transparent situation as a humanitarian crisis, Kenya’s policy environment and building Environmental lessons Minister for Special Programmes ordered institutional capacity Peter Njehia, Chief Procurement Officer the disbanding of IDP camps with offers of of the Kenyan National Environment food aid to IDPs but no guarantee of their n develop a policy for the restitution of lost Management Authority, has commented security. Walter Kälin, the UN Secretary- property, especially land and housing on the environmental impact that General’s Representative on the Human displacement can cause. In order to meet Rights of IDPs, raised concerns regarding n ensure access for and safety of aid basic needs in unfamiliar circumstances, the responsibility of both the international workers in times of crisis; groups Kenyans displaced by recent violence community and national authorities to such as the Kenya Red Cross were have had a negative impact on the ensure that IDPs are free to choose where unable to access IDPs during the environment through, for example: to reside: “You can only freely choose if violence because of barricades you have different options available.” erected on some main roads. n degradation of forests (mainly to get firewood for their domestic use) in the The importance of rapid and timely action n target external support for capacity areas that they have run to for safety by the government to reduce vulnerability building and policy development of IDPs to rape and other forms of sexual to allow the rapid deployment of n improper disposal of human waste, and gender-based violence cannot be state service delivery functions which in some IDPs camps led to overstated. A June 2007 report by the outbreaks of communicable illnesses Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre2 n prioritise the training and retention of the Norwegian Refugee Council to of professionals in fields such as n keeping their domestic animals in the Committee on the Elimination of security and policing as well as health open areas in urban settlements. Discrimination against Women had noted and human rights in order to deal that the rights of Kenya’s women and girl effectively with gender-based violence An important lesson, especially for IDPs were being violated, although they are developing democracies, is that internal protected under CEDAW – which Kenya n train civil servants working in relevant conflict can lead to disturbance of ratified in 1984. And a UN-NGO report ministerial departments in the relevant already fragile environments. released in March 2008 highlighted the international guidelines and standards 56 GBV in post-election Kenya FMR 30 GBV in post-election Kenya Jane Some

An assessment by three agencies has found that the risk of would also shift humanitarian rape and sexual abuse remains high for thousands of young interventions to national government and non-government structures to girls and women displaced by Kenya’s post-election crisis. facilitate the move from humanitarian to development actions as IDPs Detailing the findings of the rapid community- and camp-based return home in some areas and to assessment of gender-based violence programmes to prevent and respond transitional settlements in others. (GBV) suffered in camps,1 the UN to cases of sexual violence. The report’s recommendations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN include: Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the The agencies said the exact number Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) said of cases of sexual assault in IDP n providing support to the relevant the women had repeatedly expressed camps was difficult to ascertain, government ministries and fears of sexual violence because of not only because the camps lacked institutions to integrate prevention makeshift sleeping arrangements, standardised reporting mechanisms, of GBV and gender equality where men and women were but also because of challenges concerns into their emergency forced to sleep under one tent or associated with acknowledging plans of action and improve out in the open. They also voiced victimisation. These include the their capacity to address the concerns about lack of regulations availability of services, the level of problem of sexual violence awareness about the value of medical assistance, the n introducing coordination degree of trust in police mechanisms for prevention and and other security-related response programming at the issues, as well as the provincial and district levels cultural acceptability of disclosing rape. n training camp-based staff in GBV prevention and response standards The preliminary findings of this assessment confirm n ensuring sufficient police presence initial reports from in the camps, including female Nairobi-based hospitals police, and allocation of technical that sexual violence has and financial resources to security increased during the personnel to address violence post-election crisis that against women and girls began on 30 December 2007. Evidence suggests n improving multi-sectoral that perpetrators are prevention and response to GBV exploiting the conflict at the community level, through by committing sexual sustained support to sectors such violence with impunity, as health, legal/justice, security IRIN/Julius Mwelu and efforts to protect or and psychosocial, with a special respond to the needs of focus on gaps such as availability People in the camps, allowing men from women and girls are remarkably of forensic examiners, legal aid displaced by the outside to enter unchecked insufficient. The report notes that services and judicial response post-election violence, by camp officials. In Nairobi in sexual violence not only occurred as Nairobi, particular, women reported fears a by-product of the collapse in social n conducting widespread Kenya. about sexual victimisation linked to order during the post-election period community education aimed camp design and services, including but was also being used as a tool to at prevention and ensuring lighting, water/sanitation facilities, terrorise individuals and families survivors know how and and availability of firewood. and precipitate their expulsion from where to access services. the communities in which they live. The assessment was conducted in Jane Some ([email protected]) North Rift Valley, South Rift Valley, The agencies made several works for IRIN, the humanitarian the Coastal Region, Nairobi and recommendations aimed at protecting news and analysis service of the Central Province. It examined the young girls and women from GBV. UN Office for the Coordination of nature and scope of sexual violence Camp-based and community- Humanitarian Affairs. IRIN’s IDP/ during flight, as well as within based measures would help deliver refugee coverage page is at www. the IDP camps and alternative minimum interventions to prevent irinnews.org/Theme.aspx?Theme=REF settlements. The assessment also and respond to sexual violence 1. The full report is online at www.ohchr.org/Documents/ evaluated the capacity of both during emergency response. They Press/OHCHRKenyareport.pdf FMR 30 Brazil: ten years of refugee protection 57 Brazil: ten years of refugee protection Maria Beatriz Nogueira and Carla Cristina Marques

The international solidarity and responsibility sharing evident 2,884 in 2002. Now, Brazil hosts 3,857 in refugee protection in Brazil contrast sharply with the refugees of 70 different nationalities. restrictive trends seen in many other countries. Social and economic integration has been the biggest challenge to date. In 2008, the Brazilian National Eligibility decisions made by Although refugees are entitled to all Committee for Refugees (CONARE) CONARE have recognised gender- basic public services, some of their celebrates its 10th anniversary. based persecution, given special specific needs and vulnerabilities Created by the 1997 Refugee Act, consideration to children and other are not being met. UNHCR tries to CONARE is an inter-ministerial vulnerable groups, and acknowledged address these needs and for years and inter-institutional body the complementarity between has been the main funder of shelter which works to determine refugee asylum and internal displacement.3 and local integration programmes, eligibility, promote refugee-related The Committee also chose not with its contribution complemented public policies, design and evaluate to abide by new legal doctrines by government funds of US$ resettlement activities and regulate such as ‘internal flight alternative’ 470,000 for 2005-07. These resources the legal framework for asylum in and ‘safe third country’, so as to are transferred directly to Caritas Brazil. The Committee comprises preserve a case-by-case approach Arquidiocesana which implements representatives of the ministries of to dealing with each situation. social integration activities for Justice, Foreign Relations, Labour, refugees, such as Portuguese Health and Education, plus the Asylum and integration lessons, psychological assistance and Federal Police Department and According to the Refugee Act, asylum employment training. Food, health Caritas Arquidiocesana, an NGO seekers in Brazil enjoy rights to work care and financial support may also long engaged in refugee protection and temporary residence and are be provided for up to six months. and assistance in the country. entitled to use the public health and UNHCR has observer status. education systems until a decision The private sector is beginning to on their cases is reached. They are be involved in local integration As the first forum in Latin America also permitted to move around freely initiatives. Professional capacity where government, civil society within Brazil. Assistance during building has been offered by and the UN work together to design the asylum procedure is provided the National Associations of refugee policies and procedures, by a network – the largest refugee Enterprise (SENAI) and Commerce CONARE has a lot to celebrate. support network by far in Latin (SENAC), while the Chamber of The 1997 Refugee Act was the first America – of some 96 civil society Commercial Entrepreneurs (SESC) legislation in South America to organisations, in close partnership incorporates refugees in its health consider “severe and generalised with the government and UNHCR. and education programmes, as well violations of human rights” as Shelter, language classes and some as offering technical training. legitimate grounds for refugee free legal aid are offered to claimants status and became a model for other in several states. CONARE has Finally, integration is also boosted countries in the region.1 UNHCR prioritised training of those involved by the inclusive nature of Brazilian considers the asylum procedure in the asylum process. In 2007, the legislation. In contrast with many in Brazil one of the fairest and Committee’s technical staff, with other countries which operate most democratic in the world. UNHCR, travelled around the temporary protection schemes, country doing capacity building forced removals and restrictions The Act has been further clarified on the national eligibility system on permanent residency, refugees and expanded by CONARE. In with NGOs and federal police in Brazil are allowed to apply particular, one subsequent resolution officers. This has led to significant for a permanent visa and for expands refugee status to family improvements in the quality of the citizenship after six years of members.2 Not only are a refugee’s refugee determination procedure. residence in the country. legal companion and under-aged children eligible for refugee status A reflection of the fairness and Resettlement but also parents and under-aged professionalism of the asylum system Brazil has been strengthening its orphan siblings, grandchildren, great- has been the increased number of position as an emerging country of grandchildren, nephews and nieces. people seeking protection in the resettlement. Since the signing of the In this, CONARE went beyond what country. In 1998, when CONARE Resettlement Agreement between is required by the 1951 Convention was newly formed, Brazil had 1,991 the government and UNHCR in and has promoted a broader notion recognised refugees within its 1999, the country has resettled 373 of the refugee’s right to family life. borders. That number increased to people of seven different nationalities. 58 Counter trafficking in Japan FMR 30

CONARE prioritises the protection have been scheduled and CONARE sized country like Brazil. New of two distinct vulnerable groups: regularly approves refugees investments, partnerships with refugees without legal and physical from Colombia for admission. local governments and public protection, and women at risk. information campaigns are being The special attention to vulnerable Another ground-breaking innovation implemented in order to improve women, particularly women heads of the Brazilian programme has the quality of refugee reception of household and/or victims of been the emergency resettlement and assistance in all parts of the violence, has rendered extremely procedure, set up in 2005, whereby country, as well as to optimise asylum positive results in terms of local refugees at immediate risk can proceedings and local integration. integration. It is estimated that 20% have their resettlement applications of resettled refugees in the country examined within approximately In sum, the Committee’s main are women heads of household. 72 hours. If resettlement is agreed, challenge is to reduce refugee their arrival in Brazil takes place exclusion from full integration by In 2004, in the framework of within a maximum of seven facilitating their access to social the Mexico Plan of Action for days. Since the end of 2007, 60 benefits as well as by encouraging Strengthening the International cases have been successfully further involvement of the private Protection of Refugees in Latin presented under this procedure. sector. We believe the tripartite America,4 Brazil proposed a structure – government, civil pioneering regional initiative With solid resettlement experience society, UN – established for the called the Solidarity Resettlement in Latin America, CONARE has since implementation of refugee policy in Programme. Grounded in decided to expand its programme Brazil is CONARE’s biggest asset and principles of international solidarity beyond the region’s borders. In 2007, a possible model for other national and responsibility sharing, the a group of 108 Palestinian refugees committees around the world. Programme invites countries to offer arrived in Brazil from the Ruweished resettlement to refugees presently camp in the Jordanian desert, fleeing Maria Beatriz Nogueira (mb_ hosted by those countries which persecution in Iraq and having [email protected]) is Associate are disproportionately affected been denied protection by several Researcher of the Institute of by massive flows in the region traditional countries of resettlement. International Relations, University – such as Ecuador and Costa Rica of Brasilia, and Technical Advisor to which receive large contingents of Future challenges CONARE. Carla Cristina Marques people fleeing from Colombia. Despite ten years of positive ([email protected] ) is a developments, many challenges Resettlement Officer at CONARE. This Programme has not only remain, the biggest being refugee 1. See José H Fischel de Andrade and Adriana Marcolini, succeeded in boosting resettlement self-sufficiency and sustainability. ‘Brazil’s Refugee Act: model refugee law for Latin in countries such as Chile and Deficiencies in education and America?’, FMR 12: www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/ FMR12/fmr12.13.pdf Argentina but has also significantly professional training make it difficult 2. The extension of the condition of refugee to family strengthened the Brazilian initiative. for some refugees to find proper members is enshrined in article 2 of the Law 9.474/97. In a decentralisation effort, 22 cities jobs or earning opportunities in the 3. CONARE (2007) O reconhecimento dos refugiados pelo Brasil: comentários sobre as decisões do CONARE, across the country have become country – something of course shared Brasília, CONARE/ACNUR. part of the Solidarity Resettlement with some Brazilian nationals. 4. Full text at www.acnur.org/biblioteca/pdf/3453.pdf Programme, plus 80 new partners See also William Spindler, ‘The Mexico Plan of Action: protecting refugees through international solidarity’, from the private and public sectors. Decentralisation of refugee care is FMR 24: www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR24/FMR2438. New resettlement missions to Ecuador also a big challenge for a continent- pdf Counter trafficking in Japan Naoko Hashimoto

It has been three years since Japan launched its first National An Inter-Ministerial Task Force, Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons. established in April 2004, adopted the National Action Plan in December The International Organization for against Women1 recommended that of that year and the Plan came into Migration (IOM)’s involvement in the Japanese government increase its force in April 2005.3 Meanwhile, the the problem of human trafficking efforts to combat human trafficking Japanese parliament approved the in Japan dates back to 1996 when and in 2004 the US Department of ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, it published a report exposing the State’s annual Trafficking-in-Persons Suppress and Punish Trafficking unacceptable situation of Filipino Report2 dishonourably listed Japan in Persons, Especially Women and women trafficked to Japan. That in the Tier 2 Watchlist, triggering a Children (the Palermo Protocol) report and earlier warnings by NGOs greater readiness on the government’s Supplementing the UN Convention received little public attention. In part to acknowledge the problem Against Transnational Organized 2003, however, the UN Committee of human trafficking in Japan. Crime.4 A number of laws and on the Elimination of Discrimination regulations were amended over the FMR 30 Counter trafficking in Japan 59 following months to prevent human The majority of trafficking, to protect trafficked victims come from victims5 and to criminalise the act either the Philippines of human trafficking – unusually or Indonesia, with a rapid action for the Japanese handful of victims government, particularly given the from Thailand and a high sensitivity attached to human few from Colombia, rights issues of migrants in Japan. China and the Republic of Korea. This is Representing the human rights and contrary to the general the best interests of each victim, expectation that the IOM has set up a broad range of majority of victims protection and assistance activities would be Colombian, for victims in Japan in coordination Filipino and Thai, and with other concerned parties6 indicates how quickly while in the countries of origin traffickers adapt to IOM’s work emphasises the need the development of to empower survivors in order to counter-trafficking facilitate recovery and rehabilitation measures and shift as well as to prevent them being their trafficking routes re-trafficked and to provide and target countries. alternative livelihood including the option of regular migration. The types of visa used to enter Japan were Victim identification: mostly ‘entertainer’s a challenge visa’ or ‘temporary IOM has helped 128 victims identified visitor’s visa’. After the in Japan to voluntarily return to and government revised reintegrate in their country of origin its visa procedures, over the last three years. No-one the number of victims knows the actual number of trafficked entering Japan as people in the world7 but the number ‘entertainers’ fell by is low considering that more than 75%. More recently, nine million non-Japanese persons there has been an entered Japan during 2007 alone. increase in the number IOM 2006 of victims using a Educational Conditions in Japan are conducive to ‘spouse’ visa – which makes it more Strengthening counter- DVD attracting traffickers: such as limited difficult for the authorities to detect trafficking measures developed legal opportunities for migration, possible or de facto trafficking cases IOM suggests the following by IOM increasing demand for cheap labour since they would need to intrude into measures to further strengthen Bangkok, translated in some service sectors and Japan’s people’s private lives. Surprisingly, the actions that Japan is taking into Japanese. significant economic advantage the majority entered Japan with against human trafficking: over most of its neighbours. One authentic passports and other can assume that this small number immigration documents, suggesting n Train more staff working for of identified victims does not that tightening up of immigration National Police Agency and reflect the true reality but rather controls alone cannot eliminate the Immigration Bureaux in victim reflects the difficulties associated phenomenon of human trafficking. identification. with outreach to potential victims and victim identification given the Victim identification involves far n Provide and train bilingual case- ever more sophisticated control more than an interview through workers and counsellors, and techniques employed by traffickers. an interpreter. It involves gaining ensure closer, flexible cooperation the trust of someone who has been between public shelters and All the victims identified are women tortured, traumatised and brain- private shelters run by NGOs, as and girls. This confirms the strong washed by traffickers not to trust any the latter often have trained and gender-stereotype attached to authorities. It involves giving them qualified bilingual case-workers. trafficking in Japan, even though time to recover to a point when they not all these were subject to sexual are willing to reveal their secrets n Diversify activities for survivors exploitation; some were exploited to a stranger. It involves listening in shelters: victims, even those for their labour. Contrary to the – and helping them to retrieve some contributing to prosecutions, are general expectation that many victims control over their life in an alien forbidden by their temporary would be rescued from the red-light environment. The IOM Handbook residence status from securing districts in Tokyo, most victims on Direct Assistance for Victims of paid work. They should be entitled were working in bars and pubs in Trafficking8 has been translated to work for decent wages, attend smaller cities and towns and many into Japanese for this purpose. educational activities and receive victims were found in rural areas. vocational training. This would 60 Medical examinations within EU asylum procedures FMR 30

encourage survivors of trafficking unwilling to return: if counter- opinions of the author and does not to cooperate with law enforcement trafficking measures are not to represent the official views of IOM. agencies, in turn increasing the be seen as another form of anti- prosecution of perpetrators and migration or refugee containment, 1. www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/committee.htm preventing future trafficking cases. clearer and more flexible 2. www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/ 3. For details of the National Action Plan, see www.mofa. strategies are needed to enable go.jp/policy/i_crime/people/index_a.html n Ensure that prosecutions are based local integration or third-country 4. Text of protocol online at www.uncjin.org See also on a human rights perspective and resettlement of victims who have FMR 25 on ‘People trafficking: upholding rights and understanding vulnerabilities’ at www.fmreview.org/ a victim-centred approach: victims a ‘well-founded fear’ of retaliation FMRpdfs/FMR25/FMR25full.pdf contributing to prosecutions put by perpetrators, persecution by 5. Victims: while most individuals trafficked are in fact ‘survivors’ of an extreme situation, the term ‘victims’ their own safety and security their society of origin, or any other is used in this article, in accordance with the relevant – and that of their families and form of serious human rights international legal instruments. friends – at risk but very few are violation in the event of return.9 6. More details of IOM’s counter-trafficking activities in Japan are available at www.iomjapan.org/act/trafficking. accompanied by case-workers cfm or lawyers representing their Naoko Hashimoto (NHASHIMOTO@ 7. See Richard Danziger ‘Where are the victims of rights, and they are therefore iom.int), a former student at trafficking?’, FMR 25 , online at www.fmreview.org/ FMRpdfs/FMR25/FMR2504.pdf hampered from making informed the Refugee Studies Centre, is 8. Available at http://iomjapan.org/archives/IOM_ and independent decisions. Programme Coordinator of IOM HandbookonVictimAssistance.pdf in Tokyo (www.iomjapan.org). 9. For more details of the asylum-trafficking nexus, see UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection: www. n Introduce measures for cases unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?page=searc where the victim is unable or This article reflects the personal h&docid=443679fa4 Medical examinations within EU asylum procedures Erick Vloeberghs and Evert Bloemen

The Care Full initiative – a joint project of Pharos, Amnesty or they may find it indecent to International (Dutch section) and the Dutch Council for talk about the events because it is Refugees – seeks to create more awareness of culturally inappropriate to do so. the importance of medical considerations in the Impediments to giving asylum procedure. a proper account A Togolese woman applies for Many asylum seekers suffer from used in the appraisal of an asylum asylum in The Netherlands. During health problems arising from application. Physical scars, medical her interview she cries and tells their flight and the violence that and psychological complaints as well the interviewing officer that she preceded it: most often problems as accompanying behavioural and does not feel in good health, that of physical movement and mental socio-cultural problems are often not she has difficulty sleeping and is and psychiatric problems such as examined. The asylum authorities fearful of men and of loud noises. depression, fear and post-traumatic appear not to consider the possible She says she is confused about what stress disorder (PTSD). Research relation of these health problems with exactly happened to her. Although on Iraqi asylum seekers showed a experiences of violence and torture. the asylum authorities push her high incidence of psychiatric illness to describe her experiences, she (42%) among asylum seekers that Medical and psychological research says she cannot talk about them. recently arrived in the Netherlands. in the field of traumatisation Of this group, one quarter suffer indicates interference with memory The Immigration and Naturalization from depression and approximately and incapacity to recall events. As a Service (IND) rejects the application. another third from PTSD. It is clear consequence some asylum seekers Because the woman did not submit that these psychiatric problems are unable to give a complete and any documents to support her claim, were present during the asylum coherent account of their flight. the IND does not deem her asylum hearings and that they interfere The story the asylum seeker tells to story credible. She is placed in with the outcomes of those hearings, the authorities during the hearing detention awaiting deportation. In resulting too often in a rejection is pivotal, frequently meaning the the detention centre she is visited by of the application for asylum. difference between a residence permit a doctor who diagnoses depression and expulsion. In other cases asylum and severe anxiety. It is difficult to In the Netherlands, as elsewhere in seekers will remain silent about diagnose her properly because of Europe, medical and psychological what happened in order to protect her emotional instability, her lack knowledge and tools are little themselves against painful memories, of concentration and her inability FMR 30 Medical examinations within EU asylum procedures 61

to NGOs in Europe and endorsed Istanbul Protocol by 35 organisations – to bring to The Istanbul Protocol (Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture the attention of politicians and and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment) published by the UN policy makers, both nationally and has been developed by medical and legal professionals and human rights organisations. internationally, the need for medical It provides guidelines for examinations and for documenting torture and ill-treatment. and psychological examination in the asylum procedure. It is considered international accepted good practice to make explicit provision – alongside the legal investigation – for a (forensic) medical and psychological examination. Protocol A common European online at www.pharos.nl/uploads/_site_1/Pdf/Documenten/istanbul%20protocol.pdf asylum system Given current attempts to harmonise asylum procedures across Europe, or unwillingness to respond to asylum seekers about peripheral Care Full’s goal has been to search for questions. The doctor treats her details of traumatic events such as the and promote ways for the Istanbul with psychiatric drugs. Deportation, number of persons or windows in the Protocol to become an integral part however, cannot be arranged so room where the torture took place, the of asylum procedures in Europe. she is released from detention and colour of the uniforms or the wall, the European Community law recognises lives illegally in the Netherlands. date or duration of events, and then the particular needs of survivors Two years later she is hospitalised draw conclusions about credibility of torture and addressing their in a psychiatric clinic for aggressive on the basis of these details. particular needs is a major element behaviour and hallucinations. The of the European Commission’s plans clinician diagnoses chronic PTSD Care Full initiative for the next stage of the creation of a with psychosis. During the treatment The Care Full initiative was common European asylum system. in the clinic she is able to tell her launched in 2006. It aims to improve Member States, however, are far from story of ill-treatment and rape by the refugee status determination (RSD) meeting the standards they have set. military forces in her home country. procedures for victims of torture and ill-treatment by encouraging In the EU Qualification Directive The psychiatrist contacts the lawyer authorities to take better account (which Member States should all and sends him the appropriate of the psychological, socio-cultural have incorporated into national medical information. The lawyer and physical factors that inhibit law by 10 October 2006) there are starts a new asylum application asylum seekers from presenting a implicit and explicit references to explaining the link between the coherent and complete history of their the use of medical examination and traumatic events she was not able experiences. The initiative stresses medico-legal reports. UNHCR, in its to recount during the first asylum the need for a full examination, reaction to the EU Green Paper on interview and her psychiatric conducted in accordance with the future of the Common European condition. Because of treatment guidelines set out in the 1999 Istanbul Asylum System, declares itself received, she is able to recount Protocol on the investigation and to be “concerned that vulnerable her whole story during the documentation of torture. It argues asylum seekers and refugees are interview for her second asylum that any medical or psychological not always properly identified… claim. Within a few months conditions must be given proper The use and weight of medico- the IND grants her asylum. weight within the process of legal reports in asylum procedures refugee status determination. vary widely.” After referring to the This case reflects the culture of Istanbul Protocol, UNHCR also disbelief among asylum authorities In 2006 the Care Full Initiative states that “initiatives aimed at in Europe, within which the asylum published Care Full: Medico-legal identifying and developing good seeker has to prove that they were reports and the Istanbul protocol in practices to address these challenges tortured, raped, or beaten. It is not asylum procedures1 which included would be highly desirable.”3 always possible, for example, for chapters on the physical after- women who have been raped to talk effects of torture and ill-treatment; In short, UNHCR and many NGOs about this at the first interview. In psychological and psychiatric factors in Europe believe that including fact, can a woman be expected to affecting the ability of asylum seekers proper medical examinations and talk about these things at all, when to speak about their experiences requiring a medico-legal report in she sometimes dare not even tell her during the asylum procedure; an refugee status determination would own husband, in case he rejects her? assessment of the use in ten European improve the process. It would most countries of medical reports in certainly reduce the number of Memories of traumatic events such the asylum procedures; the use of appeals as well as the number of as torture can be incomplete. There medical reports at the European revised asylum determinations based is evidence that asylum seekers Court on Human Rights and by the on medical facts that are presented experience a phenomenon known as Committee Against Torture (CAT); at a later date. Furthermore, asylum ‘boundary restriction’ – a narrowing and the use and impact of the Istanbul seekers would feel that their of focus that causes a failure to Protocol in asylum procedures. experiences and situations were being remember information that is on recognised – which might in turn the visual or acoustic periphery of In early 2007 the Initiative help them regain a sense of justice, the traumatic experience. Asylum published a set of Principles and acceptance, well-being and health. authorities, however, often question Recommendations2 – distributed 62 Tertiary refugee education in Afghanistan: vital for reconstruction FMR 30

psychological aspects of RSD Signing up to the Care Full initiative and in early identification of Organisations outside Europe are also welcome to sign up to the Care Full Principles vulnerable asylum seekers. and Recommendations. Supporting organisations are listed in this document – which is regularly updated and can be used throughout Europe to lobby on the Erick Vloeberghs (e.vloeberghs@ national level. Please contact Erick Vloeberghs at [email protected]. pharos.nl) is Head of International Affairs and Evert Bloemen ([email protected]) is a medical doctor and trainer/advisor at The Care Full Initiative is n developing at the national level PHAROS (www.pharos.nl). currently focusing on: (in the Netherlands) a procedure 1. René Bruin, Marcelle Reneman & Evert Bloemen (2006) based on the Istanbul Protocol Care Full: Medico-legal reports and the Istanbul protocol in n raising awareness among EU guidelines to incorporate a medical asylum procedures, Utrecht/Amsterdam: Pharos/Amnesty International/ Dutch Council for Refugees. politicians, governments and and psychological examination 2. Principles and Recommendations (2007) www.pharos. medical professionals in order into asylum procedures nl/uploads/_site_1/Pdf/Documenten/Care%20Full%20Pri to work towards incorporation nciples%20%20Recommendations.pdf 3. The UNHCR reaction to the Green Paper can be found of medical examination and the n supporting and developing at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news/consulting_ writing of medico-legal reports initiatives to train staff of asylum public/gp_asylum_system/news_contributions_asylum_ system_en.htm within the asylum procedure authorities in the medical and Tertiary refugee education in Afghanistan: vital for reconstruction Claas Morlang and Carolina Stolte

Since 1992, UNHCR has been implementing the Albert In recent years female enrolment Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative (DAFI), a among Afghan refugee students has increased. Women now German government-funded programme to provide tertiary comprise 54% of Afghan DAFI education for refugees in countries of asylum. Afghans have students, considerably above comprised the largest group of DAFI students. the global average of 39% in 2006. These women are role models for Afghan women and The capacities of tertiary institutions imbalance in the DAFI programme girls; their example may help to within Afghanistan are very limited and as UNHCR tried to specifically promote education and motivate and, with some three million target girls’ education, only female families and girls themselves to Afghans still in Pakistan and Iran, students were permitted to enrol in further their own education. the need for higher educational the DAFI programme in Pakistan. opportunities – via DAFI or Lack of coordination among donors other avenues – for Afghans in The available level of funding set the supporting tertiary education neighbouring countries remains high. overall targets for the programme for Afghans has been a problem. in this and other regions. Host A large number of education Afghanistan has been a focus of countries need to have policies advisors and funding agencies the DAFI programme from the that are compatible with the needs adopting different approaches outset, with enrolment of students of refugees. If refugees are not have created competing structures from Afghanistan reaching a peak allowed to enrol in university, need to support refugee programmes of 447 in 2003.1 External factors, special permission or are charged a outside the country. This has led however, inevitably influence the prohibitive ‘international’ student to fragmentation and confusion programme. As a result of the mass rate, implementing a scholarship within the Afghan education return of Afghans since 2002 the programme becomes considerably system, complicating education overall number of students enrolled more difficult. Globally, the average and return for young refugees. in Iranian and Pakistani universities cost of each DAFI student is has fallen considerably. Iran stopped approximately $2,000 per annum. UNHCR and partners realised the admitting new Afghan tertiary need to counsel each refugee on their students in 2004 as a result of an To ensure the long-term success of future studies and plans and have active repatriation policy. This policy the Afghan intervention, numerous organised workshops in countries of was lifted in 2007 and Iran is currently challenges have been addressed. asylum on a range of subjects, from the country receiving the highest DAFI has focused on motivating job market information and HIV/ number of Afghan refugee students. female participation in the AIDS awareness to general questions In 2005, due to an overall gender programme, seeking gender parity. regarding return to Afghanistan. FMR 30 Tertiary refugee education in Afghanistan: vital for reconstruction 63

Evidence of success graduate is the deputy director of be in short supply once graduates As part of a global assessment of the Ministry of Counter Narcotics, start working in their communities. DAFI’s impact, in 2007 UNHCR another heads Afghanistan’s National UNHCR does not fund scholarships sent a questionnaire to ex-students.2 Assembly and another works for for multi-year courses like medicine; Responses from the Afghan cohort the National Standards Authority. they are too expensive and tie up show the direct link between a A number of DAFI graduates are in funds for too long. On the other refugee programme focused on senior positions in NGOs, providing hand, UNHCR does fund paramedic tertiary education and national expertise on human rights, gender courses because graduates deliver reconstruction. By educating Afghan issues, humanitarian interventions valuable services. A similar cost- refugees in neighbouring countries, and social service delivery. benefit consideration applies to post- DAFI has provided them with the graduate studies. Instead of paying skills needed for sustainable return for one student to get a PhD, it makes and made the move back home a “DAFI scholarships have made more sense to help two students reach more viable option for the future for a substantial contribution to the a first degree. many students and their families. education and development of many The impact of returned university young, talented refugees, enabling Unsurprisingly, three quarters of graduates on the reconstruction them to expand their horizons and global refugees educated by DAFI of Afghanistan is clearly visible. explore their potential. Through the report earning above average scholarships for higher education, incomes. However, the benefits of Refugees who have received a uni- DAFI has given thousands of young tertiary refugee education transcend versity education in the region have men and women the means to break the individual student as they greatly both the skills and the entrepreneurial the cycle of violence and deprivation. benefit communities and nations willingness to return early. This emerging from conflict. The return has helped to bring academically During my missions abroad I have of qualified human resources to a qualified human resources to an area met DAFI scholars and graduates on post-conflict area is a vital component that has experienced a considerable several continents and have seen for durable reconstruction. drain of vital brainpower. While firsthand their experience put to there was still considerable room work for the good of the community. The Afghan example shows that for individual choice, students The value of this education cannot tertiary refugee education can directly were encouraged to undertake be overestimated. It gives refugees contribute towards reconstruction much needed employment- and the hope to imagine a brighter in a country that still struggles with development-oriented degree future for themselves and their protracted conflict. The fact that, programmes. As a result, the different communities and the skills and globally, 94% of returning DAFI fields of study and, subsequently, determination to realise their goals.” graduates find employment back work within the Afghan group of António Guterres, UN High home highlights the need for their DAFI students currently represent a Commissioner for Refugees skills. The fields of study chosen by broad spectrum, reflecting all needs Afghan students, the sectors in which of a country which did not have they have found employment and proper functioning universities for a the gender balance among refugee number of years. Conclusion students are all positive indicators of Tertiary refugee education is not a future change. UNHCR has shown The majority of returned graduates priority compared with the other that in Afghanistan, as elsewhere, now work in Herat or Kabul. Over levels of education, especially refugee scholarship programmes are 70% work as civil servants or as NGO primary. However, research into 15 highly relevant and that all forms of managers, with the remainder in the years of experience with the DAFI humanitarian intervention must be private sector. Research indicates scholarship programme has proven linked to long-term development. that Afghanistan faces an acute lack that the benefits for development of qualified managerial personnel. are high. Scholarship programmes Claas Morlang (morlang@unhcr. As a result of DAFI encouragement, can and do work, provided they are org) is UNHCR’s Education Officer, around a quarter of DAFI’s Afghan carefully implemented and funds Geneva. Carolina Stolte (stolte_ students now focus on management efficiently allocated. It makes sense for [email protected]) is completing and economics studies. Another refugees to study in countries that are a PhD at Leiden University. This area of special intervention has been close to their countries of origin – both article is written in a personal support of rural communities and in geographical and cultural terms as capacity and does not necessarily long-term food security. DAFI has it makes returning home more likely. represent the views of UNHCR. supported many students to study Funding for tertiary education must agriculture, especially in Faisalabad be geared towards sustainable results. For more information about in Pakistan. Approximately 20% of DAFI see: www.inwent.org/ez/ the Afghan students are currently Students will benefit most from articles/065278/index.en.shtml. enrolled in subjects related to courses that teach them to The November 2007 evaluation of agriculture/fishery and forestry. work with regionally available DAFI is at: www.unhcr.org/protect/ resources. Especially in the cases PROTECTION/47b4083d2.pdf Examples of the success of the of medicine and engineering, it is 1. In 2006, 1,067 DAFI students from 37 countries were programme can be found at all counterproductive to learn to handle enrolled in courses in 38 countries. levels of Afghan society. One DAFI equipment and materials that will 2. www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/4603d6954.pdf 64 Measuring the enjoyment of rights in Colombia FMR 30 Measuring the enjoyment of rights in Colombia Jacob Rothing and Marco Romero

Colombian law protects the fundamental rights of IDPs but population. In other words, the Court the country lacks policies to guarantee respect for those demanded that the government diagnose the problem, respond rights. This structural gap is recognised by the Constitutional to it and establish mechanisms to Court, the highest judicial organism of the state, and recent monitor the effectiveness of policies. developments offer hope of change. The government dithered in deciding Colombia has a long history of rights, including those pertaining on adequate outcome indicators, conflict-induced displacement. to education, health, work, income making it impossible for the Court to Most displaced persons, estimated generation and physical safety. They assess progress. The Court asked the to be as many as four million,1 seek declared the problems so severe that it Civil Society Monitoring Commission, refuge internally, in a constant flow amounted to an unconstitutional state the Inspector General’s Office, the from rural areas to the fringes of of affairs. Two structural problems Human Rights Ombudsman, the Comptroller General of the Republic and UNHCR to provide technical documents to help establish outcome indicators. Based on the input from these organisations, the Court then established a series of guidelines for the indicators, including that they should be quantifiable and comparable, providing information about IDPs’ lives and living conditions rather than institutional aspects of the government’s performance.

Firstly, the Court said the indicators should allow measurement of progress in overcoming the problems and identify obstacles hindering the adoption of remedial measures. The indicators should thus say something meaningful about the impact of government policies. If the policies are unsuccessful in changing the lives EC/ECHO/Karin Michotte EC/ECHO/Karin of IDPs for the better, the indicators should signal ways to improve them. IDP Colombia’s expanding cities. In were identified. Firstly, the resources settlement, 1997 Congress passed a law which assigned by the government were Secondly, the indicators should Magdalena granted extensive rights to IDPs. insufficient to fulfil its obligations measure the fulfilment of the policies’ (Sierra Nevada), Successive governments, however, under international and national law. goal, namely the realisation of IDP Colombia. failed to implement the law, Secondly, institutional capacities on rights and, in particular, the effective limiting themselves to providing all levels were insufficient to attend to enjoyment of rights in every phase of humanitarian aid to fewer than the needs of the displaced population. displacement. The specific needs of 30% of IDPs and having marginal particular groups such as children, impact on improving education Rather than initiate criminal women, the disabled and indigenous and health provision. Between 1997 prosecution of individual officials communities should be considered. and 2003, the Constitutional Court who had not fulfilled their ruled 17 times that the fundamental obligations, the Court instructed the Thirdly, the indicators should be rights of IDPs were violated. government to find the necessary significant. They should provide resources and to provide detailed information about essential, rather In a landmark ruling in 2004,2 the information regarding IDPs and than dispensable, aspects of IDP Court concluded that local and policies relating to them. Most rights and the policies’ impact on national authorities in different notably, it ordered the establishment them. This is a key concept, since parts of the country had failed to of outcome indicators for the effective monitoring is a demanding and protect a wide range of fundamental enjoyment of rights of the displaced expensive process. In addition, the FMR 30 Measuring the enjoyment of rights in Colombia 65 selection of indicators should not and to trust in guarantees that degree to which the IDPs participate depend on what information is there will be no repetition of in programmes designed to assist accessible but on IDP rights. Nor crimes. But despite a questionable them, access to legal assistance and should IDPs be simply incorporated demobilisation process and the fact access to mechanisms for demanding into existing government programmes that paramilitary forces continue to restitution of goods and land. aimed at the general population. exercise political and social control through the use of violence in large After considering these observations, IDP rights parts of the country, the construction the Constitutional Court rejected Two Court Orders adopted indicators of effective reparation policies for the government’s indicators for the right to housing, health, the IDP population should be a because they excluded essential education, food, income generation, priority for at least the next 10-15 aspects of the right to reparation. identity, economic stabilisation, and years. The establishment of outcome the right to life, integrity and liberty.3 indicators for the right to reparation What’s next? However, other outcome indicators is a significant part of that effort. If this process is eventually have yet to be developed and there successful, it will represent important is still a lack of clarity with respect The main indicator of effective achievements. Colombia’s justice to the relation between the different enjoyment proposed by the system will have gained substantial phases of displacement. While government in March 2007 is defined legitimacy, legal complaints significant improvements have been as: “Persons who request it can mechanisms will have demonstrated made in the access to rights for IDPs access the mechanisms of justice, their efficacy, and the Colombian during displacement, only modest restitution and protection.”4 The state will have acquired important changes have been made in the phases proposed complementary indicators experience as to how to undertake of prevention and durable solutions. measure the ratio of people who are social policy development during a able to access mechanisms of justice humanitarian crisis. Conversely, if With more than 200,000 people compared to those that request it the rights continue to be unfulfilled forcibly displaced every year in – and the ratio of those displaced at current levels, this process will lay Colombia, there is an urgent need persons or ethnic communities bare the government’s incapacity to for policies to prevent further who have their property legally deal with the conflict’s humanitarian displacements taking place. The protected compared to those who consequences, and the situation government understands prevention apply for such protection. Lastly, the is likely to deteriorate further. as having or regaining control over government suggested including the territory. While the presence and right to family reunion through an Meanwhile, the Court’s indicators proper functioning of civilian state indicator which would measure those provide a detailed and extremely institutions are key ingredients of this who had received financial support to useful tool which all donors should policy, military operations are often reunite with their family as compared incorporate into their humanitarian their only expression. Furthermore, to the total number of people who strategies in Colombia – and the while military control is an important had applied for such support. whole process offers valuable preventive factor, it also can be part lessons for policymakers elsewhere of the problem as armed activity The Attorney General’s Office, significantly increases the risk of however, commented that access to Jacob Rothing (jacob.rothing@ displacement. Thus, the emphasis justice does not necessarily amount nrc.org.co) is an advisor at the on a military rather than a civilian to reparation and that the indicator Norwegian Refugee Council presence in conflict zones and the should instead be oriented towards (NRC) in Colombia. Marco failure to design an efficient early access to mechanisms of justice Romero (marcoromero@codhes. warning system must be dealt with which can achieve reparation. org) is President of the Consultoria in order to provide a comprehensive In the view of the Civil Society para los Derechos Humanos y prevention policy. Meanwhile, the Monitoring Commission and Desplazamiento (CODHES) and highly politicised nature of such UNHCR, the indicators proposed a leading member of the Civil a policy seems to make the Court by the government emphasised only Society Monitoring Commission, reluctant to take a stand on the issue. some components of comprehensive commissioned by the Constitutional This is perhaps against the Court’s reparation, namely truth and justice, Court to monitor the development better instincts but it could also be but did not measure the extent to of Colombia’s IDP policies. interpreted in light of their desire to which the IDPs were indemnified for look for consensus wherever possible. material and non-material losses as a Court Orders relating to the result of their displacement. UNHCR establishment of the indicators The discussions regarding the also pointed out that an indicator can be found at www.codhes.org, establishment of outcome indicators cannot be expected to measure a www.nrc.no and www.idmc.org. for comprehensive reparation have policy in which the question of how 1. The government has only been registering IDPs not been straightforward because they to repair the damages caused by over a 10-year period. The numbers registered over 20 reflect controversial political issues the violation has not been defined. years by the Consultoria para los Derechos Humanos y Desplazamiento (CODHES) indicate more than four nationwide. In the light of continuing Instead UNHCR recommended some million IDPs. expulsions of the civilian population elements which could be the subject 2. Constitutional Court ruling T-025/2004_ by paramilitary groups or their of monitoring by indicators, including 3. AUTO 109/2007 and AUTO 233/2007 successors, it is difficult to ask victims equal treatment for IDPs compared 4. Court Order 109 of 2007: 20 to cohabit with the perpetrators to other victims of serious crimes, the 66 Faith, relief and development: the Sri Lanka experience FMR 30 Faith, relief and development: the Sri Lanka experience Guy Hovey and Amjad Saleem

A strategic partnership between the United Methodist both organisations provided Committee on Relief (UMCOR)1 and Muslim Aid (MA)2 in reconstruction and other return assistance. Following the emergency Sri Lanka, now formalised into a worldwide partnership response, the two partners reviewed agreement, offers a model for effective, community-based, their joint operations, identifying culturally appropriate and sustainable assistance provision. key attributes of the partnership as well as wider opportunities for In 2006, a deterioration of security in faith and community leaders how faith-based organisations North East Sri Lanka was beginning and councils to coordinate the (FBOs) can work together to to put a strain on the already fragile mobilisation of thousands of improve operational effectiveness: ceasefire between the government volunteers who brought food and non and the LTTE (the Liberation Tigers food relief items to the IDP camps The ability to work effectively in an of Tamil Elam). On 2 August the and distribution centres. MA engaged insecure environment: Muslim majority town of Muttur (in with the imams, the coordinating The sight of two different FBOs Trincomalee District) was attacked council for Muslim theologians and working together had a calming and besieged by the LTTE. Efforts communities, discussed the impartial effect in many conflict-affected by aid agencies, the UN and the Red nature of humanitarianism with communities. It is doubtful if this Cross to negotiate a humanitarian them and vouched for UMCOR could have been achieved in such corridor into the town came to staff’s neutrality. Discussions centred a short space of time without local nothing. A few days later, most on the imperative of both faiths faith leaders being engaged by an of the inhabitants fled. Diverted to serve humanity and reduce the FBO with which they could identify. from their preferred destination by suffering of the disadvantaged. This military action, the IDPs walked was language which people could The ability to work for common to the Singhalese majority town understand and relate to. UMCOR causes: of Kanthale, an area already did the same through local Methodist The common belief in serving experiencing inter-ethnic tensions priests in Christian areas – and with humanity contributes to the ability because of the proximity of fighting. Hindus whom the priests knew. to work together and can largely Local government authorities were Soon those villages where UMCOR eliminate the competitiveness over unable to cope with the needs of the workers had been held at gunpoint resources in relief and development. IDPs, who numbered some 57,000. and attacked by villagers a couple of weeks previously welcomed Working within networks: With the influx of tens of thousands both UMCOR and MA staff. Religions offer cultural, social and of IDPs, the Kanthale area, already political networks unsurpassed by an under-resourced region, was MA and UMCOR jointly approached any other. An FBO can ‘plug into’ extremely tense and violence was the local Buddhist chief monk to this network, gaining immediate common. Most NGOs had left but ask for help in bringing aid to the access to faith leaders – community UMCOR and MA were still working beleaguered Buddhist community ‘gatekeepers’ – and thus an in the area. As the crisis developed, – a community which was suspicious entry point to communities. the two agencies gravitated towards of NGOs and other ethnic and faith each other and within a couple of communities. The chief monk was Sustainable empowerment and days were working together, setting surprised by the joint approach programming: up a joint field office and warehouse, by organisations whose faiths are In traditional societies, making and sharing staff, vehicles, aid commonly portrayed by the media sustainable progress in empowering supplies and logistical support. They as enemies (and therefore perceived minorities and vulnerable groups and their local partners responded as such by communities) but agreed (such as women) without exposing to the crisis by providing emergency to speak with his constituents; them to danger is difficult. However, water, shelter, medical, food and inter-faith cooperation flourished although some faith leaders may non food items for IDPs and, later, around the humanitarian relief wish to preserve traditional roles, logistical support and coordination efforts, with the Buddhist temple most have the wellbeing of their assistance for the international NGOs. becoming an aid distribution centre. communities at heart and can be agents for change. By working with This partnership enabled economies This partnership continued once these leaders, a long-term process of scale and effective coordination the emergency was over and the of empowerment in its truest but also had some other, unexpected security situation had improved. sense was initiated. The long-term outcomes. Both agencies worked in When the IDPs were able to presence of faith representatives coordination with their respective return home some months later, in communities enables relief and FMR 30 Faith, relief and development: the Sri Lanka experience 67 development programmes to be is only to be expected. It was found supported long after the original that many misunderstood the nature implementing partner has left. of the FBO – as a professional relief and development organisation as Peace, reconciliation, respect opposed to a proselytising agent. and understanding: The dissension, however, provided Peace does not emanate from high- an opportunity for people to discuss level political agreements but from the changing face of relief and communities on the ground. One development and the importance of the most surprising aspects of of inter-faith partnerships. the partnership was that it was the

first time the majority of people The erosion of identity: Muslim Aid-UMCOR had witnessed different faiths Concern was voiced that the working together in a tangible partnership would dilute the Islamic that faith represents a significant pillar During manner. This is perhaps the area identity of MA and the Christian of grassroots relief and development an aid within which this partnership identity of UMCOR – that the coming which has remained sidelined due distribution to IDPs from will be most effective – acting as a together of the two would produce a to its potentially sensitive nature. Muttur and link between inter-faith dialogue compromised organisation not at ease However, virtually all faiths, however to the host and communities, translating with itself. This is a valid concern. different they may be theologically, population rhetoric into practical action which However, the partnership comes have a common purpose to serve in Kanthale, north eastern demonstrates the benefit of dialogue together mainly around operational humanity and aid the disadvantaged. Sri Lanka. to disadvantaged communities. and advocacy issues. While the partners may disagree on theological The Commonwealth Foundation in Challenges issues, there are many more areas the UK invited UMCOR and MA to Cooperation between the two NGOs concerning the world’s disadvantaged present their partnership model at has developed beyond Sri Lanka that they do agree upon. the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of and on 26 June 2007, following Government meeting in Kampala intense negotiations, a worldwide The distraction of faith leaders: where it generated significant partnership agreement was signed in Some community faith leaders interest. Over the coming 12 months the House of Commons in London. were exposed to the international the partners will be rolling out and However, the partnership has humanitarian field for the first further developing the model with the not been welcomed unanimously time and, recognising its potential, assistance of academics, practitioners, and various problems were became involved in NGO work. Their faith leaders and communities. encountered during negotiations: involvement caused concern that they 2008 will see joint country directors’ were being taken away – at a time meetings, further meetings between Formalising the partnership: of crisis – from ministering to the senior, middle and lower management, The success of joint programming spiritual needs of their communities. joint activities at the field level often depends on relationships Clearly a delicate balance between and joint partnership projects with between individuals, making the two needs to be identified early communities of all ethnicities in Sudan, partnership vulnerable. The concern in an operation to operationalise Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. that the Sri Lankan experience a ‘do no harm’ approach. owed more to personal friendships This partnership is not exclusive and between staff members of Muslim Keeping the partnership relevant: is open to all non-proselytising faith- Aid and UMCOR was discussed and The Sri Lanka experience based organisations. The longer-term a pilot joint funding application was demonstrated that the success of vision is for a consortium of FBOs initiated in Indonesia where the two the partnership was its relevance working together at the community organisations had not been thrown to communities and that high- level to bring relief, development, together by force of circumstance. It level dialogue, although crucial, peace, reconciliation and mutual was found that, with the leadership has limited meaning at grassroots respect and understanding in a of the two organisations explaining in level. As the partnership model is world where faith is increasingly detail the partnership and the ideals taken up, analysed and debated by manipulated as a tool to drive behind it, the application process academia, governments and other conflict rather than resolve it. and all the joint assessments that interested parties, a challenge will this entailed proceeded smoothly be to ensure that it remains practical, Guy Hovey (guy@umcor-regional. and lasting links were made. relevant and rooted in communities. org) works for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (and was Resistance from the supporter Next steps in Sri Lanka 2006-07). Amjad base: Within all faiths, as in secular The idea of faiths operating together is Saleem ([email protected]) society, there is a wide spectrum not new3 but has to date largely been has been the Muslim Aid Country of opinion. The negative reaction limited to inter-faith dialogue and Director in Sri Lanka since 2005. of some people in the Christian some cross-funding initiatives. In Sri 1. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/fieldoffices/ community in the US can be viewed Lanka the UMCOR-MA partnership partners/muslim-aid/ on various blogs while some in the demonstrated that there is a huge 2. http://ramadan.muslimaid.org/Page170.asp Muslim community have reportedly untapped potential in engaging with 3. eg Geneva-based Action by Churches Together (ACT) voiced comparable opinions. This faith. The two organisations believe International http://act-intl.org/ 68 New UK underclass FMR 30 New UK underclass Demelza Jones

People seeking asylum in the UK are at great risk of social reflected in Sami’s description: “I exclusion but successive government asylum policies have felt like I was in a prison – all these procedures…taking finger prints, aggravated rather than alleviated this problem. photos…” This equation between detention and criminality is keenly felt Over the last decade, the UK government entered into an exploitative relationship by many detained asylum seekers who has identified tackling social exclusion with an older man, exchanging sex for cannot understand what crime they have as a central objective, setting up a Social food and clothing. Vulnerability to highly committed to warrant their detention. Exclusion Unit and in 2003 launching the exploitative illegal employment in the National Action Plan (for Social Inclusion). informal sector is another issue of concern. Another practice more commonly A 2004 report by the Unit identified people associated with criminals was seeking asylum in the UK as amongst A contributing factor to social exclusion experienced by Grace, who was fitted those most at risk of social exclusion1 and amongst asylum seekers is the denial with an electronic ankle tag on arrival a joint study by Oxfam and the Refugee of the right to work, causing severe in the UK. Immigration officials did not Council in 2002 concluded that “asylum implications for them, both materially explain to Grace why she was being seekers are forced to live at a level of and in terms of their participation in UK tagged, and she spent her first weeks poverty that is unacceptable in a civilised society. Lack of access to the workplace in the UK wondering what crime she society.”2 Asylum seekers with an ongoing makes it difficult for adult asylum seekers had committed. She described feeling claim are entitled to a weekly amount of to interact with the general population, humiliated and stigmatised by the tag, benefit which falls below the UK poverty leaving them socially isolated and which was clearly visible and provoked line. The result is hunger, and inability to aggravating feelings of marginalisation curiosity and animosity amongst both buy clothes or shoes, pay fares to attend and exclusion. It also leaves those who other asylum seekers and members of appointments, or make phone calls to do achieve refugee status ill-prepared the host community. “The only things stay in touch with friends and solicitors. for participation in society through the I had brought to wear were skirts so employment market, as has been the everybody could see it… People were In 2006 I interviewed four asylum seekers case for Sami from Kurdistan. During staring in the street. Even the other and one person who had been granted our discussion he bemoaned his lack of women in the building were asking refugee status. Grace from Zimbabwe success with job hunting, blaming his me ‘what did you do wrong?’.” was anxious about paying for transport. two-year absence from the workplace The timing of her compulsory reporting whilst he was seeking asylum: “At home The experiences of social exclusion sessions with the Immigration Directorate I did the same job for years. Here it is described by Patrice, Grace, Yolanda, requires her to travel on public transport different, with long forms and interviews. Edem and Sami are far from unusual. at peak times, costing around £5 a week: If I had got involved with this when Exclusion results from negative views “£5 sounds like nothing, but when you I arrived, then fine – but now I am of asylum seekers as a threatening have [only] a small amount to start with, starting from scratch.” Yolanda, a highly and burdensome ‘other’ by the media it is a lot.” In order to obtain cash for qualified medical professional from and politicians, and as a consequence transport, Patrice from Côte D’Ivoire Cameroon, shares his frustration: “To not of government asylum policies which is forced to sell the vouchers which be able to share your skills is depressing. create hardship and which limit social are his only entitlement, sometimes to Maybe if we were allowed to show our inclusion through enforced poverty, unscrupulous neighbours for significantly skills, people would not despise us.” equation with criminality, and denial less then their value: “Sometimes I get of the right to work and contribute desperate – but if I don’t report to the In addition to these material forms of meaningfully to the host society. Immigration office, I am breaking the law.” exclusion, the portrayal of asylum seekers in the UK media is overwhelmingly Demelza Jones (demelzajones@hotmail. Those falling foul of the asylum legislation negative, consistently portraying com) has recently completed an MA commonly end up unsupported and people seeking asylum as ‘cheats’, in Global Citizenship, Identities and destitute, either sleeping rough or staying ‘liars’ and ‘scroungers’. And far from Human Rights at the University of illegally with other asylum seekers in challenging media misrepresentation, Nottingham, UK, and has been working often overcrowded accommodation, successive British politicians have even with refugees and people seeking asylum reliant on handouts from friends or led and legitimated public hostility. on community projects in central charities. The level of social exclusion England. Names of interviewees and their caused by destitution can lead to severe Short of deportation, the most extreme countries of origin have been changed. exploitation. A 2006 Amnesty International form of exclusion from society is 1. www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.cabinetoffice. report found that some interviewees had imprisonment. Indeed, around 14% of gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/publications_1997_to_2006/ turned to prostitution, and that “young asylum seekers in the UK are detained tackling.pdf 2. Penrose, Jan, 2002 Poverty and Asylum in the UK. London: The girls were possibly given floor space in in Immigration Removal Centres at Refugee Council and Oxfam. p4 3 exchange for sexual favours” , whilst some stage during their claim. These 3. Amnesty International, 2006 Down and Out in London: The Edem, a very vulnerable young man centres, while officially not prisons, Road to Destitution for Rejected Asylum Seekers, p15: www. amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10682 from Sierra Leone, indicated that he had are indistinguishable in practice, as FMR 30 REFUGEE STUDIES CENTRE 69 Humanitarian space in a fragile state Simon Addison

Circumstances in Burma highlight the difficulty of maintaining such as those found in Burma such humanitarian space in so-called ‘fragile states’. approaches may directly expose local civil society actors to oppression. The difficulties faced by humanitarian transition from relief to development agencies in Burma are far from unique while simultaneously sowing the Such political interventions and to that country. In Burma, Iraq, seeds for a gradual democratic innovative approaches to finding Darfur, Uganda, Chechnya and other transformation of society. humanitarian space raise a number countries, the space for humanitarian of challenging questions about the action is being increasingly restricted, Humanitarian action in Burma has appropriateness of these forms of due either to increasing violence become politicised to a remarkable intervention when considered from against humanitarian aid workers or degree as it is now bound up with legal, political or even humanitarian to increasingly hostile state regulation the overarching agenda of the UN protection perspectives. Joining of the action of international agencies to promote deep-seated economic up research on rights and related or, as in Burma, to a combination and political reform, which is seen issues across institutional (academic, of both these factors. The strategies as fundamental to addressing the advocacy, practitioner and policy) being adopted in response bear ‘root causes’ of the humanitarian and geographical contexts would remarkable similarities in different crisis. Thus the humanitarian has help strengthen international settings. In particular, the increasing become almost indistinguishable understanding of the human rights, use of ‘remote’ approaches to from the political in what has development and engagement operational intervention is striking. been called the “UN cacophony” challenges facing the international on Burma, whereby almost every community in Burma and elsewhere. In Burma, the lack of access to issue area is placed firmly under vulnerable populations has led to the umbrella of democratisation. Simon Addison (simon.addison@ the development of cross-border qeh.ox.ac.uk) is Senior Research and interventions through networks With the developing norm of the Policy Liaison Officer at the Refugee of local staff, agents and partner Responsibility to Protect, it appears Studies Centre (www.rsc.ox.ac.uk). organisations. In Iraq, insecurity likely that such approaches will and restrictions on the movements become more common. From Sudan This article draws upon discussions of international staff members have to Somalia, and from Iraq to the that took place during a workshop prompted agencies to develop Democratic Republic of Congo, entitled ‘Displacement and operational strategies that depend the international community is Humanitarianism: A Permanent Crisis upon local community organisations increasingly seeking to link the in Burma?’ that was hosted by the to undertake the planning and humanitarian agenda with the Refugee Studies Centre on 29 February implementation of relief activities. need for state transformation 2008. A selection of papers from the In northern Uganda, Darfur and and the development of good workshop will be published, including Chechnya, international agencies governance. But the potential in the RSC Working Paper Series. have adopted ‘remote control’ dangers associated with seeking to methods of intervention whereby link the political to the humanitarian The main presentations focused relief operations are implemented are significant, and may have on regional powers, the role of the by local teams who are coordinated serious impacts upon humanitarian UN, protection and human rights, from a ‘safe’ location at some distance space itself if such linkages are chronic emergency in eastern Burma, from the actual site of intervention. seen to challenge the sovereign activities and debates relating to power of the state in question. humanitarian assistance to IDPs, ‘Remote’ interventions may the role of cross-border approaches, appear to be the best and most Humanitarian operations using and statelessness. The workshop pragmatic approach to fulfilling local proxies might also put both was organised by Eva-Lotta Hedman the humanitarian imperative under beneficiaries and local staff in danger ([email protected]), highly constrained circumstances. of violence or political persecution. Senior Research Fellow at the RSC. In addition, it could be said that, by And while the use of local civil society drawing on and developing local may be seen as an effective means The analysis here is that of the capacities, these interventions can of empowering local civil society author and does not necessarily improve levels of local participation and building a possible movement reflect the views of the and ownership, and thereby lay for change from the grassroots, participants at the workshop. the foundation for a sustainable under authoritarian conditions 70 FEATURE: IDPs IN PEACE PROCESSES FMR 30

A seat at the table for IDPs Donald Steinberg

Excluding IDPs from peacemaking and n How can IDPs be empowered to contribute to post-conflict reconstruction means that peace negotiations? Typically, IDPs from marginalised groups, such as the the issues of greatest interest to them Afro-Colombian community in Colombia, lack the – resettlement, rebuilding of basic social skills needed to participate in diplomatic negotiations. services, clearance of landmines and Training for their participation is essential, and must security sector reform – are often ignored take place early and in a culturally appropriate manner. by the armed combatants participating in n When is IDP engagement most important? the talks. Issues such as compensation for displacement, accountability and restoration of land rights are Early returns of IDPs are often pushed by impatient particularly tense, and can disrupt fragile peace negotiators seeking good news from stalled processes processes if introduced too early. Some have but the premature return of displaced persons in suggested that these questions should wait until the absence of security and sustainability can lead negotiation of a ceasefire and an agreement on the to new displacement and further instability. IDPs disarmament and demobilisation of armed forces. themselves are best positioned to know when it is wise and safe to return. They know what they need in n How can IDP engagement facilitate post-conflict terms of assistance packages, training opportunities, civil society? transport and rebuilding of basic social services. Innovative programmes to use IDPs as planners, implementers and beneficiaries of Sidelining of IDPs means that they often view peace resettlement and reconstruction programmes processes as belonging to armed combatants, not to can help strengthen civil society. themselves. They thus will not serve as a countervailing force to press combatants to meet their commitments. The lack of local pressure to include IDPs in these As the following article by David Lanz shows, processes means that the international community the exclusion of Darfur IDP representatives at the must often take the lead to ensure their participation. Abuja talks was a key reason for their failure. We need not be diffident when advocating IDP engagement in the face of claims that we are meddling In the absence of IDPs at the table, too often maniacal in internal affairs. Today, internal disputes invariably combatants – such as Angola’s Jonas Savimbi, Sierra represent threats to international peace and security as Leone’s Foday Sankoh and Uganda’s Joseph Kony waves of instability flow easily across porous borders. – claim to represent ‘the disempowered people’ in Today’s IDP is tomorrow’s refugee, and insecure peace negotiations. Frequently, their first demand is for areas within countries quickly become breeding sites amnesty for all crimes that they, their supporters and for international trafficking in arms, persons and the opposite side committed during the conflict. Such drugs, and potential training sites for terrorists. amnesties too often mean that men with guns forgive other men with guns for crimes committed against As international mediators press for IDP engagement, powerless civilians. Amnesties can put a cynical cancer they must receive the full backing of the UN Security in the centre of a peace process, ignore IDP rights for Council, UN peacekeepers and all UN humanitarian compensation and property restitution, and undercut agencies. They must all reiterate that IDPs are not rule of law and justice after the guns go silent. mere victims of conflict but an essential piece of the puzzle in making and sustaining peace. Peace processes In addressing these issues, many questions need must benefit from their knowledge of local conditions, to be answered. their power to generate civil society support for agreements, their willingness to return and rebuild n Who should speak on behalf of IDPs? stable societies, and their commitment to the future of The leaders of the communities from which the their countries. In the pursuit of peace, we must make displaced came may have been killed, displaced them part of the solution, not part of the problem. or discredited, and IDP camps do not generally have the stability to elect their own leadership. Donald Steinberg ([email protected]) Those who present themselves as leaders in is Vice President for Multilateral Affairs for the IDP camps may not be innocent victims but International Crisis Group (www.crisisgroup.org). perpetrators of violence – such as in secured The ideas outlined here are more fully developed at: areas of Rwanda following the 1994 genocide. www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5263&l=1 FMR 30 FEATURE: IDPs IN PEACE PROCESSES 71

Involving IDPs in the Darfur peace process David Lanz

The UN estimates that there are 2.4 million reasons why this is crucially important in Darfur: the IDPs in Darfur – over one third of the total massive scale of the displacement; the centrality of land dispossession in conflict and any long-term resolution; population. There can be no meaningful and the politicisation of IDP camps as a result of efforts peace process without their involvement. by the government of Sudan and the rebel movements Giving IDPs a formal seat in official peace to win support and secure military advantage. negotiations is problematic but there are Involving IDPs in the Darfur peace process is not other ways to ensure their participation. idealism or part of an activist agenda. It is based on the pragmatic realisation – and lessons learnt from the DPA IDPs were only marginally involved in the protracted – that sustainable peace will only be possible if concrete negotiations in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, which after solutions are found for IDPs. Their needs must be seven rounds of talks concluded with the Darfur Peace satisfied and they must feel they are integrally involved. Agreement (DPA) in May 2006. The DPA has not been The UN Special Envoy to Darfur, Jan Eliasson, and his implemented and it may have made things worse. The AU counterpart, the Tanzanian diplomat Salim Ahmed Abuja process was deeply flawed, a textbook example Salim, seem to have understood this. In the beginning of how not to arrange peace negotiations. The final text1 of their post-Abuja re-launch of the peace process, they was written entirely by the African Union mediation team made a deliberate effort to reach out to IDPs. They and its Arabic version made available to the parties only a visited camps and held talks with IDP representatives few days before the expiration of an unrealistic deadline so as to better grasp their interests and expectations. imposed by the UN Security Council. In order to close There now seems to be consensus on the principle that the deal, high-level representatives from the US and UK IDPs do need to be a part of the peace process. The real flew into Abuja to twist arms. No space was given for difficulty, however, is figuring out how to involve them. the parties to shape the agreement or to get input from their constituencies. In the end, the Sudanese government Multi-track diplomacy and Minni Minawi (the leader of a faction of the Sudan Peace processes consist of multiple actors and ‘tracks’. Liberation army/Movement – SLA/M – one of the main Track One diplomacy refers to official negotiations rebel groups locked in conflict with the government) between conflict parties; Track Two involves unofficial signed while Abdel Wahid, Minawi’s rival and the interactions between influential actors from civil society; original leader of SLA/M, and Khalil Ibrahim, leader of and Track Three covers grassroots conflict resolution the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), refused. initiatives. The challenge in Darfur and elsewhere is to combine different tracks and to ensure complementarity. The Abuja talks were not inclusive. While some civil society groups were present, their degree of independence Following the failure in late October 2007 of peace talks and representativeness was highly questionable. in the Libyan city of Sirte, Eliasson and Salim now face IDPs in Darfur were neither informed nor consulted. the challenge of developing a multi-track approach that Within a few days of signing, large and at times violent satisfies the needs of IDPs without jeopardising the demonstrations against the DPA erupted in camps across process. Logically, it seems desirable to give IDPs a seat Darfur. IDPs complained that the agreement did not at the negotiating table. However, as Donald Steinberg, sufficiently address their security concerns, nor provide Vice President of the International Crisis Group, points adequate compensation for those who have lost their out: “there may be occasions where it is wise to include houses and land in the course of the conflict. The protests only the principal armed parties in the initial stages of were probably encouraged by Abdel Wahid and his a peace negotiation, as long as it is clear that the voices supporters among the Fur – Darfur’s largest non-Arab of other key actors – including IDP representatives group. However, it was clear that all IDPs, regardless – will be heard and heeded shortly thereafter.”3 of their tribal origin, felt that the DPA did not address their concerns and were angry at their exclusion. In Darfur, the formal inclusion of IDPs in official peace talks raises two significant problems. Given Their frustration highlights the main recommendation their lack of experience, IDP representatives would be arising from a recent report from the Brookings-Bern susceptible to manipulation. They could become proxies Project on Internal Displacement. ‘Addressing Internal in a power struggle between the government and the Displacement in Peace Processes’2 makes a general case for rebel movements, unable to independently defend the involving IDPs in peace processes. There are three specific interests of their constituents. Furthermore, it would be 72 FEATURE: IDPs IN PEACE PROCESSES FMR 30

very difficult to identify legitimate IDP representatives. are particularly important if the peace talks take A microcosm of Darfuri society, IDPs are extremely place outside of Darfur. Otherwise it will be easy for heterogeneous – divided regionally, politically and opportunistic rebel leaders to spread misinformation between tribes. Selecting a small number to represent and mobilise IDP opinion against them. It will also be IDPs at peace talks could exacerbate tensions. important not to arouse unrealistic expectations of what peace negotiations can achieve. Otherwise, the UN and An alternative to direct Track One participation is to AU will lose credibility among IDPs in the long run. establish a parallel civil society forum for IDPs and other civil society groups. This forum – and its component If a peace deal is reached, it is likely that details about thematic working groups – could work alongside official implementation will be determined by a range of oversight negotiators. Its decision-making power and coordination committees focusing on property claims, compensation, with Track One negotiations would have to be clarified. A disarmament and reconstruction projects. These matters parallel civil society forum would enhance the legitimacy are of direct concern for IDPs and Darfuri civil society of the peace talks, provide valuable thematic input and and they must be given real decision-making powers. keep parties in check, preventing them from negotiating an incomplete and unsustainable pact between warring Conclusion elites. The selection of IDP and civil society representatives Whether a peace deal will be reached remains highly remains tricky but, given that the parallel forum could uncertain. The rebel movements are fragmented, the accommodate a relatively large number of delegates, the Sudanese government is reluctant to re-negotiate the DPA AU-UN joint mediation team should be able to manage it. and the international community is struggling to adopt a common position. However, there is no alternative Parallel Track Two initiatives are crucial. These should to negotiating. A Kosovo-like military intervention, as involve IDPs alongside other local government demanded by some Darfur advocates, is unlikely to officials, tribal leaders, academics, partners of Sudanese materialise and even if it did would probably make and international humanitarian organisations, and matters worse in the long run. Sustainable peace in representatives of women and youth groups. They Darfur has to be the result of a legitimate political would meet on a regular basis to exchange views and process, built on a compromise that takes into account build trust. They could help the high-level mediators the needs of all stakeholders, particularly IDPs. The build grassroots support for the peace talks. The Civil AU-UN mediators appear to have learned from the Affairs Section of UNMIS has suggested that Track Two failure of the DPA, and their effort to reach out to meetings be held separately for IDPs, tribal leaders IDPs is encouraging. However, the involvement of and other civil society groups in each of Darfur’s three IDPs needs to be broadened and their participation regional capitals – El Fasher, El Geneina and Nyala. Their acknowledged as an intrinsic part of the peace process. precise structure as well as the lead organiser is yet to Otherwise, a chance for peace may be squandered. be decided. What matters is that Track Two initiatives complement official negotiations and that those who David Lanz ([email protected]) was a participate are as representative and independent as researcher with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) possible. It will also be important to ensure their safety. and currently works for swisspeace in Bern, Switzerland (www.swisspeace.ch). This article is Eliasson and Salim should engage IDPs as frequently written in a personal capacity and does not represent and regularly as possible in the build-up to any actual the views of either UNMIS or swisspeace. peace talks. AU-UN mediators need to travel to IDP 1. www.unmis.org/english/dpa.htm camps, interact with camp leaders, brief them of 2. www.brookings.edu/reports/2007/09peaceprocesses.aspx higher-level developments and ensure their input. 3. Donald Steinberg, ‘A Seat at the Table: The Role of Displaced Persons in Peace Talks Transparency and regular dissemination of information and Peacebuilding’, www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5263&l=1

IDPs in Darfur John Robinson/Mennonite Central Committee John Robinson/Mennonite FMR 30 FEATURE: IDPs IN PEACE PROCESSES 73

The displacement-peace nexus Khalid Koser

Resolving internal displacement is inextricably Engaging with the concerns of the displaced in peace linked with achieving lasting peace. negotiations – whether directly or indirectly – is only the first step in ensuring that peace processes address them. It In some countries the sheer scale of displacement is critical that peace agreements clarify the political, legal is so significant that it is unrealistic to plan for a and humanitarian obligations of governments towards peaceful future without incorporating IDPs’ needs IDPs and clarify roles and responsibilities in relation and ensuring their active participation. Unfortunately, to durable solutions. Displacement issues also need however, IDPs are often ignored in peace processes. mainstreaming in the peace-building phase, when it is especially important to provide security; solve property- Helping displaced populations to return and reintegrate related problems; encourage reconciliation; undertake can both address the root causes of a conflict and post-conflict reconstruction; and ensure a political help prevent further displacement. The return of transition to an effective and legitimate government. displaced populations can be an important signifier of peace and help validate the post-conflict order. IDPs have formed effective coalitions with other groups IDPs can be active in local politics and can also make in Track Two/Three negotiations in several countries: an important contribution to the recovery of local economies. In some countries the displaced have n In Colombia, many IDPs feel the peace process is become parties to the conflict, and their inclusion not real as violence is ongoing and IDP leaders still is therefore necessary for conflict resolution. being assassinated. They have no trust in formal state mechanisms. Recently some IDP organisations All this is also true of refugees but IDPs often have have joined with non-IDPs to press for truth, justice additional needs that require specific attention during and reparations. There are new initiatives to ensure peace processes. IDPs often remain close to the zone of displaced women get a seat at the negotiating table. conflict and more vulnerable to violence. Provision of n In Georgia, self-organising IDP groups are humanitarian assistance to IDPs is often more difficult. engaging in the search for durable solutions Unlike refugees, they are not singled out for specific after years of displacement. Despite hostility protection in international law. Furthermore, IDPs need from hardline politicians, they have forged Track shelter, may be unable to replace official documents and Two diplomacy with civil society leaders in the often encounter problems recovering land and property. breakaway regions of Abkhazia and Ossetia and are pushing for greater civic rights. As the previous article by David Lanz noted, there are n In Sri Lanka, Track One has failed. Numerous significant obstacles to ensuring IDPs’ participation grassroots peace initiatives have not formally in high-level Track One negotiations. They often lack included IDPs, and women and children are sufficient education, political skills and legitimate particularly excluded. Tracks Two and Three offer leaders. There can be reprisals when IDPs organise potential to ensure greater IDP representation. themselves. To work round such constraints Track Two n In South Sudan, people-to-people Track Three peace negotiations have gained legitimacy. Track One initiatives launched by civil society and displaced often relies on Track Two to provide local insights and people helped show that negotiations can work a less formal forum for problem solving. Track Three and paved the way for eventual Track One success – grassroots initiatives – provides the greatest scope – the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which for IDP participation but its impacts on national-level ended Sudan’s protracted North-South conflict. negotiations are usually limited and by itself cannot guarantee effective representation of IDPs’ concerns. Khalid Koser ([email protected]) is the Deputy Director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Where the direct participation of IDPs in peace Displacement. The Project’s publication ‘Addressing negotiations is not possible, desirable or effective, an Internal Displacement in Peace Processes, Peace alternative is for international mediators to prompt Agreements, and Peace-Building’ is at www. political leaders to incorporate displacement issues brookings.edu/reports/2007/09peaceprocesses.aspx in peace negotiations. This worked in Mozambique and Bosnia. It requires mediators who understand the specific concerns of IDPs and have time to consult with them. A complementary strategy is to focus on the legal rights of IDPs using international, regional and national mechanisms. UN agencies and other international and national actors can provide information on displacement issues to Track One actors. 74 RAISE INITIATIVE FMR 30

Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies The value of rapid RH response Diana Barnes-Brown

Despite many challenges, life-saving reproductive health care of the Minimum Initial Service can be effectively mobilised at the onset of crises, even when Package (MISP) for Reproductive Health in Crisis Situations2 in the conditions are far from ideal. wake of the storm. The objectives of the programme are 1) to increase For many years, reproductive health contraceptives, hormonal implants, access to skilled birth attendance (RH) care was rarely regarded as a intra-uterine devices and emergency and to emergency obstetrics care, routine component of humanitarian contraception. MSK is also supplying 2) to ensure that universal health medical response. More recently, large numbers of condoms. In precautions are practised in all humanitarian agencies have begun addition, many expectant mothers health facilities where Save the adopting practices that enable the in the camps are receiving Children works and 3) to ensure integration of RH care into response antenatal care and voluntary HIV continued availability of family strategies but there is still much to counselling and testing services. planning methods. Project activities be done before RH care provision include identification, recruiting is considered part of the standard Staff have faced a number of and training of Community Health response in emergencies. To facilitate challenges in the delivery of these Volunteers; ensuring availability this process, the Reproductive Health services. One of the main barriers has of drugs and medical supplies; Access, Information and Services been the lack of consistent supplies, registration of pregnant and lactating in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative due to the violence and insecurity. In women; supply of clean delivery provides both immediate and long- addition, movement between regions kits (with information on how to term assistance to humanitarian has posed difficulties for MSK use them) to women who are visibly agencies working to provide RH staff because of security concerns. pregnant; provision of newborn services in the field. This article Within the camps, insecurity at kits; and provision of transportation describes three situations in which night makes it difficult and unsafe for emergency obstetric cases. RAISE has supported emergency to respond to emergencies and to provision of RH care at the onset ensure that women have access to The programme had significant of crises, at project sites in Kenya, skilled attendants during delivery. success, reaching more than 70% Bangladesh and the Democratic In some camps, the camp organisers of the target population of visibly Republic of the Congo (DRC). are uncomfortable with, or opposed pregnant women and providing 6,000 to, the use of certain RH services, out of a target 8,315 pregnant women Kenya such as family planning, and this with clean delivery kits. Medical In the wake of the post-election has been an additional barrier. supplies and drugs were provided violence and social unrest in Kenya, for mobile clinics. In addition, Save hundreds of people have lost their Bangladesh the Children was able to mobilise lives and approximately 300,000 have On 15 November 2007 Cyclone Sidr more resources and funding to been displaced. Access to RH services hit the coastal areas of Bangladesh, expand its emergency health has been disrupted for many. RAISE devastating homes and harvests. By response to cyclone-affected areas is supporting Marie Stopes Kenya the end of December, an estimated in Patuakhali and Borguna districts. (MSK) to work with the Kenya Red 8.9 million people had been affected Although five emergency obstetrics Cross Society and other partners to by the cyclone – with 3,347 dead cases were successfully referred provide vital RH services in camps in and over 563,000 houses destroyed for care to the district hospitals, Nairobi and in Rift Valley province. or severely damaged. Maternal there is still concern that, with so Humanitarian agencies are also health care in the two coastal many home deliveries, pregnant referring survivors of gender-based districts of Borguna and Patuakhali women in medical distress may not violence (GBV) to MSK’s centres was poor even before the cyclone, have full access to referral services for emergency medical treatment, with 90% of all deliveries taking and emergency obstetrics care. including emergency contraception, place at home and more than 50% post-exposure prophylaxis to of deliveries attended by non- DRC minimise HIV transmission and medically trained birth attendants.1 Despite movements forward in the treatment for sexually transmitted peace process for DRC, North Kivu infections (STIs). Women are now Save the Children USA used financial province remains one of the most visiting service sites to request support from the RAISE Emergency unstable and insecure areas in the contraceptive pills, injectable Fund to implement components country. The recent escalation of FMR 30 RAISE INITIATIVE 75

fighting in the area is expected to Emergency realities for emergency response rosters. uproot a large number of people. In None of the challenges presented However, many of the staff on these response, Merlin (UK-based NGO) above are unique to their settings. rosters may be neither skilled in RH is using support from the RAISE For example, insecurity can have a nor aware of the need to provide Emergency Fund to provide RH major impact on the supply chain, RH services at the outset. As needs services to people who have been with roads closed, whole regions assessment progresses in subsequent displaced during intensification inaccessible, and raids and looting stages of projects, it is necessary to of the civil unrest and armed of hospital pharmacies and other supplement gaps in appropriately conflict in the region. Specifically, places where crucial supplies are trained staff as soon as qualified and the programme supports two RH kept. In addition, the imposition available candidates can be identified. objectives: 1) to increase awareness of night curfews prevents women and knowledge regarding the causes, being attended during delivery at Coping with challenges such as consequences of and appropriate night and does not allow for referral those described above provides responses to GBV, HIV and AIDS, to EmOC services when an obstetric valuable lessons to be learned. In and other STIs and 2) to increase complication occurs. Coordination spite of the difficulty experienced the technical capacity of Ministry of of supplies and movement in while attempting RH service Health and community leaders in the convoys can help to reduce the risk provision, however, all three sites prevention of and response to these. of ruptures in the supply chain. discussed have succeeded in making These activities complement Merlin’s services available where they ongoing efforts in the management In times of conflict, community would otherwise have remained and referral of women with obstetric leaders often act as gatekeepers, unavailable or inaccessible. The complications and women in need with considerable control over process of recording and responding of family planning services. which services may or may not be to emerging challenges will help provided, and which agencies or staff and administrators to better Merlin held a series of focus group organisations may or may not be understand what is needed to address discussions with men, women and providers. As a result, access to RH similar challenges in the future. adolescents, which highlighted services may not be allowed – even challenges in identifying causes when providers have the capacity Diana Barnes-Brown (db2472@ of GBV and possible support and and training to provide them. columbia.edu) is Technical Writer/ services for survivors. Both men and Working closely with communities Editor for the RAISE Initiative. women tended to view women as and their leaders, as well as with For more information on the being to blame for sexual violence, camp organisers, can help ensure RAISE Emergency Fund or referral due to provocative dress and men’s that all RH services are available. to partner programme contacts, inability to control their sexual urges. please contact George Patterson, Adolescent males reported that rape Availability of trained and Grants Manager, at the RAISE was a result of girls refusing sex, and experienced staff is a major challenge Initiative ([email protected]). some participants in the female focus for all agencies responding to 1. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey groups indicated that there should humanitarian disasters. It has long preliminary report 2007 be no interventions to address sexual been recognised that there is a need 2. www.rhrc.org/MISP/ violence, as drawing attention to the issue would simply result in further violence. The nearest hospital for treatment for survivors of sexual violence was reported as too far away for many women to reach. In addition, the focus group participants asked for family planning and HIV prevention services to be made available at the local health centre. In this case, treating both the causes and consequences of sexual violence has presented a complex set of factors with which field staff must contend. 76 NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL FMR 30 Azerbaijan: internally displaced amidst a

booming economy Petr Kostohryz

Although the number of IDPs in Azerbaijan continues to be developed and implemented, among the highest per capita in the world, the Norwegian especially programmes that Refugee Council (NRC) is leaving Azerbaijan in 2008, after involve their relocation 13 years of operations there. n removing practical and institutional barriers and Despite the booming economy, framework and a comprehensive practices that may be perceived as Azerbaijani IDPs continue to rank state IDP strategy aimed at improving discriminatory, in order to further among the most vulnerable social living conditions and employment. enhance the rights of IDPs to groups, largely dependent on external The government provides monthly become fully-fledged members of assistance. What is now required, allowances to over half a million Azerbaijani society. Among these however, is a gradual shift to assisting displaced people, distributes food – barriers are: the inflexible system the IDPs on the same basis as other with the World Food Programme – of registration of IDPs based on vulnerable people within broader to some 270,000 people, pays for their place of origin instead of their social development and poverty domestic utilities and winter fuel, and actual residence, having separate reduction strategies. NRC’s decision provides for several tax exemptions schools and the construction of to leave Azerbaijan is based on for IDPs. Within the housing new settlements in remote areas. the acknowledgement that most programme some 70 collective centres of the assistance required now is have so far been rehabilitated and Azerbaijan has already done much beyond its mandate and expertise. 56 new settlements constructed to address the needs of IDPs but still has a long way to go. While a lasting and peaceful solution to the Nagorno- Armenia and Azerbaijan are technically still in a state of war. Their conflict over Karabakh conflict may still remain Nagorno-Karabakh halted with a 1994 ceasefire with the province and surrounding elusive, all displaced people need districts fully or partially remaining under Armenian control. There are 686,586 to be given the opportunity to enjoy IDPs from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding occupied territories in Azerbaijan. decent and dignified lives, and to develop their skills in preparation for eventual return. The human potential NRC’s decision to leave was with individual houses for over of IDPs in Azerbaijan is enormous. primarily motivated by Azerbaijan’s 15,000 families; this programme will It is up to the authorities to channel economic growth and the state’s continue until 2011. The government it in directions that will be beneficial substantial investments in IDP- has even contributed financially for the overall growth of the country. related programmes. There is to one of NRC’s shelter projects. therefore a diminishing need for Petr Kostohryz (petrk@nrc- NRC to substitute for government These genuine positive efforts az.org) is Country Director for assistance. In addition, there is limited notwithstanding, Azerbaijan is NRC’s Azerbaijan office (www. potential to contribute to durable still a country in transition, with nrc.no/?did=9168609). solutions as long as the status of remarkable resources but limited the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh technical capacity to make best region and the ongoing Armenian use of the financial and human The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) occupation of the surrounding potential available. Further works to provide assistance and territories give little hope for return, assistance and guidance is needed protection to refugees and displaced and while resettlement is perceived in several areas, primarily in: people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the as temporary and local integration Americas. www.nrc.no/engindex.htm is not promoted by the authorities. n reducing the dependence of IDPs on external assistance through The Internal Displacement Monitoring The last few years have seen more emphasis on enhancing Centre (IDMC) is part of NRC a significant increase in the their economic opportunities and is an international non-profit government’s programmes and and including them more organisation that monitors internal in their willingness to allocate fully in national social and displacement caused by conflicts. funds to address the needs of the economic development plans www.internal-displacement.org displaced population. With the Contact : IDMC, 7-9 Chemin de benefit of increased oil revenues, n ensuring that IDP wishes are taken Balexert, 1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, the government has been able to into account when programmes Switzerland. Email: [email protected] introduce an extensive legal IDP on their behalf are being FMR 30 INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT MONITORING CENTRE 77 Bearing witness to displacement in Georgia Anne-Sophie Lois

The IDP Voices Project tries to give some idea of the personal It is our hope that that this book will reality of the loss of close family members in conflict, the loss be widely circulated and used by governments, regional organisations, of all your belongings and being uprooted. the UN and other international agencies, NGOs, civil society actors, Tens of thousands of internally narrators stated that they were afraid researchers, students and, last but displaced people (IDPs) from to talk much about these experiences not least, IDPs themselves, to give Georgia’s secessionist territories of but found it to be of great value. them a deeper understanding of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia have concerns of the people displaced in been waiting more than a decade The title A Heavy Burden comes from Georgia. Without really listening to for a solution to their displacement the great weight of trauma that people affected and engaging them following conflicts which broke out most narrators reveal. After years in the development of programmes, in the early 1990s. Over 240,000 IDPs of displacement, narrators still need there is little chance that realistic found refuge in the region bordering to share their sense of loss and their durable solutions will be developed. Abkhazia and in the Georgian capital, continuing grief that they could Tbilisi. Many of them still live in not carry out traditional mourning Anne-Sophie Lois (anne-sophie. lois@ precarious conditions in former hotels ceremonies and processes. How can nrc.ch) is Director of the IDP Voices and public buildings, dependent on you come to terms with your loss if Project, IDMC (www.idpvoices.org meagre state benefits. During the your loved ones cannot be buried and www.internal-displacement.org). past few years, some 45,000 people next to their ancestors on their 1. A Heavy Burden,Internally Displaced in Georgia: Stories of have returned to the Gali district in own land, as tradition requires? In People from Abkhazia and South Ossetia is being published in eastern Abkhazia, despite the poor these stories we also meet strong Georgian, Russian and English jointly by IDMC in Geneva, the Norwegian Refugee Council in Georgia and Panos conditions and economic prospects. women and men who have found London’s Oral Testimony Programme. Its stories join those their own coping mechanisms and of displaced Colombians at www.idpvoices.org. 2. 59 interviews were completed, 29 of which were selected A Heavy Burden, Internally Displaced strategies to move forward. and edited for the website and 13 for the book. in Georgia brings the reality behind these facts to life.1 Published at the The interviewers were selected end of April 2008, it brings together from NGOs working with IDPs and Internal Displacement: 13 individual accounts from Georgia, communities affected by conflict and Global Overview of Trends Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The forcible displacement. The project gave and Developments in 2007 stories address universal human them the opportunity to develop oral In 2007, the number of people experiences and responses rather testimony skills to collect and compile displaced within their countries by than specific political issues. By the life stories. Together they identified armed conflicts and violence passed the reading what the displaced people themes, ethical guidelines and 26 million mark, according to IDMC’s themselves want to tell us, we may appropriate security policies to protect annual overview learn what is important to them and everyone involved in the project. launched on 17 what issues particularly concern They were also trained to manage the April. IDPs in over them. The interviews allowed the psychological impact of the process 50 countries faced displaced individuals to direct the on the narrator and themselves. continuing attacks course of the narrative and have as well as hunger, allowed unexpected facts and One of the narrators described the disease and the ideas to emerge which challenge interview process. “Only after talking effects of inadequate generalised notions of displacement.2 about our own tragedies did we truly shelter. Millions fled learn about each other... It took time their homes in 2007 to The stories in A Heavy Burden reveal to trust each other. It was when we escape long-standing issues that go beyond typical assis- believed that we understood each internal conflicts, tance and protection needs and touch other’s pain, when this moment while millions on values, identity, feelings and came, that we could sit down and talk more continued to emotions. Most narrators said they openly – without aggression, without endure protracted felt relieved or even privileged to be accusations.” Creating space for this displacement able to tell their story to an attentive dialogue is of the utmost importance with few prospects of return or and sensitive listener; however, some in the process of healing the wounds resettlement. The report is online at: acknowledged that it was also difficult of the displaced people themselves www.internal-displacement.org. to recount painful experiences. Some and of the peoples of the region. 78 UNHCRRefugee Studies Centre FMR 30 Local integration: reviving a

forgotten solution Alexandra Fielden and Jeff Crisp

A combination of historical trends, the changing policies of Since that Conclusion was established, governments and renewed efforts by UNHCR have all begun some significant developments have taken place in the implementation to strengthen the potential of local integration as a lasting of this approach, especially but not solution for refugees. exclusively in Africa. By far the most significant example in this respect is In April 2001, UNHCR published and Salvadorean refugees in Belize, to be found in Tanzania, where the a research paper on the local Costa Rica and Mexico; Tajik refugees government has recently reversed a integration of refugees in developing in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan; longstanding policy. This had insisted countries. Its title was The Forgotten Vietnamese refugees in China; that refugees and their descendants Solution. A year later, an NGO Afghan refugees in India; Irian Jayan who arrived from Burundi in the statement to the Global Consultations refugees in Papua New Guinea; and early 1970s would eventually have on International Protection made a refugees from former Yugoslavia to repatriate, even if they had been very similar assertion: “Although in Serbia and Montenegro. born in Tanzania, had spent the local integration is always listed whole of their life in that country and among the three durable solutions, The PDES study also draws attention had achieved a high level of social in fact it is rarely used in cases of to the fact that there is no real logic and economic integration there. mass influx and has, in that context, in confining the discourse on local almost become a ‘non-solution’.”1 integration to refugees in developing With the introduction of a new and countries. While detailed statistics radically different policy, initiated As these statements suggest, the are difficult to establish, it is evident by Home Affairs Minister Joseph potential of local integration as a that many of the asylum seekers who Mungai, the ‘1972 Burundians’ have solution to refugee situations has have been granted refugee status in now been offered the opportunity received relatively little attention in the industrialised states of Europe, to acquire Tanzanian citizenship. recent years. Indeed, from the early North America and the Asia-Pacific According to UNHCR, which 1980s onwards, states and UNHCR region have become naturalised has undertaken a general census alike progressively adopted the citizens of their asylum countries. of the refugee population and a position – perhaps even a dogma According to information received comprehensive individual registration – that repatriation constituted the from the Canadian government, exercise, some 170,000 refugees, only viable solution for the vast for example, “about 50% of cases around 80% of the population, majority of the world’s refugees. of asylum seekers are approved seem likely to avail themselves of Thus, in 1996, UNHCR’s Executive and over 90% of these go on to this opportunity. A key factor in the Committee adopted a Conclusion become permanent residents.” implementation of this initiative that stated very clearly – if somewhat will be the response of donors ungrammatically – that voluntary An even more striking finding of to a UNHCR appeal requesting repatriation was “the most preferred the study is the extent to which some $16 million for activities in solution” to refugee situations. local integration is beginning support of the local integration and to find its way back onto the naturalisation of the refugees. A forthcoming study from UNHCR’s international refugee policy agenda. Policy Development and Evaluation In 2005, for example, the UNHCR According to the research undertaken Service (PDES) puts such statements Executive Committee agreed upon by PDES, Tanzania is not alone in its in a new perspective.2 For a start, the a Conclusion on Local Integration readiness to reconsider the solution study points out that local integration which underlined the need for of local integration. In Angola, has never been quite as forgotten as comprehensive approaches to refugee for example, the authorities have many analysts have assumed it to be. problems, and which emphasised indicated their willingness to give “the important place which local permanent residence rights to some While the number of refugees who integration can have in such 14,000 refugees from the Democratic have benefited from this solution may comprehensive arrangements.” The Republic of Congo, while local be modest in comparison with those same Conclusion also “urges states integration opportunities appear who have been able to return to their and UNHCR to continue working to be opening up for Congolese country of origin, different forms proactively on local integration where and Chadian refugees in Gabon. of local integration have provided appropriate and feasible and in a a solution for exiled populations manner that takes into account the In Namibia the government has throughout the world. These include, needs and views of both refugees suggested the establishment of for example, groups of Guatemalan and their hosting communities.” a pilot local integration project FMR 30 UNHCR 79 for an initial 500 of the Angolan and local integration of the much organisation’s list of priorities, it refugees in the country. And in West smaller ‘residual refugee caseloads’ is to be hoped and expected that Africa, host countries such as Côte that remain in their territory. this solution will no longer be as d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra ‘forgotten’ as it was in previous years. Leone have all recently expressed At a time of rapid globalisation a readiness to consider the local and mass international migration, Alexandra Fielden (fielden@unhcr. integration of refugees originating there also appears to be an org) and Jeff Crisp (crisp@unhcr. from within the ECOWAS region. emerging consensus concerning the org) work in UNHCR’s Policy ineffectiveness of policies which Development and Evaluation Service While these initiatives are all in insist that everyone should live in 1. NGO Statement on local integration, Global their early stages, the solution their country of origin and, if they Consultations on International Protection, 22-24 May of local integration appears to have been forced into exile, return 2002. Available at www.icva.ch/doc00000865.html 2. Local integration: capitalizing on the potential of a solution be finding its way back onto the to that country. This is especially to protracted refugee situations, by Alexandra Fielden, international agenda. A number the case when the people concerned Policy Development and Evaluation Service, UNHCR. of different factors appear to have are young people who have never 3. For a compilation of the studies that UNHCR has undertaken on this issue since 1999, see www.unhcr. prompted this development. lived in their putative ‘homeland’. org/research/46adfe822.html.

Global refugee numbers have gone Finally, there is reason to believe that down in recent years, creating a UNHCR itself has recently played a more positive environment for valuable role in drawing international FMR International solutions than existed in the 1990s, attention to the problem of protracted Advisory Board when the world experienced a spate refugee situations and underlining Although the Board members’ of massive armed conflicts and the need for them to be addressed in institutional affiliations are listed 3 cross-border population movements a vigorous and innovative manner. below, they serve in an individual which were perceived as a serious capacity and do not necessarily threat to local and regional security. That has not always been the case. In represent their institutions. Now that many of those conflicts 1995, for example, the organisation have been brought to an end and published a book entitled The State Diana Avila large numbers of refugees have of the World’s Refugees: In Search of Diálogo Sudamericano been able to return to their countries Solutions, which remarkably failed Paula Banerjee of origin, governments of refugee- to make a single substantive or Mahanirban Calcutta hosting states have perhaps been positive reference to local integration. Research Group able to adopt a more positive attitude Now that this issue has attained Amelia Bookstein towards the continued presence a more prominent place on the Save the Children UK Nina M Birkeland MCRG Course on CAMP MANAGEMENT Norwegian Refugee Council Forced Migration TOOLKIT 2008 Mark Cutts 1-15 December 2008 Available in May OCHA Kolkata, India: Mahanirban Henia Dakkak Calcutta Research Group The inter-agency Camp UNFPA Management Toolkit has been Edmund Jennings This annual short course revised, and its 2008 version Internal Displacement is intended for younger will be available in hardcopy, Monitoring Centre academics, refugee activists and including Toolkit CD (contact others working in the field of [email protected]), and online (www. Rachel Hastie human rights and humanitarian nrc.no/camp) at the end of May Oxfam GB assistance for victims of 2008. Taking a comprehensive Frances Nicholson forced displacement. It will be and holistic look at camp UNHCR preceded by a two-and-a-half- management as a recognised Khalid Koser month-long programme of and vital humanitarian sector, Brookings-Bern Project on distance education. Full details the Camp Management Toolkit Internal Displacement of curriculum and application incorporates a wide range Erin Mooney requirements/procedures are at of relevant information on ProCap/UNHCR www.mcrg.ac.in. various aspects of camp operations, particularly the Bahame Tom Nyanduga Applications/enquiries to roles and responsibilities of a Special Rapporteur on Refugees, [email protected] camp management agency. IDPs and Asylum Seekers in Africa or Mahanirban Calcutta Dan Seymour Research Group, GC-45, First Published by the inter-agency UNICEF Floor, Sector-III, Salt Lake City, Camp Management Project Richard Williams Kolkata 700 106, West Bengal, 2008 (NRC, UNHCR, DRC, Independent Consultant India. Applications must be IRC, OCHA, IOM) through the received by 31 May 2008. Norwegian Refugee Council. Roger Zetter Refugee Studies Centre Bridgette Auger Bridgette

UNHCR community centre in Saida Zeinab. Clowns in Damascus Sybella Wilkes

UNHCR first learned about the UNHCR asked the independent positive benefits of clowns when international group, Clowns Without Refugee registration a local troupe was hired for World Borders,1 to review the first show, in Syria Refugee Day 2007 to perform in the which focused on informing parents UNHCR has registered close to tense and unhappy waiting room at and children that all Iraqi children 250,000 Iraqi refugees throughout the main refugee registration centre have the right to attend school. the region, including 165,000 in in Damascus. UNHCR staff noticed Clowns Without Borders then Syria out of an estimated Iraqi that the children were more relaxed returned in November to offer further population there of between during the registration appointment. training to the clowns. Their leader, 1.2 and 1.4 million people. The Christina Aguirre, number of applicants in Syria spent time getting to continues to increase and, know Iraqi children in in order to expand outreach, order to help design UNHCR has established mobile the shows. “When registration and assistance teams. you see a child in the street here, all you see The waiting period for non- are a lot of problems urgent registration interviews and no happiness,” in Syria has been cut to two said Aguirre. “But months, while applicants with when we put on our specific needs – requiring early red noses and play registration – are fast-tracked. with them, they But while the waiting period forget their problems for registration of new asylum for a little while.” seekers has been significantly reduced, concern is growing in At a community centre Syria over the re-registration in Seida Zeinab, one of of Iraqis. The approaching the main Iraqi refugee expiry date of vast numbers of areas in Damascus, certificates issued during the a crowd of children massive influx which began in burst out laughing as March 2007, and the backlog two clowns squirted which will result from it, will put each other with water considerable pressure on interview and made flowers capacities in the coming months. Bridgette Auger Bridgette out of balloons. “It There has been a notable rise was beautiful,” said in the number of applications by UNHCR Rodeen, a young Iraqi girl with When UNHCR put out a message that people recently arrived in Syria. registration it was looking for clowns to perform a beaming smile on her face. centre in Many of them, however, are not a regular show at the registration Douma. Sybella Wilkes ([email protected]) arriving for the first time but are centre, as luck would have it, three is UNHCR’s Public Information back after a tentative return Iraqi actors who had worked in a Officer based in Damascus. to Iraq – where they found the clown troop in Iraq came forward. situation less safe than expected. 1. www.clownswithoutborders.org