Plan to allow refugees to live in camps on border

Myanmar is mapping out a plan to allow more than 100,000 refugees who fled from conflict at home to now live in camps along the Thai border fora long time, officials from Myanmar's Ministry of Social Welfare andResettlement said.

The United Nations High Commis-sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Myanmar's Ministryof Immigration will take part in the plan to call back the refugees,who are mostly Karen, Karenni and Mon nationalities.

According to the plan, the refugees will receive aid for their cost ofliving and career opportunities.

"Initially, we will work on accepting those in Thailand who want tocome back to Myanmar, after being scrutinised," said U Than Htut Swe,director-general of the Ministry of Social Welfare and Resettlement."This matter is a national issue. Our department cannot do it on ourown. We are trying to carry this out after it was submitted to thepresident's office. The president has also highlighted the issuesabout the refugees and migrant workers during his recent trip toThailand," he said.

A senior official at the Thai Foreign Ministry said Thailand also has aclear policy to repatriate Myanmar refugees in nine camps in fourborder provinces when the situation in their home country is safe enough.Authorities in Nay Pyi Taw are now in the process of having peaceagreements with armed ethnic minorities who took up weapons againstthe regime for more than half a century.

Human rights defenders often urge the two governments to ensure safetyof the refugees as they really wanted to bring them back.

There are about 95,000 registered refugees and some 9,000 asylum seekers in Thailand.

Most refugees are ethnic minorities from Myanmar, mainly Karen and Karenni.

The Thai government runs all camps, with most assistance provided bynon-governmental organisations, while the UNHCR basically provided protection andprogrammes to ensure their safe living.

However, refugees are just a part of more than 1 million Myanmar citizens inThailand. Most of the Myanmar people in Thailand are migrant workers.There are also dissidents, exiled political activists in Thailand.A certificate of identity will be issued to any Myanmar migrant workerfrom Thailand who wants to return home for good. An absconder in acriminal case must be ready to face the law.

Thailand has appeared on the US State Department's Tier Two Watch Listfor Human Trafficking this year because it still has many routesfor human trafficking. Most of the trafficked women from Myanmar work asprostitutes and housemaids while men are forced into hard labour or towork on fishing boats.

The authorities in Nay Pyi Taw want them to return home and bring theirskills to help develop the country but they are afraid of being persecuted.