Thai policy towards the Burmese displaced persons 1988-1993

Abstract

This research is conducted with the objectives to review the historical causes of flight of Burmese displaced persons in Thailand; to consider the concept of refuge by various actors, particularly the definition of displaced persons; and, to determine, considering multiple factors, the Thai policy towards the Burmese displaced persons. the Burmese have been uprooted primarily from the fear of violence linked to decades of ethnic conflict. During the latter period of the study, however, a new category of displaced began to appear at the Thai border those fleeing forced labor on infrastructure projects of those fleeing conscripted porterage for military operations. Another group, the students, arrived in late 1988/early 1989 as a direct result of violent political confrontation in Rangoon. A portion of these remained at the border while another moved to Bangkok. both the Thai and the United Nations refer to those at the border as displaced persons. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has not be able to exercise its mandate on the border and determine refugee status under the 1951 Convention or 1967 Protocol. In Bangkok, they have been permitted to screen Burmese students but may only allot “person of concern” status. Thailand is not signatory to the aforementioned UN conventions and thus strictly under Thai law the Burmese displaced persons are all illegal immigrants. the main factor for determining policy towards the displaced persons is that of comprehensive security which incorporates non-military challenges such as economics, the environment and health. The Burmese displaced persons pose a threat to the security of the state and to certain interest groups principally because of their effect on Thai-Burmese relations. Previously, the displaced persons were tolerated because the ethnic minority armies acted as a security buffer protecting Thailand from the threat of communism posed by the Comunist Party of Burma. Now Thailand depends on its neighbors for supplies of inexpensive natural resources and energy, thus the activities of ethnic minority combatants and political groups, which maintain links with and administer the displaced persons in Thailand, strain relations between Bangkok and Rangoon and jeopardizes supplies. Access to new sub-regional markets is also of saliency to Thai planners. Thailand is, at the same time, conscious of international opinion and therefore does not physically force the displaced persons back across the border. questions of protection do remain under the Thai policy. Because the UNHCR has been denied access to the border populations, it can not exercise its essential protection mandate. Thailand has begun to pressure the Burmese to repatriate, at times challenging the principle of nonrefoulement. Security issues receive high priority in Thai policy toward the Burmese displaced persons.