The United Nations human rights envoy for Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana,
was in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Tuesday to discuss rights
issues with Burmese exiles and ethnic groups based in the area.
Representatives of 10 groups, including health care providers,
refugee relief agencies, prisoners’ rights advocates, ethnic
organizations and students’ and women’s groups, were present at the
meeting.
According to sources who attended the consultation, a wide range of
issues was discussed, including continuing conflict in ethnic areas, the
ongoing detention of political prisoners, land confiscation, proposed
refugee resettlement programs and landmines in former and current
conflict zones.
Saw Albert, the field coordinator for the Karen Human Rights Group,
said he told the UN envoy that any effort to repatriate refugees—many of
whom have been in Thailand for more than two decades—should be carried
out systematically and with guarantees for their safety and well-being.
He also added that despite the current ceasefire in Karen State,
human rights abuses continue, albeit not in the same form as before,
when civilians were routinely targeted by Burmese military offensives.
Now, he said, many are forced off their land by development projects
that have been packaged as part of the “peace process” in the state.
Another major concern, he said, is the presence of landmines
throughout the area, where conflict has raged for more than six decades.
Others expressed concern about the uncertainty surrounding the future
of refugee camps in Thailand, which house around 160,000 people
displaced by fighting between the Burmese army and the Karen National
Union. Since Burma launched its reforms last year, many say that aid has
shifted away from the border into projects inside Burma.
“Cutting humanitarian assistance to the refugee camps is also a form
of human rights violation,” said Dr Naing Aung of the Forum for
Democracy in Burma.
One problem with cutting back on funding for the camps and other
projects on the border, he said, is that it is still far from clear if
reforms inside the country are irreversible, and if they will bring a
real improvement in the rights situation.
“Civil society groups should pay closer attention to the ceasefire
process and the international community should set up a body to monitor
whether or not human rights violations are continuing,” said Naing Aung.
Another issue raised at the meeting is the continuing detention of
political prisoners. Bo Kyi, the joint-secretary of the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners, said his group informed the UN
envoy that there are still 442 detainees in Burma’s prisons for
political offenses.
Besides issues affecting political dissidents and ethnic minorities,
there are also widespread abuses against farmers and workers, who make
up the vast majority of the country’s population. Quintana heard how
land confiscation has become a growing problem in rural areas amid
increasing domestic and foreign investment in Burma’s economy, while
workers who strike for higher wages face dismissal.
Quintana’s trip to the Thai border follows a fact-finding mission to
Arakan State, where clashes between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and
Rohingya Muslims have left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless.
Before starting his week-long visit to Burma, the UN envoy said that
the human rights situation is still a major concern that demands much
closer attention. He made the same point during his visit to Mae Sot.
“Mr Quintana said that the international community is paying much
more attention to the current reforms than to the human rights
situation,” said Naing Aung.
Quintana is expected to submit his report to the UN Human Rights Council in October.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/11153
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/11153
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