Refugees International: Articles: Burma: RI Urges UN Security Council to Respond to Grave Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation

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Burma: RI Urges UN Security Council to Respond to Grave Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation

12/15/2005

On December 16th, the United Nations Security Council will have its first-ever briefing on the deteriorating situation in Burma and its impact on the region. The briefing is being hailed as an important first step towards greater Security Council engagement on the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Burma.

The crisis in Burma, where humanitarian and human rights conditions have resulted in large-scale refugee outflows into neighboring states, is having a negative impact throughout the region. With both neighboring countries and the broader international community at a loss as to how best address the situation in Burma, as well as the Burmese government’s lack of cooperation with UN initiatives undertaken by the Special Envoy for Burma and the Special Rapporteur, Refugees International believes it is imperative that the Security Council get involved.

The following letter was recently sent to the Security Council Members to recommend that they use this opportunity to develop a common strategy to respond to the humanitarian and human rights situation in Burma.

Dear Ambassador:

Refugees International, a humanitarian advocacy organization, has worked in more than 30 countries worldwide, including a number of states where the United Nations Security Council has become involved. We consider Burma to be a country which requires immediate Security Council debate and action and we applaud the decision of the Council to request a formal briefing on Burma.

Burma is one of the most neglected humanitarian and human rights crises in the world. As a result of severe restrictions by the government on access to the most vulnerable people, it is virtually impossible to reach large segments of the population most in need and provide an appropriate response. The Burmese government has not provided any kind of protection to a majority of its citizens. Consequently, people often have no choice but to flee to neighboring countries in search of protection.

The large refugee outflow from Burma has regional implications. In previous instances of Security Council action, such as Afghanistan, Haiti and Rwanda, refugee outflows and internal displacement have been key indicators considered by the Council in determining the existence of a threat to peace. The flow of people out of Burma is Southeast Asia’s largest migration movement. Most of the Governments in countries neighboring Burma have not signed the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and consider only a small number of Burmese on their soil to be genuine refugees. The majority of the Burmese asylum seekers, with legitimate fear of persecution, are incorrectly classified in neighboring countries as economic migrants.

The actual number of refugees from Burma may be significantly underreported. For example, the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority, fled to Bangladesh in the early 1990s in large numbers as a result of the severe oppression and human rights abuses by the Burmese regime. Since then, hundreds of thousands of the Rohingya have been repatriated to Burma, many against their will, and there remain approximately 20,000 Rohingya in two refugee camps in southern Bangladesh. These official statistics fail to include the new arrivals from Burma who have been denied access to refugee camps since 1995. There are an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Rohingya living outside the camps and these include refugees who have fled to Bangladesh for the first time or those who were repatriated to Burma and have since returned to Bangladesh. These refugees have fled to Bangladesh as a direct result of Burmese government policies, which deny them citizenship, limit their religious freedom, allow land confiscations for army camps or settlement by Buddhist settlers and prohibit them from leaving their villages to access markets, employment, education and medical care.

The case of refugee numbers being underreported in Bangladesh is not isolated and is similar for Burmese in Thailand, India and Malaysia. Reports by non-governmental organizations have estimated the number of refugees from Burma living throughout the region to be at least 700,000. Refugees International believes the number to be much higher. In Thailand alone, one million or more Burmese are not registered with the Thai authorities due to the Thai policy of applying a strict definition of refugees to Burmese, insisting that they must have fled direct attacks to be considered as refugees. Under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a significant portion of Burmese in Thailand would qualify as refugees.

It is estimated that over half a million Burmese are living as internally displaced people along the Thai-Burma border. These people have been forcibly displaced from their land as a result of war, counter-insurgency tactics, and human rights abuses. Around 90,000 out of this population are estimated to be living in hiding from the military in areas most affected by the fighting. The IDPs in eastern Burma are among the most vulnerable groups in the country. They suffer from food shortages and have little access to health care. Child mortality and malnutrition rates among the displaced are double Burma’s national baseline rate and comparable to those recorded amongst displaced in the Horn of Africa. In addition, displaced children have limited access to education, with few schools or teaching materials. Many in this vulnerable population could potentially flee to Thailand to escape fighting and persecution, making the number of refugees even higher.

The level of forced displacement due to conflict inside Burma and the extent of the flow of asylum seekers to neighboring countries are such that it is critical for the Security Council to take steps to ensure a collective approach towards ameliorating the situation. The displaced people of Burma are more than forgotten --- they are virtually invisible. With the possible exception of North Korea, no country in the world has produced displacement on the scale of Burma with less response from the member states and agencies of the United Nations.

The Burmese government has consistently resisted efforts, sometimes fragmented and incoherent, to convince it to change its policies and end the internal oppression. The humanitarian crisis and displacement in Burma will carry on as long as the political situation remains unresolved. Action by the Security Council on Burma will underscore the seriousness of international concern about the situation in the country and offer the possibility of taking concrete steps to protect the hundreds of thousands of Burmese civilians living inside and outside the country.

Refugees International urges the Security Council to make the most of this historic opportunity for the UN to play a greater leadership role in Burma and develop a common strategy to respond to one of the biggest humanitarian and human rights crises of our time.

Sincerely,

Refugees International

Burma: Internal Conflict and Displacement require Further UN Security Council Engagement

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