Refugee camps likely to come under pressure in the next year
Posted on November 26, 2009
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Mae La refugee camp near Mae Sot
Refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border could come under pressure from rising rice prices and a possible influx of new refugees from Burma in the year ahead.
The Democratic Voice of Burma quotes Jack Dunford, head of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), which manages the nine camps as saying there were several variables they had no control over; exchange rates, the price of rice and the number of refugees.
The TBBC receives US$560 million in international aid, with around 65 percent coming from the European Union. The money is used to provide food, shelter and other amenities to the camps that house some 40,000 refugees from Burma.
In the past, rising rice prices have put a strain on the group’s budget and Dunford warned that flooding and storms in India and the Philippines may push prices back up.
He said the TBBC had secured funding for this year, but warned of an uncertain 12 months ahead.
Most f the refugees cared for by the TBBC come from ethnic minority groups, mostly the Karen, that have fled efforts by Burma’s ruling military junta to use force to suppress armed ethnic groups.
Earlier this year, as many as 6,000 people are estimated to have crossed into Thailand to escape a junta backed offensive against the headquarters of the Karen National Liberation Army’s 7th Brigade (see: 7th Brigade Headquarters falls).
The junta has in recent months increased pressure on ethnic groups that it has signed ceasefire agreements with. It wants these so-called ceasefire groups to transform into Border Guard Forces under control of the military.
In August, tens of thousands of ethnic Kokang fled into China when the Burma Army launched an offensive after the Kokang had rejected the junta’s Border Guard proposal.
Transforming ceasefire groups into Border Guard Forces is part of the junta’s preparations for elections it is planning to hold next year.
A new report released this week by London based think-tank Chatham House warns the elections could be the trigger for increased ethnic conflict in Burma.
The paper, entitled Ethnic Conflict and the 2010 Elections in Burma, warns that, “With preparations for the 2010 elections underway, there is a need for a renewed focus on the complex political and ethnic divisions within Burma.”
The paper’s authors argue that the international community has misunderstood the nature of Burma’s ethnic conflicts and needs to engage more with Burma’s ethnic groups.
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