Forced
Repatriation
"In
the backdrop of the situation, the Rohingya Muslims of Arakan, who once did not
volunteer to die or suffer at the hand of the beastly military forces of the
ruling junta and took shelter in an alien land, are now seemed to volunteer to
join the repatriation only to become human cattle, who are now being
sporadically and secretly slaughtered in northern Arakan, in addition to those
forced labour economic hardships and various restrictions imposed."
—
Newsletter of Rohingya Solidarity Organisation,
The number
of refugees on
There are 77,000+ refugees in Thai refugee camps alone, showing
an increase of over 5,000 from the previous year – and this despite the absence
of a dry season offensive for the second year in a row. Reports from refugees
continued to tell of forced labour, harassment and extortion by SLORC troops
even while ceasefire talks aims at peace continued. In January 1995, an exodus of another 6,000-9,000 refugees in the Manerplaw area
have already made their way into
As the flow of refugees
doesn’t even begin to slow, the cause is clearly HRV by SLORC, and the effects
are wide-ranging, involving
HOW LONG WILL THEY STAY?
Rohingya have been driven
into exodus five times since 1942. Muslim and Bengali-speaking, they suffer
religions discrimination , denied citizenship,
education and the right to livelihood. The UN has pulled out of repatriation
once, due to the way
The UNHCR admits conditions
are below standard and cramped in the camps, with little real monitoring
possible and SLORC restrictions on UN monitoring across the border. And
although the UN and
The plight of nearly
200,000 Rohingya Refugees who fled from
SPEEDY
REPATRIATION OF
The Rohingya refugees, who
have been languishing in the refugee camps in Bangladesh following persecution
by Burmese security forces, have now been repatriated to their homeland in
phases as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in April 1992.
The authorities dealing
with the refugee problem from both sides have recently agreed to start a
larger-scale repatriation of the remaining nearly 200,000 Rohingya refugees and
since the first week of September 1994 the Bangladeshi authorities have been
making hectic preparations to repatriate the refugees.
In this connection, it is
learned that the refugees sheltered in different camps have been asked to
surrender their ration cards to respective camp officials so that they could be
removed to transit camps. Ten to fifteen truckloads of refugees, estimated to
be twelve hundred, have been transported to transit camp daily where their
willingness to return back to
It is understood that the
removal of hundreds of Rohingya refugees from the camps has created a
psychological impact on those who have remained in the camps. Although the
refugees know well that the situation in Arakan has not improved despite the
presence of the UNHCR there, they are also thinking of their uncertain camp
life in
According to improved
conditions in the MOU, the refugees are supposed to be repatriated purely on
voluntary basis. However, it now appears that the willingness to volunteer in
the repatriation has gone up as soon as both
The refugee watchers
believe that there may be coercion in handling the repatriation but due to
restrictions imposed by the local authorities, no outsider could visit the
refugees in camps for which the real situation in the campus and the nature of
repatriation could not be reported at length. [source:
MOA]
UNHCR DIRECTOR HELD
DISCUSSION WITH SLORC LEADERS
A senior official for the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met leaders of the ruling
junta known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on
People trying to keep in
touch with the UN officials are either subjected to harassment or detained on
false grounds by the Na Sa Ka officials. Besides, the
UNHCR officials are routinely watched as a result of which the local Muslims
could not develop closer relations with the UNHCR thereby creating
disadvantages for the UN officials in monitoring the ongoing persecution there.
Rumour also has it that one
female UNHCR official who was travelling between Maungdaw and Buthidaung was
stopped by some dacoits and looted of her personal belongings and cash being
carried reportedly for distribution to the returning Rohingya refugees. It was
on
It is understood that the
meeting between the senior UNHCR official and the SLORC would review the
ongoing repatriation programme and achieve confidence-building between the two
parties. More than 1,500 Rohingya refugees returned to
REPATRIATION OF ROHINGYA
REFUGEES RESTARTS
The repatriation of
Rohingya refugees, given shelter in
Although previously only a
few hundred refugees were repatriated in each batch, the number of repatriated
refugees swelled to over a thousand in each batch since it resumed on
It may be mentioned here
that the repatriation of Rohingya refugees was in turmoil following opposition
from the refugees as there was no UNHCR in Arakan and many refugees were put
behind bars on allegation that they were terrorists and involved in an “anti-repatriation”
movement. However, the repatriation and resettlement process have been geared
up following the arrival of UNHCR in Arakan.
Some two hundred sixty-five
thousand refugees came to
The speedy repatriation of
Rohingya refugees is possible only because the Burmese have agreed to handle an
increased number of refugees in each batch.
WHEREABOUTS OF REPATRIATED REFUGEE REMAINED UNKNOWN
One Abdur Rahaman son of Mrs. Amina Khatun, who was also included in
the list of repatriated refugees from
Afterward Abdur Rahaman was about to be sent to 10-mile Military Intelligence Office by the police when the matter was reported to the UNHCR by someone. At this the UNHCR reportedly intervened and the refugee in question was, instead, sent to Maungdaw police lock-up.
It is understood that Abdur Rahaman was kept there for about three days on the ground that ht might be associated with anti-state forces operating along Bangladesh Burma border while he was in refugee camp. When contacted by his mother about his condition, she was told by the police that Abdur Brahman was no more in their custody and they refused to disclose his whereabouts.
People of the area presumed that the repatriated refugee might have taken away by the Burmese military intelligence unit and was probably shot dead.
Although the repatriation has been steadily taking a new phase, the Burmese authorities has not yet improved. There are allegations that the authorities preferred to conscript forced labour from among the refugees and some were either detained or tortured to death on assumed charges.
In late September, a large
number of refugees form
"Not less than 1,000
persons who were believed to be citizens of
The fax was transmitted on
Sept. 29th. Apparently the round-up was shown on television news in
On the Burma side of the
border, large forced relocation projects have been taking place in Chin State,
and a railway extension line there has been under construction it is all too
probable that the SLORC has demanded more slaves to be handed over to them by
sympathetic, corrupted, or misled elements in government on the India side of
the border. It is particularly tragic that these captive people have no chance
of another escape, as can happen in other repatriations
– they were
delivered directly into the hands of a regime which constantly practices
"ethnic cleansing." The Chin people, a largely Christian indigenous
culture, are endangered by a SLORC campaign to claim their lands for
resettlement programs and their forests and other resources for exploitation.
Chin rebels (the Chin National Front) have staged small-scale but daring raids
in recent months, and engaged in underground political organising, but the
SLORC's army now has a large presence throughout the area.
The Hon. Lian
SHAN FORCED TO RETURN TO
FIGHTING IN
On 22-23 May hundreds of
Shan and other ethnic populations fled across the border because SLORC troops
rounded up hundreds of porters around Tachilek. The refugees were held at Wat
Wieng Hom (a Buddhist temple) and then forcibly set back across by Thai authorities
on 24 May. SLORC greeted these deportees by loading them into trucks and
brought them to a porter holding centre at Loi Hsa Htong military camp.
About 100 of the villagers
from Akha Village of Wan Ya Aye near Tachilek who were driven out by SLORC
troops on 1 August crossed into Thailand on the following day but were
immediately prevented from entering by the Thai authorities and forcibly handed
back to SLORC authorities the next afternoon by order of the governor of Chiang
Rai Province, Kamron Booncherd. While they were in
The Thais have now sealed
the entire Shan border off in this fashion, particularly where they are
forcibly repatriating Palaung, Lahu and Lisu refugees opposite the Mong Kyot
area, where outsiders are no longer allowed anywhere near the border. At the same
time, a Lahu villager from the Mong Kyot area reported that starting from 1
August, SLORC began forcing villagers to make secure the entire length of the
road from Thailand (known as the Chieng Dao logging route to Chiang Mai) from
the Thai border north to Mong Tung and from there to Mong Hsat in the east and
the Salween River in the west, a total road length of about 100 miles. A group
of 4 villagers have to rotate standing sentry 24 hours a day at outposts spaced
less than a mile apart. If they see anyone they must bang on a stick, then the
next group has to pass the signal up the line all the way to the nearest army
post. The villagers say they have never been forced to do this before.
REFUGEES
AT KLAY MUH HTA
Since
the beginning of 1994, it has been no secret that Thai authorities want to
repatriate all Karen refugees as soon as possible as part of their
"constructive engagement" deal with SLORC. From
[see also “Abuse against Women”, “Refugees”, “Internally
Displaced Persons” and “Eye-witness Accounts”, interview 5, 28, 39]