11/29/2007

Whether inside or outside Burma, the Burmese people are extremely vulnerable. To increase stability in the region, the U.S. must increase assistance to independent humanitarian programs to reach vulnerable individuals inside Burma, either through cross-border programs or ones carried out by credible Burma-based international organizations.

• According to the UN country team in Burma, “[Burma’s] estimated per capita GDP is less than half of that of Cambodia or Bangladesh. The average household is forced to spend almost three quarters of its budget on food. One in three children under five are suffering from malnutrition, and less than 50% of children are able to complete their primary education. It is estimated that close to 700,000 people each year suffer from malaria and 130,000 from tuberculosis. Among those infected with HIV, an estimated 60,000 people needing antiretrovirals do not yet have access to this life-saving treatment.”



• In FY 2007, the U.S. Congress increased funding for cross-border humanitarian assistance to the people of eastern Burma from $4 million to $11 million. The Thai Burma Border Coalition, the consortium of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that assists ethnic groups in the provinces bordering Thailand, estimates that 500,000 people are internally displaced in eastern Burma due to the government’s policies of forced relocation, destruction of villages and agriculture, use of land mines, and military campaigns that target civilians. TBBC recently found that 27,000 additional people were displaced this year and dependent on cross-border assistance for their survival, particularly for medical care in areas with high incidence of malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis and landmine injuries. Given the needs and the existing network of reliable providers, the U.S. government should not cut aid, but should increase cross border assistance in FY 2008, including providing food aid.



• In addition to increasing cross-border assistance, the U.S. should fund humanitarian aid inside Burma. The widespread impoverishment of the population, so dramatically highlighted by the demonstrations of the monks in September, points to the need for increased medical aid to prevent contagious disease and needless suffering from avian flu, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis and malaria, and greater efforts to improve access to clean water, education, shelter and increased food production. Reputable international NGOs and intergovernmental organizations have been operating programs in Burma for some time that directly benefit vulnerable people, and these programs deserve to be expanded.



• The government of Burma bears the primary responsibility for the suffering of the people, but placing limits on assistance only punishes the vulnerable people of Burma even further.An infusion of U.S. funding could expand the reach of existing programs, increase awareness of international concerns and help provide for the basic humanitarian needs of communities that cannot be reached through cross-border channels. Increased humanitarian aid could help encourage the development and operation of existing and new civil society organizations in Burma and spur new independent leadership.



• In Thailand, the U.S. should continue its historic levels of support for the humanitarian needs of Burmese refugees living in the camps, particularly to improve the health, sanitation, education, language skills and job training available to those who will remain in the country. The U.S. should work with the United Nations and other governments to encourage the Thai government to open up the camps to give refugees opportunities to become more self reliant through access to land for agriculture, through income generation activities, or by permitting able bodied refugees to become legal “guest workers” in the country’s growing economy. The Thai government should be encouraged to increase its provision of Thai language and cultural programs to the Burmese and to consider greater involvement of the Thai health and justice systems in improving community life in the camps.



• The U.S. should continue to provide support to key pilot programs with NGOs that work in tandem with the Thai government to provide improved health care and access to public education for Burmese migrant workers and their children. Refugees International’s conversations with Burmese workers highlighted the need for increased services and greater public information campaigns to enable these workers to lessen risks to their health and to overcome the barriers they still face in enrolling their children in school.