By Ron Corben

That fighting and the legacy of years of warfare worries Lynn Yoshikawa of Washington-based Refugees International. Although talk of returning to Burma is positive, she says, it is uncertain when refugees could safely return.

“It is great that the discussion is starting, but the potential for the refugees in Thailand to be able to return to Eastern Burma remains very distant," she says. "Regardless of the political situation, the extent of land mines there is incredible and no-one really knows where they are.”

Yoshikawa says there remains some “considerable disconnect” between optimism in Rangoon by civil society and harsh realities along the border region with Thailand.

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