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01/11/2012After nearly 50 years of brutal military rule, Burma is embarking upon a landmark transition to civilian administration. The country has seen some promising political reforms. But the world’s longest civil war, coupled with natural disasters within the country, has created serious humanitarian needs which still persist. Recently, the Burmese government has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with humanitarian agencies. The international community must seize this opportunity to ensure that the needs of the displaced are met, the military’s abuse of human rights are stemmed, and ethnic conflicts progress toward peaceful resolution. Only by addressing both political reform and ethnic conflict will policymakers be able to break the cycles of violence that have gripped the people of Burma.
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04/18/2011
The Rohingya ethnic minority of Burma are trapped between severe repression in their homeland and abuse in neighboring countries. Bangladesh has hosted hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fleeing persecution for more than three decades, but at least 200,000 Rohingya refugees have no legal rights there. They live in squalor, receive very limited aid and are subject to arrest, extortion and detention. Unregistered refugee women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical attacks. The international community must urge the Bangladeshi government to register undocumented refugees and improve protection for all vulnerable Rohingyas. Donor governments must also work to restart and increase resettlement of refugees to a third country and increase assistance for communities hosting refugees.
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04/18/2011Malaysia has taken significant steps forward in improving refugee rights. In the past year, there have been no reported attempts to deport Burmese refugees to the border with Thailand and a decrease in immigration raids and arrests of registered refugees. But these advances have not yet been codified into written government policy, leaving refugees considered “illegal migrants” and subject to arrest and detention. The Government of Malaysia should build on this progress by setting up a system of residence and work permits for refugees. The international community should mobilize additional funds for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and non-governmental agencies to leverage this opportunity to improve refugee rights.
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03/24/2011The eruption of conflict between the Burmese military and an ethnic rebel faction in eastern Burma has forced over 30,000 people to flee to Thailand since November 2010. Skirmishes are ongoing and both parties have planted landmines in people’s villages and farmlands. While the Thai government has a long-standing policy of providing refuge for “those fleeing fighting,” the Thai army is pressuring Burmese to return prematurely and restricting aid agencies. Unless the Thai Government strengthens its policy to protect those fleeing fighting and persecution, current and future refugees will have no choice but to join the ranks of millions of undocumented and unprotected migrant workers in Thailand.
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12/08/2009Like Burma’s other neighbors, India hosts a large and growing refugee population, the majority of whom are Chin ethnic minorities. India generally tolerates the presence of Burmese refugees, but does not afford them any legal protection, leaving them vulnerable to harassment, discrimination, and deportation. While India’s lack of a legal regime for refugees is a major impediment to addressing the needs of Burmese refugees, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and international donors need to explore creative ways to work within the existing framework to provide assistance and increase protection for this population.
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09/30/2009Burmese refugees have been living in Thailand for more than two decades. The situation is fluid: resettlement programs have provided tens of thousands of people with new lives, while a new wave of conflict in Burma is changing the political landscape and forcing thousands of new refugees to flee into Thailand.
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03/18/2009In the past year, humanitarian assistance to Burma has been primarily focused on victims of Cyclone Nargis, which struck the Irrawaddy delta on May 2, 2008. Though the initial delivery of assistance was hampered by government obstruction, the aid programs that have since developed in the delta have benefited from an ease of operations unseen in other parts of the country.
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12/18/2008Among Burma’s ethnic minorities, the Rohingya, a stateless population, stand out for their particularly harsh treatment by Burmese authorities and their invisibility as a persecuted minority. Despite decades of severe repression, there has been minimal international response to the needs of this extremely vulnerable population compared to other Burmese refugees.
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09/04/2008Three months after Cyclone Nargis, the world has an outdated image of the situation inside Burma. Although aid agencies delivered assistance within days after the storm and continue to do so, the story of a recalcitrant government that rejects aid from the generous nations of the world has not been updated.
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05/07/2008
On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis swept through Burma’s delta region, devastating a country that was already on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. The death toll is likely to mount to over 70,000, and as many as two million people have been displaced from their homes. There are alarming reports of entire villages destroyed, their populations missing. The international community must rally around a UN-led response to the crisis, set aside political disputes with the government of Burma, and begin preparing for not only immediate assistance, but also medium- and long-term stabilization and reconstruction plans.
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03/25/2008
Economic difficulties drove the dramatic September 2007 protests in Burma. In their aftermath, the international community is beginning to respond to the humanitarian needs of ordinary Burmese. The U.S. is a critical exception. While most analysts, including Refugees International, believe only a change in political leadership can address the structural causes of poverty in Burma, few forecast an end to the country’s political stalemate. The international community must do more to address the humanitarian needs of Burma’s 55 million people in the absence of political progress.
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11/28/2007
The recent government crackdown on demonstrations by monks and common people inside Burma focused the world’s attention on the ongoing human rights and humanitarian catastrophe there. After years of internal conflict and repression, 500,000 have been displaced internally and an estimated three million seek sanctuary and livelihoods in neighboring countries. Thailand and other countries in the region are already straining to handle the Burmese exodus.
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05/21/2007The ongoing resettlement from camps in Thailand is giving Burmese refugees a chance at a durable solution for the first time, yet the policies of some countries resettling the refugees are creating complications for those who will remain in the camps. An estimated 150,000 Burmese refugees, largely from the Karen ethnic group, have lived in camps in Thailand, often for more than a decade.
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05/16/2007
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06/21/2006The Burmese military regime carries out systematic repression and human rights violations against the Rohingya ethnic minority living in Burma's northern Rakhine State. The Rohingya also continue to be denied Burmese citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law which renders them stateless. Consequently many Rohingya asylum seekers flee to neighboring Bangladesh where the government, fearing a "pull-factor", has become increasingly reluctant to harbor them.
Refugees International (RI) advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.
We are an independent organization, and do not accept any government or UN funding.
We are an independent organization, and do not accept any government or UN funding.