UNHCR to expand activities in Burma

by Mungpi
Friday, 13 March 2009 14:04

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee [UNHCR] said it has received ‘positive’ and ‘encouraging signal’ from the government of Burma to expand its activities in the country’s northern Arakan state where Rohingya minorities reside.

Antonio Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees, who concluded a six-day mission to Burma on Thursday, was told by Burmese authorities to submit a comprehensive plan for the Agency’s increased activities in the country, the UNHCR spokesperson in Bangkok said.

“The High Commissioner came back with a very positive and encouraging signal to expand UNHCR activities [in Burma],” said Giuseppe de Vincentis, UNHCR’s spokesperson in Bangkok.

Vincentis said the High Commissioner, during his visit to Burma, discussed with officials the issue of Rohingya and to help Muslim minorities find better social and economic security so as to stop migration.

The UNHCR, since early 1990s, has its operational office in Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan state and has been assisting the Rohingya.

The plight of the Rohingya, Muslim minorities from Burma, came to the fore in December last year, when Indian Navy reported that hundreds of Rohingya boatpeople were believed to have been drowned at sea after they were towed away to the sea in boats without engines by the Thai military.

The group further caused regional concern when several hundreds more were rescued from the sea in Thailand and Indonesia’s Aceh province.

Both Indonesia and Thailand have refused to accept the Rohingya boatpeople as refugees but term them as ‘economic migrants’, while the Burmese government said it does not have Rohingya minorities in the country but are willing to accept them back if they can prove their identity as ‘Bengalis’ born in Burma.

The grouping of 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Thailand, Burma, and Indonesia are members, during its 14th Summit held earlier this month agreed to further discuss the issue of Rohingya boatpeople at a regional forum, the “Bali Process”, which deals with human trafficking and migration.

Guterres, during his trip, visited to Sittwe, capital of the Arakan state and also Myeik, a Southeastern port town in Tanessarim division, from which many refugees are believed to be taking to the sea in search of better livelihood and security.

“On the basis of his observations and the discussions held, the High Commissioner came to the conclusion that UNHCR’s current level of activities in northern Rakhine [Arakan] State does not correspond to the actual needs and a decision was taken to upgrade the programme with immediate effect,” the UNHCR said in a statement released on Thursday.

The statement said, the Burmese government agreed with the importance for the agency to continue its presence both in northern Arakan state and in the Southeast town of Myeik.