II. BACKGROUND

The first major influx of refugees from Burma arrived in Thailand in 1984. This group of some 9,000 people were ethnic Karens fleeing fighting between the Burmese central government and members of the KNU. Up until 1984, people displaced by fighting had been contained within Burma, but as the KNU lost territory, refugee camps were established on Thailand's western border with Burma. At that time, a vast international effort was providing support for 500,000 Cambodian refugees on Thailand's eastern border. The Thai government did not want a similar situation to develop on its western border. Although the UNHCR did not become involved, Thailand allowed these refugees to remain on Thai soil and to receive support from various NGOs working through the Committee for the Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand. Up until 1988, the refugees were often migratory, returning to Burma as the fighting diminished at the end of each rainy season.4

Since 1988, when nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations took place in Burma and the SLORC took power, the nature of human rights abuses in Burma has changed and increased in intensity. The new military government doubled the size of its armed forces to an estimated 350,000 by 1997 and was able to establish a permanent presence in territory formerly held by the ethnic armed groups.

In February 1997, the SLORC launched a new offensive against the KNU, so that by the end of May 1997 the refugees in camps along the Thai/Burmese border numbered 114,801.5 The majority are from Burma's ethnic minorities (primarily Karen, Mon and Karenni), which make up over one third of Burma's forty-five million people. Despite this significant number of refugees, the UNHCR is still not permitted by the Royal Thai government to carryout its mandate at the Thai/Burmese border. It therefore has no permanent presence in any of the refugee camps nor any role in their administration. Representatives of the UNHCR in Bangkok are able to visit the camps at the border only with prior permission for each visit. No other organization is mandated, nor indeed able, to carry out a monitoring or protection role in relation to the refugees. Since the February influx, representatives from embassies based in Bangkok have also visited the camps. The U.S. Embassy has been particularly active in this regard. However, these visits are no substitute for the UNHCR's presence or for the fulfillment of its mandated function.6

In addition to those in refugee camps, there are also an estimated one million illegal migrant workers from Burma in Thailand, working on construction sites, on farms, in the fishing industry and in the sex industry. Many of them are refugees. Of these, at least 60,000 are villagers from Burma's Shan State who fled a wave of human rights abuses in 1996 and 1997 (see below).