Memorandum submitted by the Euro Burma
Office
The Euro-Burma Office in Brussels was established
in 1997 with support from the European Parliament, the European
Commission, and the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation.
Today, our activities are funded by several government agencies
including the Canadian International Development Agency, the Danish
International Development Agency, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and the Swedish International Development Agency. We
provide up-to-date information and analyses of the situation in
Burma to the United Nations and various government agencies including
the European Commission. We work with the Burmese democracy movement
to help them prepare for a transition to democracy. In this context
we have been funding civil society capacity building projects
in Burma, which can be described as "cross-border".
The particular needs of IDPs in Burma and refugees
in Thailand
While the inquiry is specifically on IDPs and
refugees in Thailand, "cross-border" assistance to the
people of Burma should not be confined to the borders of Thailand,
and it should also not be confined to "humanitarian relief
to IDPs and refugees.
IDPs in Burma need food, medical care, shelter,
education, trauma counseling, and protection. Current supplies
to IDP meet only about 10% of the needs.
The IDPs need to be able to protect themselves
better and have an early warning communications system (network
of walkie-talkies/ radio) to warn them of the approach of marauding
Burma Army troops.
A better aid delivery system is also needed.
To date, supplies are carried in by foot and mules. Other means
of transport need to be explored.
The IDPs are basically villagers who are trying
to survive in a war zone. Some villages are uprooted and moved
as many as 20 times in a year, fleeing from marauding Burma Army
troops. Their chances of survival depends on good intelligence
about the movement of Burma Army troops in their vicinity and
the ability to transmit the news to other IDPs in the same location.
Many IDPs live within an hour's march from Burma Army camps or
outposts.
In some instances, some form of resistance has
either given the IDPs more time to escape a Burma Army sweep or
even to turn back a Burma Army column. In one instance, a column
of 400 soldiers were turned back by a 5-man ill-equipped ethnic
resistance force.
The ethnic resistance forces are out numbered
100:1 but they provide essential protection to IDPs. They monitor
Burma Army troop movements and warn the civilian IDP population
of approaching Burma Army troop. They also enable the IDPs to
escape to safer areas, and provide pathfinder services (across
mine fields, and mined roads patrolled by Burma Army troops) for
humanitarian assistance trying to reach the IDPs.
In addition, the IDPs and the resistance forces
need assistance in mapping the mine fields planted by both the
Burma Army and the ethnic resistance forces; training in de-mining
activities; and assistance in caring for mine victims and their
families.
The IDPs are not helpless victims. They cope
and have worked out strategies to survive in a very difficult
environment. They grow crop and try to resettle in a new area
after fleeing from a Burma Army sweep. They need to be helped
to be able to better look after themselves in a brutal war zone.
Most IDPs do not want to become refugees living in a camp in a
foreign country. They become refugees only as a last resort.
While the needs of IDP are urgent and critical,
they make up only about 10-15% of the needs in the ethnic areas
of Burma which border Thailand, Laos, China, India and Bangladesh.
The Inquiry should also consider assistance to the more stable
communities in the "Cease-fire" and the "liberated"
areas. Cross-border assistance in this field could include building
the capacity of civil society groups, civilian administration,
and local political organizations.
The challenges faced in delivering aid and assistance
to these groups
The main challenge in delivering aid to these
groups (both IDP and the more stble civil society) is:
(a) Being allowed to cross international
borders unimpeded by the neighbouring countries; and
(b) Being able to avoid detection by the
Burma Army.
How different ethnic groups are affected by displacement
This depends on the area and whether they population
is on the move in a war zone or whether they are in cease-fire
areas, or in a liberated area. It varies.
The likely trends in the region in terms of displacement,
and development and humanitarian needs
The likely trend is an increase in terms of
displacement as the SPDC tries to complete its new constitution
and the Burma Army tries to exert control in areas previously
controlled by ethnic resistance forces (ceasefire and non-ceasefire).
There will be a corresponding increase in humanitarian needs.
If funds are provided for building the capacity
of civil society, local civilian administrative capacity, and
for local political organizations, development needs will increase
in the border areas. But the needs cannot be met too quickly because
it will attract the attention of the Burmese military.
How donors can assist IDPs in Burma and refugees
in Thailand most effectively
It would be best if donors do not officially
raise the issue of cross-border aid with neighbouring governments
and carried out the operations through local Burmese (ethnic)
groups who know the terrain and have been operating across borders
for many years in a low-profile manner with the tacit approval
of local authorities.
The advantages and disadvantages of cross-border
assistance compared to other ways of assisting IDPs in Burma
Assisting IDPs in Burma and across borders are
complementary. Not all areas can be accessed from inside Burma
and even if they are accessible, it is sometimes not prudent to
do so, because the Burma Army could step up their campaign of
oppression or divert the assistance away from the IDPs.
The disadvantage of working across borders is
that technically, it may not be legal.
The impact of DFID's policies towards Burma's
IDPs and refugees
I assume it will have a positive affect if the
publicity around this issue does not trigger a negative official
reaction from neighbouring countries. It is possible that Thailand
and others will stop cross border aid if the SPDC complains officially.
Harn Yawnghwe
Director, Euro-Burma Office
Brussels
PERSONAL NOTE:
I was born in Burma. When the Army seized power
in 1962, troops were sent to arrest my parents. My father was
the retired Speaker of the Chamber of Nationalities (Senate) and
my mother was a former Member of Parliament in the House of Commons.
He was also the last hereditary ruler of Yawnghwe, and the first
President of the Republic of the Union of Burma (1948-52). The
Army surrounded our house in Rangoon, the capital, at about 1
am and opened fire. My 17 year-old brother was killed. After the
firing ceased about thirty minutes later, my father was arrested
and taken away. He died in prison eight months later of unknown
causes. My mother, who was in England at that time for medical
reasons, escaped arrest.
6 June 2007
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