NGOs in Thailand await greenlight to assist Myanmar refugees

Humanitarian organizations based in Thailand are ready to assist the thousands of people fleeing the fighting between military and resistance forces in Myanmar, experts said last week during a panel discussion about the crisis. Thus far, Thai authorities have been dealing with the inflow without the aid of NGOs.

“The international community has been planning for an influx now since the coup last year, and we are ready to respond. That’s our job. That’s what we’re here to do,” said Sally Thompson, the executive director at The Border Consortium — a collective of NGOs working to provide assistance to refugees and displaced people from Myanmar — during the event.

“We stand ready to support the Thai government, but at the moment they’re saying no, they can handle it at this level,” she added.

Since the military seized power in Myanmar in February, around 320,000 people have been displaced within the country amid violence between junta and resistance groups, as well as arrests and worsening living conditions, with reports of limited water, electricity, and internet access in eastern Kayah state’s Loikaw city. An estimated 25,000 people have crossed the borders into neighboring countries, including Thailand and India.

December, in particular, saw a significant influx of people into Thailand as clashes between Myanmar's military and resistance groups escalated in Kayah and Kayin states. Between Dec. 16 and 22 alone, 3,900 Myanmar nationals entered Thailand. As of Jan. 10, 2,800 displaced people remained in the country, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

They may have gone back and forth across the border two or three times in the past month in hopes of returning to their homes, only to find that the situation is still unsafe, said Saw Nimrod Andrew, a Myanmar political activist who belongs to the community of Karen people, during the same event. The majority of displaced individuals are women and children, he added.

Thai authorities and local communities are generously supporting them, Andrew said. But managing a prolonged security situation at the border will become overwhelming, he added, underlining the importance of international support and access to the displaced people.

A Thailand government spokesperson told Reuters earlier this month that the country was “taking care of the refugees” and fulfilling its duties “according to international human rights standards.”

Prior to the coup, Thailand was already home to nine refugee camps. Currently, most of the refugees are from Myanmar ethnic minority groups.

In a statement released last month, 15 NGOs — including Save the Children, Humanity & Inclusion, and the International Rescue Committee — called for the Thai government to allow “humanitarian agencies access to displacement holding sites, enable them to conduct needs assessments and … provide lifesaving aid and other services.”

“Access is needed for these populations who are in need, access for humanitarian assistance, for humanitarian organizations. That applies inside Myanmar but also outside Myanmar in the countries where people from Myanmar are trying to take refuge,” said Bernard Doyle, regional representative for Central Asia at the UN Refugee Agency, which also hasn’t been able to access the incoming refugees.

According to local media, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has committed to providing humanitarian support until the situation improves.

“The Thai authorities say, ‘Yes, if there’s fighting you can come into Thailand,’ but it’s very clear you cannot stay here for very long,” Thompson said.

Last month, the Office of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand called for the government “to accelerate humanitarian assistance to displaced people and … not return them back to danger.”

Thailand is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that no refugee should be returned “to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened.” So far, an estimated 1,400 people have been killed in violence since the coup.

Earlier this week, Prayuth reiterated that refugees would return to Myanmar only on a voluntary basis. He also committed to helping find a solution to the crisis.