Ad Hoc and Inadequate

We have no telephone…to get outside information. Thailand should make refugee status open to all nationalities under the same criteria, consistent with the international refugee definition, including protection for people fleeing conflict. And Thailand should immediately release UNHCR-recognized refugees from detention and stop holding detainees indefinitely to force their families to pay for their deportation.

International agencies and donors should continue to provide food and other humanitarian aid to refugees who are unable to support themselves or who need transitional help toward self-sufficiency. Thai authorities should immediately ensure that all refugees — including those in camps — have full access to the Thai justice system and that police and other security officials who extort and abuse refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants are disciplined or prosecuted.

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Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. Please give now to support our work. Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world. Topic Refugee Rights Refugees and Migrants. September 12, Report. September 9, Commentary. Most Viewed December 14, Dispatches. December 18, News Release. December 18, Report. December 6, News Release.

Most Shared November 30, Dispatches. November 26, News Release. Considering the often traumatic backgrounds as well as the challenging circumstances that refugees face in Thailand, many people who visit the camps are impressed by the significant effort refugees make in order to maintain dignity and hope in the camp communities. Despite severe restrictions and depressive realities, refugees strive to remain active and to maintain their cultural traditions through practices such as teaching ethnic nationality languages and dances.

People marry and have children, play sports, and organise festivals and other celebrations. Despite the devastating reality, life goes on.

Thousands of people of Burma have come to consider these enclosed areas as their homes, trying to lead their lives as the best they can. While vast majority of refugees in the camps are ethnic Karen from eastern Burma, camps also vary greatly with regard to ethnic diversity. Religious buildings are centres of communal activities and refugees regularly attend religious ceremonies, sing and listen to religious songs, and read religious texts.

Prayers are said before each meal, and often before the beginning of each school day. In the Tak camps, however, there are also significant Muslim communities. Muslims have been particularly successful in setting up businesses in the camps, particularly noticeable in Mae La camp, where the main market has only one shop maintained by an ethnic Karen, the rest being run by Muslims. Most of the camps are isolated in the mountains and at the end of dirt roads, while some camps, such as Mae La and Umpiem Mai, are located as close as 1 to 1.

The isolated camps tend to be far away from hospitals and some of them have no phone signal Human Rights Watch, e. The realities in the remote camps are very different from the easily accessible camps that also have much more opportunities for study and work. In these camps almost all residents are de facto refugees, as the camps have had very little pull factor other than safety from the Burmese military. In all camps, the challenge of space is a significant concern. When living in one of the camps one will notice the almost complete lack of personal space or privacy.

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In some areas of the camps, houses are built right next to each other, people are everywhere, and it seems to never be quiet as there is always someone in the earshot singing, playing music, listening to the radio, or simply talking. Due to space restrictions and limited housing supplies provided in the camps, many households comprise more than one family and young married couples typically continue to live with their parents.

In February , a huge fire in Umpiem camp destroyed as many as 1, houses Karen News, February, In December , around refugees were left homeless in Mae La camp when more than a hundred houses were destroyed by a fire. The next day one refugee woman died in a fire in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp. Houses in Mae La Zone C are built right next to each other due to space restrictions. Although some basic health care is provided in the camps, diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and tuberculosis are still common among the refugees.

The camps are highly organised with regularly elected camp leaders, committees, and section leaders, although refugees regularly complain about corruption and lack of transparency in the leadership. The latest Refugee Committee and Camp Committee elections were held in early According to TBC a , all registered and unregistered refugees over the age of 20, regardless of gender, religion and ethnicity, were able to vote.

Camp residents, however, voiced concerns over the elections.

Refugees collecting bamboo for repairing their shelters in Umpiem Mai. TBC remains the only agency responsible for providing food and shelter assistance to the refugees in the camps. In the past, TBC also regularly purchased and distributed blankets, mosquito nets, clothing for children under five and thread for longyi weaving, sleeping mats, and cooking pots both to current and newly arrived camp residents. Recent funding cuts on the border have forced TBC to cease the provision of all non-food items even to new arrivals.

Only cooking stoves and donated items are still being distributed to refugees. Health and education services for the refugees have also been cut back, having an adverse effect on the camp residents. As the recent restrictions in movement have strictly prohibited refugees from leaving camp premises, the reduced rations have become a grave concern. According to the refugees themselves, it is the poorest and the most vulnerable who suffer the consequences as they are not able to go to the forest to hunt for rats and collect vegetables, nor to buy extra food as they are now not allowed to take on work as daily workers.

Some refugees are now employing more risky behaviours and strategies in order to bridge the widened gap between their basic needs and the humanitarian assistance they receive. While some households are able to supplement their needs through well-established economic activities, others are simply no longer able to meet their basic needs.

In order to cope with the situation, TBC has employed a method of identifying food secure and insecure households in order to implement Community Managed Targeting, in which self-reliant refugees will forfeit their rations whilst the most vulnerable receive extra supplies see TBC, a, p. Eye-witness accounts, however, tell a grim story as Burma Link has received reports of some refugees believing they are being starved out in order to avoid their continuing assistance and future repatriation.

Many refugees refuse to settle for their faith as helpless and passive victims and are making great efforts to cope and provide for their families through taking part in different livelihood activities, when possible. Some international NGOs and local CBOs such as TBC provide the refugees with opportunities for skills training and income generation, although these projects reach only a small part of refugee populations. Refugees are also often left frustrated as after taking part in the training, they have nowhere to use their newly-found skills.

Some have taken part in one TBC training after another, unable to apply their skills in practice. CAP gardening activities are important in that they increase the availability of fresh food in camps, and prepare refugees with vital livelihood skills. As a result of CAP activities, hundreds of households in the camps are now able to cultivate their own gardens.

Other organisations also undertake training activities in the camps. COERR, for example, has trained refugees on appropriate and sustainable organic agricultural practices, assisted refugee communities to develop basic social work technical skills, and provided vocational training for individuals in extremely vulnerable situations see COERR — Project.

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These activities, when successfully implemented, are essential for the refugees to regain confidence, motivation, and a sense of independence from external aid. They will also be extremely valuable for refugees if they return to Burma or are resettled in third countries. The policy nevertheless remains in place and restrictions have recently been tightened.

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While many refugees make significant efforts to remain active in the challenging and often depressive situation, the vast majority of camp residents are increasingly reliant on outside support and aid as a result of forced passivity. The recent political changes and ceasefire talks in Burma have resulted in widespread and grossly premature talks of repatriating the refugees. Only one month after Burma transitioned to a nominally civilian government in March , Thai authorities announced that they are in the process of discussion with the Burmese government about closing the refugee camps Chitradon, April, More recently, the Thai junta announced that it wants to repatriate all refugees by Saw Yan Naing, July, b.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the Latin phrase. For other uses, see Ad hoc disambiguation. Wireless ad hoc network. Retrieved from " https: Latin words and phrases. Use dmy dates from January