The repatriation predicament of Burmese refugees in Thailand: a preliminary analysis

Thailand shares a long 2,401 km stretch of border with Burma and hosts a steadily growing flow of refugees – some 131,000 persons are now registered in the border camps. Today, more than 16 years after the first Karen camps were first established on a semi-permanent basis in 1984, asylum-seekers continue to flee from the neighbouring war-affected borderlands in Burma/Myanmar. Repatriation appears as a regular discussion item on the plight of Burmese refugees in Thailand. Whilst it is indeed germane to the situation, Thailand does not want to remain an indefinite host and refugees cannot live indeterminately as temporary guests in camps. The issue is also inherently susceptible to contested perspectives as well as some confusion.

In order to address the entangled threads in this debate, analytical attention is required to clearly analyse some of the dimensions to the repatriation issue. Repatriation is a necessarily complex issue, for which, according to international norms and in practice, the starting point involves a fundamental change in the underlying causes of displacement. When conditions permit, the repatriation of refugees can contribute to confidence-building in the reconciliation and peace process at home, and it is usually the preferred solution from the perspective of most host governments with an interest in reducing their obligations to asylum-seekers.