ANTARA News: RI, Myanmar to intensify trade relations, stage fair in Yangon

Wed 18 Mar 2009 
Filed under: News, Business / Trade

Jakarta,(ANTARA News) – Monday`s meeting between President Sosilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein resulted in agreements holding out bright prospects for the two countries` trade relations.

The two leaders agreed to increase their trade volume to more than US$300 million from the current US$269,6 million in addition to conducting direct trade and building direct banking links often seen as barriers in the two countries` trade relations.

As the first step to meet this commitment, businessmen from Myanmar and Indonesia are coordinating to hold a trade fair in July this year to boost bilateral trade.

To be sponsored by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce Industry of Indonesia, the Myanmar-Indonesia trade fair will comprise over 60 booths from the two countries, the 7-Day News said on its website on Tuesday.

On display at the Myanmar booths will be agricultural produces, while that at the Indonesian`s will be metals, electrical goods, medicines, and textile, the sources said.

Indonesia, which mainly imports from Myanmar red onion and beans and pulses, is Myanmar`s fourth largest trading partner among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade with Myanmar standing at 293.96 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year of 2007-08.

Indonesia`s exports to Myanmar amounted to 207.24 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar valued at 86.72 million dollars, Myanmar official statistics show.

In 2006, Indonesia established its first direct sea trade route with Myanmar operating between Jakarta and Yangon, broadening its network in the Southeast Asian region, according to earlier local reports.

In the meantime, Indonesian deputy ambassador to Myanmar Gopokson Situmorang said on Monday said that Indonesia and Myanmar agreed to develop direct trade to promote economic cooperation between the two countries.

He said his office had approached Myanmar`s central bank and airline to explore the possibility of establishing a direct banking links and flights between Indonesia and Myanmar.

“We are exploring a direct banking and direct transport between Indonesia and Myanmar,” he said after attending a meeting between the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and a visiting Myanmarese delegation.

So far trade between the two countries is carried out through Singapore.
“Shipping of goods is also done through Singapore while if it is done directly, for example, from Sabang (Aceh), the route will be closer and the cost will also be less,” he said.

He said he hoped the Myanmar central bank could connect Indonesian banks with Myanmar Economic Bank (MEB), Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) to serve import and export transactions.

His side was reported to be in process of exploring it. If it could be done directly no commission would have to be paid. Under the current system our goods become more expensive, he said.

Kadin`s committee chairman for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, Juan Gondokusumo, meanwhile said that the main obstacle hindering the development of trade relations with Myanmar was the use of indirect system of payment for the trade.
“They do not use US dollars and so it poses a problem in transactions. To open a letter of credit a third party namely Singapore is also needed,” he said.

The government was urged to immediately seek a way to facilitate trade and economic relations between the two countries.

Kadin and Myanmar`s Chamber of Commerce and Industry are currently preparing a draft memorandum of understanding to improve the relations between the two countries in the field of economy.

“We are going to jointly make a memorandum of understanding on everything we are going to improve,” he said.

Myo Oo, deputy to the director general of Myanmar`s trade department, admited that banking still posed a problem hindering the development of trade relations between the two countries.

“Because of US sanctions we cannot conduct transactions in US dollars and so we use Euro or other currencies such as Singapore Dollar. We wish to try to trade in Euro like what we have done with other countries,” he said.

He said that Indonesia remained one of his country`s 10 biggest trade partners after Thailand, India, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia.

In view of that his side had agreed to cooperate with Indonesia to promote growth of trade between the two countries. “However we are now still seeking the right sector for development. (We are still considering) whether it is agriculture or if Indonesia would still import rice,” Myo Oo said.

He said Indonesia had so far imported green peas and onions from Myanmar through Malaysia.
Oo hoped exports and imports between the two countries could later be carried out directly.

“Myanmar`s main exports to Indonesia are green peas totaling around 20,000 tons a year. Now we also wish to include onions and therefore we wish to conduct direct relations with our buyers in Indonesia,” he said.

The total value of trade between the two countries in 2007 was recorded at
US$292.8 million, increasing 86 percent from 2006 totalling US$157.4 million. From January to November 2008 the value of trade between the two countries reached US$269.6 million.

Indonesia has so far enjoyed a surplus in its trade with Myanmar.
Indonesia`s exports to Myanmar in 2007 reached US$262.4 million while its imports from that country were recorded at US$30.4 million.

Indonesia exports among others oil and gas, palmoil, cigarettes, sarongs and herbal medicines to Myanmar while it imports among other things, peas, onions, beans and fishery products from that country.

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2009/03/18/antara-news-ri-myanmar-to-intensify-trade-relations-stage-fair-in-yangon/

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Democratic Voice of Burma: Waiting in silence: life in a border refugee camp – Rosalie Smith

Wed 18 Mar 2009 
Filed under: News, On The Border

Although being in Nu Pho camp feels like being in any little village peppered with bamboo huts, no one I spoke to there seemed to feel safe.

“The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army is just too close”, says Kohw, an Arakan monk who has lived in Nu Pho for over a year and a half. Kohw is unregistered, and therefore illegal, along with the other thousand or so in the Arakan section of the camp.

Rumors about planned DKBA attacks on former political leaders in Nu Pho circle around the camp from time to time. The DKBA split from the Karen National Liberation Army – the armed wing of government opposition group Karen National Union – in 1992 and joined sides with the then State Law and Order Restoration Council (now State Peace and Development Council-SPDC), Burma’s ruling military regime.

“We have so many spies affiliated with the Burma government,” says Kohw’s friend, who approaches us to warn about any curious bystanders in the camp. On 28 January last year, one suspected DKBA spy was arrested by the camp security officers and later executed.

“All the Burmese people here who speak good Thai are potential SPDC spies”, Kohw says. The presence of spies creates a climate of fear, despite many of the people in Nu Pho having no valuable information or contacts, and thus being of no use to the SPDC. Still, people remain careful about what they say and who they speak to.

The sight of children playing in the narrow streets and the friendly attitude of people in Nu Pho seems to give a false facade. Hleswe, a registered refugee who owns a small cornershop, has contacts among the KNU leaders and firmly believes that the DKBA will attack in the next two months.

“Current KNU leaders have warned me that former KNU leaders here, and all political leaders, are in danger of getting assassinated,” he whispers.
Hleswe has seen up to a hundred border police moving up to the Thai side of the mountains nearby. “The DKBA will enter the camp from there, behind the mountains,” he said. “It will happen.”

Kohw is an ex-political prisoner, and is aware of the assassination attack rumors too. He is worried about the camp policy whereby ex-political prisoners or people affiliated with activism in Burma live among refugees, who have no special status in the SPDC’s eyes.
“If an attack happens, the Thai military will be of no use to us,” he said.

Hleswe believes that lack of resources mean the KNU won’t be of much help in the event of an invasion. Likewise, the Thai military do not have the capability to maintain security in the event of a DKBA invasion.

“I don’t feel safe here,” Hleswe admits. In Burma he worked for an armed political organization and is worried that his past will hinder resettlement. His wife and nephew are in the camp illegally.
“What will I do after I resettle? The same, long process waits for my wife and nephew.”

Living under stress

Feelings of frustration and stress are common among the unregistered refugees in Nu Pho. Some who have stayed in the camp longer suffer from mental health problems says a monk who works with an underground organisation in the camp that deals with social welfare issues among Arakan refugees. Camp officials, however, do not allow such organizations in Nu Pho so they are forced to work covertly.

“We have no work, no income and no hope for finding work,” says one Arakan monk.

Unregistered refugees are not entitled to a camp pass that would let them go in and out of the camp premises. They don’t have access to the food supplies controlled and distributed by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and are not offered shelter either.

Out of the 14,000 or so refugees in Nu Pho, as many as 4000 are estimated to be unregistered. Since 2006, there has only been sporadic registration of newcomers, meaning the majority go unregistered.

Along with lack of food and shelter, unregistered refugees also have to worry about the camp officials who monitor their every move.

“When there is a conflict between registered and unregistered refugees, Thai officials have threatened to deport any unregistered refugees immediately, whether the conflict was their fault or not,” Kohw says.

Like many others, Kohw spends his days in waiting. Some are waiting for a chance to get registered, while other are holding out for resettlement.
And everyone waits for a possible attack.
Until recently, Nu Pho residents were under a strict curfew starting 9pm, forbidden from walking outside, listening to the radio or even having lights or candles on. Now, only wandering around after 9pm is forbidden but the huts still seem to stay silent and dark, creating a perpetually tense and ominous atmosphere.  “I feel like I’m under house arrest” said one Arakan monk.

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2009/03/18/democratic-voice-of-burma-waiting-in-silence-life-in-a-border-refugee-camp-rosalie-smith/

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Mizzima News: NDA-K ready to surrender arms Tuesday – Solomon

Wed 18 Mar 2009 
Filed under: News, Inside Burma

New Delhi – A Sino-Burma border based ethnic Kachin rebel group has declared it is ready to abandon armed struggle after the 2010 general elections, if the new elected government urges them to do so.

Zahkung Tingying, founder and leader of New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) told Mizzima on Tuesday that they are ready to lay-down their arms if they can be sure that their demands will be fulfilled.

The NDA-K was the first Kachin armed group to reach a cease-fire agreement with Burma’s military junta, the then State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in 1989.

“We are fighting for our rights, development of our people and if these are guaranteed why do we still need to continue armed struggle?” said Tingying. The rebel leader said this in a tone that suggested that the new elected government would be able to fulfill their demands.

“It is possible that we will surrender our arms but at the same time we need to see that our demands and desires will be fulfilled,” he added.

The Burmese military junta in recent months has stepped up pressure on all cease-fire ethnic armed groups to surrender their arms before the 2010 general elections and urged them to transform into political parties to contest the election, sources said.

But, so far, the junta has been unable to convince any of the ceasefire groups to surrender their arms.

The NDA-K, which claims to be fighting for security, social, economic and educational development of its people, however, said they believe that their hopes would materialize after the elected government assumes office following the 2010 elections.

The NDA-K, which is based in North-eastern Kachin state along the Sino-Burma border, was founded by former Kachin Independent Organization
(KIO) officers Zahkung Tingying and Layawk Zelum in 1989.

But sources said, following the ceasefire agreement, the NDA-K has focussed more on business than politics and has not maintained active armed cadres. Militarily and politically, the NDA-K has lost its strength, the source added.

“They are no longer interested in the welfare of the people because they could not take the responsibility of the people. So what they say is not significant,” another source, who has a close relationship with the group, told Mizzima.

Similarly, a Sino-Burma border based military analyst, Aung Kyaw Zaw, said, the NDA-K lately lacks military power and strength and that it might be possible for them to surrender any time if the junta asks them to.

“They [NDA-K] have only around 300 to 400 soldiers right now. The military regime can compromise them anytime they wish to so it will not be a surprise if they lay-down their arms,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

He said the NDA-K was used well by the military government in its efforts to weaken the KIO, which is the major armed group among ethnic Kachin.

NDA-K has appointed five representatives to contest the ensuing election and will represent the group in the political party, which will be formed by representatives of all political and civilians groups in Kachin State.

The political party, which has not been officially announced, would be called the “Kachin State Progressive Party” (KSPP), sources said, and it will contest in the 2010 election as a representative party of the Kachin people.

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2009/03/18/mizzima-news-nda-k-ready-to-surrender-arms-tuesday-solomon/

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The Standard (Hong Kong): Misery of boat people must not be in vain – Nehginpao Kipgen

Wed 18 Mar 2009 
Filed under: News, Inside Burma

Antonio Guterres, chief of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, recently wrapped up his assessment of the plight of one of the world’s most suppressed and controversial refugee groups, the Rohingyas.
The six-day mission to Burma, which began on March 7, included visits to Naypyidaw and Sittwe.

“On the basis of his observations and the discussions held, the High Commissioner came to the conclusion that the UNHCR’s current level of activities in northern Rakhine state does not correspond to the actual needs, and a decision was taken to upgrade the program with immediate effect,” said the agency statement issued on the last day of Guterres’
visit.

Sadly or fortunately, the international community has come to better understand the reality of the socio-political problems inside Burma since the 2007 uprising, which many called a “saffron revolution.”

Since then, developments in Burma have periodically appeared in the headlines of many leading cable news stations and newspapers around the world.

The latest story concerns the ill-treatment meted out to the Rohingya boat people by Thailand. This happened at a time when the new Thai government, which emerged after weeks of protests and a court ruling, was in the process of building trust and stability.

The Union of Burma is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in Southeast Asia and has the longest-lived armed revolutionary groups in the entire region. Comparatively, the total land size of Burma is a little smaller than the US state of Texas.

The military junta identifies “135 national races.” The major ones are:
Arakan/ Rakhine (seven subgroups), Burman/ Bamar (nine subgroups), Chin
(53 subgroups), Kachin (12 subgroups), Karen/Kayin (11 subgroups), Karenni/ Kayah (nine subgroups), Mon (one group), and Shan (33 subgroups).
This classification is primarily based on dialectical variations.

The much-discussed “Rohingya people” are not refused only by countries like Thailand and Indonesia but by Burma itself. The suffering of the Rohingyas is exacerbated by the fact that they are not given full citizen rights in Burma.

Guterres traveled to Sittwe, capital of Arakan/Rakhine state near the Bangladesh border, where most Rohingyas live.

According to Burma’s State Peace and Development Council, there are seven sub-ethnic groups in Arakan state: Rakhine, Kamein, Kwe Myi, Daingnet, Maramagyi, Mro, Thet. The Rohingyas are not listed as an ethnic group.
The controversy surrounding whether or not the Rohingyas are indigenous people of Burma has been a longstanding problem. The existence of this controversy was evidenced by the statement of Burmese consul general Ye Myint Aung in Hong Kong on February 9 when he said: “In reality, Rohingya are neither Myanmar [Burma] people nor Myanmar’s [Burma’s] ethnic group.
They are ugly as ogres.”

Even within the state of Arakan, there have been unending claims and counter claims on the question of the origin of Rohingya people. In early February, one senior Arakan leader and member of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament said: “How could they claim that they came from Burma when in fact they come from Bangladesh?”

While the Rohingyas are called Bengalis or illegal immigrants by the Burmese military junta and some Arakan leaders, Bangladesh people have treated them as Burmese migrants.

The fact is that the Rohingyas have lived in Burma before the establishment of the present-day Union of Burma in 1947. However, until today they are considered or treated as stateless people.

One positive outcome of the Rohingya boat people episode is that the very question of their existence on Earth as a people is now being widely discussed. Leaders of Thailand and Burma have talked on the issue bilaterally, and it was discussed, though inconclusively, at the 14th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The UN refugee agency coming forward to increase its focus on the areas of Rohingya settlement in Burma and a plan by ASEAN foreign ministers to discuss the Rohingya refugee issue as part of the “Bali Process” in Indonesia next month (April 14-15) are positive signs in addressing the suffering of these people.

The problems arising out of the boat people should not end in discussing only the fate of these refugees but must be part of a process to find a long-term solution for the Rohingya people as a whole.

Ignoring this pressing issue may prove a greater burden for Burma and the international community.

As of July 2003, Burma’s population according to the military was 52.4 million. The last official census, in 1983, reported a population of just over 35 million (35,442,972).

Religious affiliation is estimated to be: Buddhism (89.2 percent), Christianity (5 percent), Islam (3.8 percent), Hinduism (0.5 percent), Spiritualism (1.2 percent) and others (0.2 percent).

Under the military junta, the mistreatment and suffering of ethnic minorities is not uncommon. This is one basic reason why ethnic minorities demand a federal system of government.

Nehginpao Kipgen is general secretary of US-based Kuki International Forum
(www.kukiforum.com) and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004)

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2009/03/18/the-standard-hong-kong-misery-of-boat-people-must-not-be-in-vain-%e2%80%93-nehginpao-kipgen/

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Associated Press: Myanmar arrests 5 members of pro-democracy party.

Wed 18 Mar 2009 
Filed under: News, Inside Burma

Yangon, Myanmar — Authorities in Myanmar have arrested five members of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, a spokesman said Tuesday, a day after the U.N. called for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners in the military-run country.

Among those arrested was Kyi Lwin, who has not been an active party member since suffering a stroke a year ago, said Han Tha Myint, spokesman of the National League for Democracy. Police took him from his home Sunday without explanation.

In a report published Monday, U.N. human rights investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana had called on the junta to release its 2,100 or so political prisoners before elections planned for 2010, the country’s first ballot in two decades.

Quintana, presenting his report Tuesday at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, said Myanmar’s government should release all “prisoners of conscience” — starting with the elderly, the sick and political leaders — because their detention breaches basic human rights.

In recent months, the junta has locked away pro-democracy activists in an apparent attempt to clear away dissent before the promised election.
Military courts have sentenced hundreds of pro-democracy activists to prison terms of up to 104 years.

“The government should understand that for the international community to see these elections as meaningful, they should start respecting human rights and adopt measures in this regard,” Quintana told reporters after his presentation.

Responding to the report, Myanmar’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said his country holds no political prisoners. “In fact, these are only individuals who are serving prison terms for breaking the existing laws of Myanmar,” said Wunna Maung Lwin.

The others arrested between March 6-13 include Myint Myint San, also known as Ma Cho, a member of the National League for Democracy’s Social Support Committee, which helps support political prisoners and their families. The three others are Sein Hlaing, Shwe Gyo and Thein Lwin, who are active party members, the league’s spokesman said.

Han Tha Myint said the U.N. call to release all prisoners offered “great moral support.”

Quintana told reporters that he would look into the circumstances of the new arrests.

“The government of Myanmar is part of the United Nations, so it should start respecting human rights,” he said.

Quintana visited Myanmar last month but was not allowed to meet Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the last 19 years.

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2009/03/18/associated-press-myanmar-arrests-5-members-of-pro-democracy-party/

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UNHCR chief visits Myanmar抯 Rakhine state

Web posted at: 3/12/2009 9:21:23
Source ::: DPA YANGON: United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres (pictured) arrived in Yangon yesterday after a two-day visit to Rakhine state, the traditional homeland of Rohingya refugees, officials confirmed.

揌e visited Sittwe yesterday afternoon and also visited Yathittaung town today,?said a state official who requested anonymity.

Guterres?agency has offices in both Sittwe and Yathittaung, which are responsible for monitoring the welfare of about 800,000 stateless Rohinyas living in the western state, mostly along the border area with Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority group who have lived in Myanmar抯 Rakhine state for generations but have been denied citizenship and the right to own property or seek employment.

The plight of the Rohingya was brought to world attention in January after Thailand was accused of forcing hundreds of Rohingya refugees back to sea in vessels without engines or sufficient food.

A regional effort is under way to tackle the problem of Rohingya refugees seeking work in South-East Asia.

At a summit meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last month, Myanmar agreed to allow Rohingyas to settle in the country on the grounds they could prove they were Bengalis and provide evidence of former residence in Myanmar.

There are an estimated 200,000 Rohingya living in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Although the Rohingya are not included on the government抯 list of 135 recognized ethnic minority groups, Bengalis are.

Guterres was scheduled to end his visit today after visiting Myaik Myaik, capital of Tanintharyi division in the southern part of Myanmar, where one of his projects has been implemented, according to official sources. 

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Philippines+%26+South+Asia&month=March2009&file=World_News2009031292123.xml

 

THAILAND: UNHCR seeks access to Rohingya boat people

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN A young Rohingya girl at the Kutaplong refugee camp in southern Bangladesh, one of two government-run camps for the 28,000 documented Rohingya refugees in the country BANGKOK, 29 January 2009 (IRIN) – The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is hopeful it will gain access to dozens of Rohingya boat people who fled persecution in Myanmar this week and are being held by Thai authorities. A stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state, the Rohingya have long sought refuge from ethnic and religious persecution by Myanmar’s government. “We have not yet had a formal response to our request for access but we have positive indications that a formal response is on the way,” Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the agency told IRIN on 29 January from Ranong city, the capital of Ranong Province. “We had a good meeting with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya today [29 January] and there is obviously a wish to collaborate with UNHCR,” she said. The 78 Rohingya – 66 men and 12 teenage boys – were intercepted two days earlier by the Thai navy following an arduous journey across the Andaman Sea and claims of abuse by the Burmese navy en route.  More on the Rohingya BANGLADESH: mohammad Ismail: “Nobody wants us”  THAILAND: Government, Army to investigate claims of Rohingya abuse  BANGLADESH: Rohingya refugee camps improved  BANGLADESH-MYANMAR: Bleak prospects for the Rohingya On 28 January, a provincial court ordered each of the 66 men to pay a 1,000 Thai baht (about US$29) fine for illegal entry into the kingdom. Unable to pay, the men had no choice but to serve a five-day prison term. The 12 teenagers, who were exempt from persecution, are being held at an immigration detention centre, but are largely expected to be deported with the men on 31 January. In a 29 January report in the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s leading English-language newspaper, Police Lt-Col Nattharit Pinpak, Ranong’s immigration police chief inspector, said illegal refugees normally faced immediate deportation. But since the Rohingya issue had gained international attention, he would wait for a policy directive from a higher authority, the report said. Abuse allegations Allegations were made earlier this month that the Thai military had abused more than 600 Rohingya before the new year, towing them out to sea to die, a charge the government has vehemently denied. And while many were later rescued off the coasts of India and Indonesia, hundreds more are still believed missing. On 20 January, UNHCR asked for access to 126 Rohingya being detained by Thai authorities after that incident, but sources suggest they have been since towed out to sea as well. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insists the Rohingya entering Thailand are “illegal immigrants” and must be sent back to their country of origin. Thai officials maintain “basic humanitarian needs” are given to the migrants before they are returned home. According to the Thai Foreign Ministry, the plight of the Rohingya reflects that of economic migrants in the region and that some 20,000 illegal Rohingya are living in Thailand today. There are 28,000 recognised Rohingya refugees in two UNHCR camps in southern Bangladesh and some 200,000 unregistered Rohingya living outside the camps. Each year, scores of Rohingya escape from Myanmar’s Rakhine state by boat, often turning up in Thailand, Malaysia or as far away as Indonesia. Thailand estimates their numbers in the thousands. Because the plight of Rohingya is a regional problem, UNHCR is seeking to discuss with the Thai government how all concerned countries can address the root causes that impel the Rohingya to risk their lives on such perilous journeys. ds/mw

Theme(s): (IRIN) Early Warning, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs

UN refugee chief in Burma for Rohingya and aid talks

UN refugee chief in Burma for Rohingya and aid talks

Rohingya refugees living in tough conditions in Bangladesh camps

UNHCR has been trying without success to get permission to improve the Myanmar Rohingya refugees’ substandard housing in the camps in Bangladesh. © UNHCR/J.Pagonis

UNHCR News Stories

 
Rohingya refugees living in tough conditions in Bangladesh camps

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh, September 21 (UNHCR) – Dressed in black from top to toe, and holding veils across their faces, Rohingya refugee women in camps in Bangladesh press carefully folded notes into the hands of visitors, then slip away, hoping to pass unnoticed. The grimy notes reveal a disturbing tale of punishment and pain. The refugees claim they have been beaten, family books which entitled them to rations confiscated, and money extorted, often by the refugee leaders, known as Mahjees, and their followers.

“We know many claims are true and have brought this to the attention of the camp administration and government numerous times. We have asked them to stop these practices which harm the refugees who are already vulnerable,” said the UN refugee agency’s Representative in Bangladesh, Christopher Lee, who has photographic evidence of the beatings.

“This is a difficult protection environment for UNHCR to work in. In the camps we are doing our best to curb arbitrary punishment, such as beatings and the confiscation of family books, both of which are totally unacceptable. They have no right to stop the refugees’ food,” Lee added. UNHCR has a daily presence in the government-run camps and gets many requests for assistance from refugees.

The refugees have been left feeling fearful and traumatized by some violent incidents over the past year, including the murder of a Mahjee in Nyapara camp in July – allegedly over a money dispute – and an incident in November 2004, when three refugees in Kutupalong camp were killed after a power struggle. These killings led to many arrests, and several hundred other refugees fled the camp.

“Now we can’t sleep at night properly because police are looking for people every night,” said one refugee, who did not want to be identified.

But despite the highly charged atmosphere, most refugees still say they do not want to return to Myanmar until there is peace and democracy.

In the early 1990s, more than 250,000 people belonging to the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority escaped persecution in Myanmar by fleeing across land and river borders into Bangladesh, where most were housed in 20 camps. Since then, 236,000 have been repatriated, leaving some 20,500 in the two remaining government-run camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh. Their living conditions are sub-standard and they are uncertain about their future.

The government, which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, has always insisted the Rohingyas should return to Myanmar. But only 210 refugees repatriated in 2004, and by August of this year only about 90 refugees had made the UNHCR boat crossing over the broad Naf river back to Myanmar. Some refugees have said they were coerced by the Mahjees and camp officials to repatriate. Sometimes, at the last moment, as refugees reached the departure point for the boat at Teknaf, they changed their minds and said they didn’t want to go to Myanmar after all. Their wishes were respected and they were returned to the camp.

Camp conditions are tough. Movement is restricted, and the refugees’ housing is overcrowded and badly in need of repair or renewal. “When it rains, the roof leaks and we have to put out buckets and jars out to collect the drips,” said one mother of eight. For the past two years, UNHCR has been asking for the necessary government permission to rebuild the camp’s shelters, but so far has not met with success.

Children make up 65 per cent of the camp population, but there is little for them to do. The government only allows partial primary education in the camps. Even then, education is in the Myanmar language which is not the children’s mother tongue. Instead, they speak a Chittagong dialect – the same as the local population.

Many also speak Bengali, the Bangladesh national language, but the authorities do not want the children to be educated in Bengali, because they view this as a first step towards integration in their asylum country. As a result, the hopes of young children who insist they want to be doctors and teachers are being dashed, since they have little chance of further education. The literacy rate in the camps is only 12 per cent.

While the refugees have good reason to feel aggrieved about their living conditions, the local authorities believe some of them are involved in criminal activities such as human and arms trafficking, drug smuggling and terrorism. There have been no court convictions on any of these charges, and – despite viewing them as dens of criminal activities – the government still wants to retain the camps.

While strictly speaking not allowed to do so, refugees from the camps do work in the local community – pulling rickshaws, fishing, making bricks or working in the nearby salt fields. Some have married into the local community, although this is frowned on by the authorities who fear it could compromise repatriation efforts.

“Many of these people have been here for 14 years, and it’s time to have a really realistic assessment of their future and make an attempt to reach a pragmatic solution,” said Lee.