Myanmar Refugees Come Home After 30 Years

Tens of thousands of refugees settled in nine camps along Thailand’s Border with Myanmar can finally go home. On Tuesday, 68 Myanmar refugees from camps along the border are the first to receive an endorsement from the Thai and Myanmar governments.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called the undertaking as a “milestone”. Furthermore, the agency pointed out that the first voluntary repatriation will not lead to an “exodus”.

The movement to go back home was unfeasible for a very long time because of the political and economic turmoil in Myanmar. However, Aung San Suu Kyi changed all that when she ascended to power earlier this year. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi is the first woman to serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Myanmar.

The UNHCR’s senior field coordinator, Ian hall said that the repatriation will begin on Tuesday. One family will leave the camp on the western border province in Ratchaburi. Another group will follow on Wednesday from the Nupo Camp in the western Tak province of Thailand.

A Safe Return Home

In a phone interview with Reuters while in the border town of Mae Sot, located about 490 km (304 miles) of Bangkok, Hall said, “This particular movement is a milestone. But it won’t be the start of a large exodus”.

Hall added that refugees who chose to return home had information from their families in Myanmar, who told them it was safe to go back home. He said, “The Myanmar government came over and issued certificates of identification saying these people are their citizens”.

30 years of waiting

There are an estimated 103,000 refugees and internally displaced people inhabiting the nine camps along the border. Decades of military rule drove the refugees to flee and escape the persecution of the Myanmar army. 80% of the refugees are ethnic Karen from Western Myanmar. Most of them had been living in the camps for 30 years.

The senior official of the Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and Re-settlements of Myanmar, Ko Ko Naing said they are prepared to accept the returnees. He said, “”These people want to return to Myanmar of their own volition’.

Previous Thailand administrations had planned efforts to permanently shut down the camp. Hall believed otherwise, he said this is not the right time to do so. “We’re not promoting return and we’ve made that clear with both governments. We don’t yet believe it is the time to return but of course, these people have the right to return if they want to”.

In the recent weeks, the country continues to endure erratic violence between the government and the Muslim Majority Rakhine state. Officials believed the Islamists greatly influenced the uprising.

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