KEEPING TABS ON PABS (THAILAND'S PROVINCIAL

UNCLAS BANGKOK 001916 SIPDIS SIPDIS GENEVA FOR RMA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF TH SUBJECT: KEEPING TABS ON PABS (THAILAND'S PROVINCIAL ADMISSION BOARDS) ¶1. Summary: Provincial Admissions Boards (PABs),nine member panels of Thai provincial officials and a UNHCR observer, were reconstituted late last year as a mechanism to regularize the status of unregistered persons in the nine Thai-Burma border refugee camps and then screen Burmese in Thailand who claim to be fleeing fighting or political persecution. PABs have now become operational in the border provinces of Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi, but not yet in Mae Hong Son. The PABs have made good progress on the unregistered persons in the camps. They have yet to begin work on newer arrivals fleeing fighting or political persecution; it remains to be seen how quickly the PABs will screen these groups and what the approval rates will be. End summary. ¶2. Thailand is not a signatory to the international refugee conventions and Thai law contains no provisions to provide refugee status to those who enter the country and claim that they are fleeing fighting or persecution. About six years ago, Thailand disbanded boards at the provincial level that had been screening persons fleeing Burma. Since that time, Burmese seeking asylum generally have either entered the nine Thai-Burma border camps unofficially or sought refugee status from UNHCR. At UNHCR's encouragement, the RTG decided in 2004 to re-establish screening boards, now termed Provincial Admissions Boards (PABs),and the two sides have been working closely since to develop procedures and policies to govern PAB activities. The PABs will screen only Burmese. UNHCR will continue its refugee status determination process for all other nationalities. ¶3. UNHCR's 2004-2005 registration in the nine border camps found a total of 139,056 persons, or an increase of about 35,000 persons over the previous registration conducted by the Thai and UNHCR in 1999. These more recent arrivals, while able to live in the camps and with the knowledge of Thai officials gain access to food, shelter, education, and medical care, were never officially registered and admitted. UNHCR and the RTG agreed, while drawing up procedures for the new PABs, that their first task would be to officially screen and admit these persons. UNHCR and the RTG also agreed that future arrivals who are fleeing fighting will have their cases screened by the PABs. While awaiting their interviews, these persons will wait in holding centers located in existing refugee camps. If approved, they will then be officially admitted to the camps. ¶4. The first stage of work to regularize the status of those persons already in the camps has proceeded quickly as the PABs have largely approved en masse the names provided by UNHCR. In preparation for the U.S. resettlement program at Tham Hin camp, the Ratchaburi PAB late last year approved 1,030 people while rejecting 17. Later in Tak province, PAB screening resulted in 24,182 refugees approved and only 3 cases rejected. UNHCR has commended the PABs for their work and commented that the screening is proceeding "far better than expected." ¶5. However, a remaining approximately 11,000 camp residents, largely in Mae Hong Son Province, are still pending consideration as the PAB there has yet to convene its first meeting. The delay apparently is due to a dispute between UNHCR and local Thai officials over information required by the PAB about individual refugees and conditions in Burma when the refugees fled. The stalled status of this PAB was addressed at a recent UNHCR-RTG retreat. Representatives from Thailand's NSC, MOI, MFA and senior UNHCR staff who attended agreed to make a concerted effort to get the Mae Hong Son PAB started. ¶6. The PABs are also intended to screen those Burmese who are fleeing political persecution, that is, the caseload that UNHCR, the Thai, and the international community has generally referred to as the "urban Burmese." While UNHCR and the RTG are still working on procedural details, it is likely that persons in this group will be required to register at a local government office in the provinces where the PABs are located. While waiting for their individual cases to be processed, they will be required to live in the same holding centers mentioned above for those fleeing fighting. NGOs already working in the camps will provide services to meet the group's basic needs. The Thai and UNHCR have agreed that persons approved by the PABs will all be submitted for third country resettlement. The Thai and UNHCR have also discussed establishing a "fast track" procedure on a "case by case" basis for high profile cases. In an effort to hammer out the important details of the process, UNHCR has made several proposals including ideas on location of offices for initial registration and suggestions for documentation. ¶7. UNHCR reports that the holding centers in Tak and Mae Hong Song Provinces are now completed and ready to accommodate Burmese fleeing fighting and political persecution. In the Tak camps, holding centers can house up to 3,100 people. In Mae Hong Son the holding center's capacity is 250. In Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi Provinces, existing camp housing will be used as a holding center for the time being, and the amount of housing capacity that will ultimately be constructed is still unclear. ¶8. According to UNHCR, the holding centers are supposed to be an "extension" to the refugee camps and those living in them should have comparable access to services and facilities. Whether this will turn out to be the case is unclear. During a March 8 visit to a Mae Hong Son camp, Deputy Refcoord observed that the cluster of huts that make up the holding center are constructed out of the same materials used in other refugee housing in the camp. The huts had access to one water source. The space allocated per family allows little privacy and is noticeably smaller than in camp residences. UNHCR subsequently confirmed that the conditions in the holding centers built so far are inconsistent. While some holding center housing consists of longhouse construction, other camps have single house structures. Some centers are part of the main camp because they utilize existing housing and therefore have access to all camp services and facilities, while others are isolated which result in less access to camp services. UNHCR thinks that building inconsistencies are attributable to space limitations. UNHCR also noted that the holding centers are intended as a temporary place of residence while the PABs are performing their work. ¶9. Comment: While the PABs have been long in coming, it is encouraging that all but one is now operational. The first few rounds of PAB meetings have also yielded good results in the form of the formal admittance into the camps of thousands of refugees. However, the PABs now face the more difficult work of screening the cases of persons fleeing fighting and political persecution. It remains to be seen how quickly such cases will be screened and what the approval rate will be. ARVIZU