Thailand Halts Karen Refugee Repatriation to Myanmar After Outcry

“Because there is some concern, we have decided to halt the process until the Karens clarify their position,” Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said by telephone from Bangkok. “We want to dispel any concerns that their return would not be on a voluntary basis.”

Earlier today, 12 Karens in three families voluntarily returned to Myanmar before the process was stopped, Thani said. Embassies and civil society groups sent representatives to the Thai-Myanmar border to observe the procedure, he said.

Thai authorities have struggled with providing a haven for political asylum seekers while prosecuting illegal migrants. Per-capita spending power in Thailand, which hasn’t signed the United Nations’ 1951 refugee convention, is almost four times greater than Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- neighbors that share about 90 percent of its land border.

“The majority of people come here seeking better opportunities, better living and better jobs,” Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters, diplomats and human rights workers at a seminar in Bangkok today. “They are not affected by fighting.”

The Karens set to return to Myanmar fled last June to escape a military offensive by the ruling junta. They are among 140,000 Myanmar refugees scattered in nine border camps in Thailand that have been in operation since the 1980s, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.