UNHCR chief arrives in Myanmar for talks on Rohingya refugees

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YANGON, March 7 Kyodo -
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres arrived in Yangon late
Saturday to seek further cooperation from Myanmar junta leaders to address
problems related to the flow of refugees from the military-ruled state.
After meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya in Bangkok earlier in
the day, Guterres told reporters there he would meet Sunday with
''representatives'' of the military government in Myanmar.
He did not disclose any further details except that he would also visit areas
where the UNHCR has operations in both northern and southern parts of the
country.
''We want to engage in a very constructive way to make sure the increase of
humanitarian space in Myanmar. The increase of enjoyment of rights in Myanmar
can be very important element to avoid more refugees leaving the country,'' he
said.
Guterres, who is visiting Myanmar for the first time before his five-year term
as UNHCR ends in June 2010, said he would also discuss with the Myanmar junta
possible operations to be conducted by the UNHCR in the northern part of
Myanmar's Rakhine State where thousands of Muslim minority the Rohingyas have
fled to other Southeast Asian nations and to Bangladesh.
Separately, Kasit told reporters in Bangkok of a UNHCR plan to improve basic
living conditions in Rakhine State, especially for education and sanitation as
part of efforts to prepare for repatriation of Rohingya boat people back to
their homeland.
Some 20,000 Rohingyas have arrived in Thailand and the Thai authorities want
further work with the UNHCR to probe the country of origin of refugees,
according to the Thai foreign minister.
Guterres welcomed a recent move by leaders of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations, of which Thailand and Myanmar are members, to promote a regional
approach to address refugee issues in the region.
''It is our deep conviction that this thing cannot be solved on a country by
country basis and the ASEAN provides a very adequate framework in order to be
able to guarantee that people in need of protection are effectively protected
and human rights are guaranteed, at the same time the states see their security
concerns are also fully taken into consideration,'' he said.
Bangladesh has accommodated more than 200,000 Rohingyas fleeing from
persecution in Myanmar since 1978.
Malaysia and Indonesia, two Muslim states in Southeast Asia, are also known as
popular choices for Rohingyas to resettle, but there are no official records of
how many may have done so.
The Thai armed forces have been accused since January this year of mistreating
hundreds of Rohingyas who fled from the western part of Myanmar by boat.
Accusations include torture while in detention and forcing refugees back to sea
with little food or water.
Myanmar has denied that Rohingya boat people found recently in neighboring
countries in Southeast Asia are from Myanmar.
They claim there are no ethnic Rohingyas among 135 ethnic minorities in Myanmar.
The other members of ASEAN are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines,
Singapore and Vietnam.
(with reporting from Myat Thura in Yangon)
==Kyodo