Analise Saavedra Published 26 April 2022
It was 7 a.m. as I watched the sun over the green mountains, crammed at the back of a pickup truck. We rumbled towards the Burmese border over dirt roads and past small villages, not yet awake. The border was marked by a group of soldiers standing somberly, guns hanging from their shoulders. To my relief, the Thai project workers were adept in their routine of bribery with the border guards.
I was only 13, but illegally crossing a border was the least of the troubles most kids my age faced in this area. We soon descended into Shan State, arriving at a large concrete building crowded with dirt-covered children and their families waiting to receive aid. Like many minority groups in Myanmar, the Shan are deprived of public service and health care by the government, although it wasn’t always this way. Before and during British rule, minority groups like the Shan were allowed to self-govern. However, after decolonization, the 1948 Citizenship law led various ethnic groups who arrived in the territory of Myanmar after 1823 to lose their autonomy and citizenship. This laid the foundation for an armed conflict between minority groups and the Burmese military, thereby creating a refugee crisis in Thailand.
As a result of prejudice since decolonization, armed groups emerged among various tribal peoples to fight for their freedom. Although groups present after 1823 can acquire citizenship after three generations in Myanmar, this often does not happen. Due to discrimination, the few who acquire legal status become second-class citizens while those who are denied citizenship are subject to rape, human trafficking and a lack of education and political representation. Many are infuriated by the denial of rights in a country they not only call home, but where they once possessed autonomy. Consequently, insecurity and militarisation thrust ethnic armed organisations into an armed insurgency against the government. The Chin, Kayah, Mon, Kayin, Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states are most affected by the violence, although the majority of armed confrontations take place in the latter three.
As a result of the instability and violence, a refugee crisis began between Myanmar and Thailand. Since 1951, Thailand has refused to sign the 1951 UN Refugee Convention which has limited the rights for the 90,000 Burmese who reside in refugee camps. Despite promises to the US that it will distribute humanitarian aid, Thailand is hesitant to follow through due to their maintenance of close ties with the Burmese government. Not only does Thailand refuse to move refugees further inland to shelter them from being shelled by the Burmese military, it also denies them medical services and the right to work, which makes integration impossible. Furthermore, refugees are confined to closed camps and those who are unregistered are not allowed resettlement, and on some occasions are sent back across the border or to other nearby countries through unofficial deportations. Thailand also adopted a “push back” policy to intercept ill-equipped boats of refugees that arrive by sea. As a result of these harmful policies, refugees risk their lives crossing the border only to receive a different array of human rights abuses in Thailand.
Therefore, both the Thai and Burmese governments are in need of reform to begin resolution of these ethnic issues. For the Burmese government, it is necessary to engage in a transparent citizenship reform process whereby ethnicity is taken off the table for political and legal domains. Through a shift in the narratives used in the discussion of the conflict and the removal of ethnicity from identity cards, the government of Myanmar can lay a groundwork for peace. Not only will people feel heard, but they will also be united in their love for Myanmar rather than being divided by ethnic belonging. In terms of the Thai response, the “push back” policy must be discontinued to prevent unofficial deportations. To meet human rights standards, the Thai government must ensure asylum seekers are never in detention centres or shelters indefinitely unless in exceptional circumstances. If these changes take place, perhaps ethnic minorities will be able to live at peace and receive a higher quality of life so it will no longer be necessary for NGOs to smuggle aid across the border as I did when I was 13.
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