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- Kenya: Refugees Prefer Somalia to Warehousing
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July 16, 2008
1. World Refugee Survey 2008 Worldwide Release
We released the World Refugee Survey 2008 last month with the assistance of our research partners around the world. Joining us for the event in Washington were Senator Ben Cardin and Reps. Maxine Waters, Zoe Lofgren, and Patrick Kennedy. Photos from events in Benin, Cameroon, Ecuador, Kenya, Russia, Serbia, Thailand, Uganda, and Washington are on our website. We've also compiled some of the news coverage of the Survey's release.
Please take a moment to help us keep pressure on the countries that we have dubbed the Worst Places for Refugees. We've set up a web form for you to write quickly and easily to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Malaysia has a long history of abusing refugees: detaining them in filthy, overcrowded conditions, caning them, and deporting them. Corrupt immigration officials even sell them to human traffickers, who in turn sell them into slavery on Thai fishing boats or in brothels. For an account of life on a Thai fishing boat from a refugee from Burma, see here:
"They beat me every time I made a mistake. They beat me with their hands and feet. They beat me with metal bars, about this size and this size…" showing that it was the length of his hand, and then his arm. "They would throw pieces of chain at me", he said. Sometimes there would be blood all over".
"There were 5 of us slaves - two others from Thailand and another three from Cambodia. They killed 3 of us. They killed the first person about a month after we set out to sea. This guy had bought some whiskey at the port, and when he ran out of alcohol, he couldn’t work as hard. They were really angry. So they took him to the front of the boat and beat him every day. He was very afraid. One day, after beating him up, they threw him overboard. But he could swim a bit, so he swam back to the ship. They called to him. “Come, come” they said. So he swam back, but when he tried to board the ship, they beat him with spades, so he fell down into the water. Again he swam and he tried to climb up, but this time they beat him with hooks. There was blood all over. He fell back into the sea and was unconscious for about 15 minutes, just floating. The third time, he swam back but dare not climb up, so he was just clinging to the fishing net by the side of the boat. This was when one of them climbed down and stabbed him in the throat with a small knife"
2. Formerly Warehoused Refugee Represents U.S. at Olympics
Lopez Lomong at right, after qualifying for the Olympics. Matthew Stockman / Getty Images
Philip Hersh reports in “Lopez Lomong's long journey will continue in Beijing ” in the July 7, 2008 Los Angeles Times:
He was abducted with 50 others from church at age 6 by a faction that wanted to turn young boys into child soldiers. Escaped through a hole in a fence with three other older boys who carried him on their backs as they walked three days, not knowing they had crossed into Kenya until border police arrested them and sent them to a refugee camp. Spent 10 years in the camp, living on one meal a day, until he learned of a program to resettle 3,500 "Lost Boys of Sudan" into the United States….
Lomong learned of the Olympics in the refugee camp, using five shillings -- two U.S. cents -- he was paid for raking dirt to join friends watching the 2000 Summer Games on television. He saw Michael Johnson win the 400 meters.
"He was running so fast, I said, 'I want to run like that guy,' " Lomong said.
3. Kenya: Refugees Prefer Somalia to Warehousing
Abdurrahman Warsameh reports in “Foreign refugees havened in war-torn Somalia,” Xinhua, July 7, 2008:
Mussa Suleinman, a Zanzibari refugee in Mogadishu, … who now works as a barber in the south of Mogadishu, told Xinhua that the Tanzanian refugees had stayed in camps in Kenya before they decided to come here in Somalia. … "[W]e could not get jobs and suffered a lot, so we came here," said Suleiman, who is now married to a Somali woman and has one child.
When the Zanzibari refugees arrived in Mogadishu back in 2001 they were welcomed by local residents and settled in one of the deserted former government buildings in Mogadishu where they still live. "We were first given assistance by local people here who helped us with food, clothing and shelter but with time we had to fend for ourselves," Rashid Ahmed, vice chairman of the refugees, told Xinhua.
"Some us of us started working as carpenters, teachers, or fishermen while others started their own small businesses but most of us work as barbers to earn our living," said Ahmed, a barber. … "Most of those who went to other Somali towns like Hobyo, Kismanyo and Bossaso work on their own as fishermen," Ahmed said. "They have their own small boats and go out into the sea to fish and trust their luck just like every other people in the sea," he adds. …
Zanzibar refugee leaders say that they do not feel any discrimination against them and they are not particularly targeted by any of the sides in the ongoing violence. They say they are respected as guests by all Somalis. … [D]espite their linguistic difference, the Zanzibari refugees have been assimilated well into the local Somali population with a number of them married to local Somali women and have some children with them.
"All our children born here and those brought here young speak Somali better than Kiswahili and I believe we have been destined to be part of this great nation which is unfortunately going through its most difficult period," says Ahmed.
4. Thailand: Warehousing Fosters Corruption and Undermines National Security
According to a recent draft confidential report by consultants hired by international donors:
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refugees seeking to leave the camps to work must do so illegally, risking detention or deportation, must pay bribes to camp administrators, local authorities and others, sometimes as much as 15,000 baht. Often they must borrow the money from illegal money lenders in the camps and pay as much as 20 percent interest per month;
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the committees that run the camps are linked to rebel political movements from Myanmar that pay stipends to more than 1,700 persons ranging from warehouse guardians to the chairpersons of the Camp Committees. They also lead the monthly meetings dealing with camp conditions, vocational training, road improvements, etc. that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and community based organization all attend. In all relevant questions related to policy, strategy, and camp management the last say is that of the rebel groups. Minorities in the camps that represents nearly 10 percent of the population are never represented at administrative and management level.
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The consultants quote reliable international sources that support this analysis and add “Fear of KNU [the Karen National Union] and KNPP is evident, and there have been numerous reports that KNU and KNPP [Karenni National Progressive Party] regularly impose forced labour and taxation on refugees, particularly on those from an ethnic minority or a military background opposing them. … It has become obvious that there are a number of active and former soldiers in the camps. … KRC [Karen Refugee Committee] pointed out, privately, that they have little ability to contradict the orders of KNU regarding camp population and camp management. [There are] signs of armed insurgents operating from Tham Hin and Ban Don Yang camps.”
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Diversions from food distributions can amount to several thousand tons per year; donors and NGO’s that support the camps admit to financing activities in Myanmar including transfer of cash and commodities across the border, without evidence of use for humanitarian purposes.
The consultants conclude: “the way in which camp management arrangements are being implemented … calls into serious question … the legitimacy of the camps from a humanitarian assistance standpoint. … [T]he absence of control and accountability over resources being transferred across the border from Thailand into Myanmar are for many donors contradictory to the principles of transparency, and good stewardship over the use of public funds that they advocate in other fora and policy dialogue processes. Furthermore, there is the appearance of a mixing of political and humanitarian assistance agendas in cross border operations, as with the financing of external ethnic-based Refugee Committees for management of internal camp affairs. ”
After complaints from an aid agency, the donors deleted all references to cross-border aid but did not say they were inaccurate.
- DfID Review of Warehousing and Armed Political Groups
In July 2008, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) produced its Review of Aid to Refugees and Internally Displaced People on the Thailand-Burma Border. It cited increased mental illness in the camps due to confinement-induced alcohol and drug abuse, violence (particularly against women and children), and crime and found existing protection programmes and camp-based justice systems to be “inadequate.” It also cited “serious concerns about people trafficking through the camps and other protection issues.” Excerpts:
Maintenance of the status quo encampment and the provision of basic services will not reduce dependency, hopelessness and exploitation. …
The main cross border programme is TBBC’s Emergency Relief Assistance programme which distributed around $2.1 million to more than 100,000 people in 20 townships in 2006. Through five local organisations with connections to armed groups, TBBC distributes mainly cash …
Cross border assistance is not officially acknowledged by either the Thai or Burmese authorities and raises a number of difficulties for donors including accountability, capacity, access and monitoring. Delivery agencies vary in the rigour of their internal monitoring mechanisms and their conflict sensitivity. A number of donors have decided that their contributions to TBBC should not be used for cross-border assistance. …
[T]he bulk of cross-border assistance is delivered through organisations affiliated to particular armed groups,[c] which may limit its ability to ensure equity of access for all ethnic, religious and political groups.
Nevertheless, DfID recommended that the U.K. continue subsidizing warehousing in Thailand.
- Economist, Labor Leader, Monk on TV Panel—Let the Refugees Work!
The May 30, 2008 broadcast of Channel 9’s (~77,000 viewers) Bhai Nee Mee Kham Thob (This Afternoon We Have the Answer) panel discussion/viewer call-in TV program focused on the treatment of refugees. It featured Dr. Anusorn Tamajai, Dean of Faculty of Economics, Rangsit University; Sawit Kaewwan, Secretary General of Thailand Labor Solidarity Committee; and Phra Kittisak Kitti Sophano of the Metta Dhammaraksa Foundation. Moderator Phisarn Dilokwanich introduced the topic noting that
international NGOs criticize Thailand’s ill treatment of refugees compared that of Malaysia [toward the Acehnese] and the United States because Thailand has kept a large number of refugees in the border areas for decades, despite their potential and ability to work. Thailand is often humiliated when international conferences raise this and Thai delegates are unable to explain it to the international community.
“Refugees,” he added “can’t go shopping like us or to the movies, let alone shop at Tesco Lotus.”
Phra Kittisak added
They are alike prisoners with a life sentence. They will be outlaws if they leave the camp. This gives corrupt officials the chance to abuse them. … If you ask me what the standard of living of refugees who were born and stay in camp for 24 years is, it is worse than that of prisoners in jails.
Dr. Anusorn spoke on the effects for Thailand and the refugees of keeping them in camps for 20 years and said
we should allow refugees to work and be economically self-sufficient. On their own legs financially, they would want more education. If economically and educationally stronger, these refugees can help change the situation in Myanmar when they repatriate. … If we treat them well, we will have friends in the neighboring country when they return home. If our friends in neighboring countries are happy and have good standard of living, that will affect us positively too. … Malaysia, for example, gave refugees from Aceh the right to work by giving them work permits and it still could administrate them well. As you can see, the security is still there, while refugees are self-subsistent and working with dignity.
Sawit added:
these people can help strengthen our economic growth. But the problem is that they are overlooked and left behind in an undeveloped state. The most important thing is that they get the right to work, fair wages, and freedom of movement, because these are basic.
When a caller from Chiang Mai said that refugees commit crimes and trespass on other people’s land, Phra Kittisak, from the same region, replied, “These problems occur because we deprive them of their rights. If we allowed them their rights and better living standards, they can be part of our society.”
Anusorn concluded:
the right to work and freedom of movement of refugees are basic rights, and it is time that refugees in Thailand should enjoy them as they do in many other countries. This will benefit both refugees and Thailand, especially on its economy. I am on the boards of many companies and enterprises in many sectors, especially industry, complain of labor shortages. Refugees can help fill the gap and move the economy which will benefit all Thais. We can love our nation, we can care of the majority of our countrymen, but the most important thing is that we should not be narrow-minded.
5. Warehousing at UNHCR's 42nd Standing Committee
A colletion of items on the 2008 meeting of UNHCR's Standing Committee in Geneva, including the new Draft Policy on Refugees in Urban Areas, plans for the High Commissioner's dialogue on protracted refugee situations in December, and recommendation for an ExCom Conclusion on self-reliance is on our website.
6. USCRI is now on Facebook!
USCRI now has pages on Facebook, Change.org, MySpace, and Flickr.
