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Thailand – As an estimated 1 million remaining migrant workers in Thailand rush to verify their citizenship before a looming March 31 deadline, Burmese nationals of South Asian descent widely report subjection to extra scrutiny in order to prove their ties to their homeland.
The end of the month marks the date in which Thailand aims to have all of its nearly 4 million migrant workers registered. The process to do so accelerated in early February with the opening of 80 One Stop Service (OSS) Centres by the Ministry of Labour. Here, migrant workers must first obtain a Certificate of Identity (CI), or a confirmation of their nationality from immigration officials from their home country in this case, Burma before undergoing a health check and later applying for a work permit. Protocol requires that to obtain a CI, migrant workers must present officials with a letter of employment from their boss, proof of their residence in Thailand, and their temporary migrant worker identification card.
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The Burma Human Rights Network has been informed by several Rohingya villagers who remained in Burma’s Northern Rakhine State of continued food shortages and unlivable conditions due to restrictions put in place by the government and security forces. Of those remaining, frequent complaints were made related to limited food rations, inability to access agricultural work, severe travel restrictions and fear of continuing attacks by vigilante groups from neighboring ethnic Rakhine communities.
Villagers from Gutar Pyin, in Buthidaung Township, have complained of food shortages and increased restrictions on movement since August of 2017 when security forces began their “clearance operations” in the area. After 200 homes were burnt down as part of the military’s campaign, only 1500 villagers are reported to remain. Those remaining lack adequate shelter and are dependent on monthly rations from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). One villager told BHRN, “In one house three families have to live together. We’ve requested permission from the authorities to rebuild the homes but we have not received it yet.”
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We, Rohingya and Burmese civil society organizations, strongly support High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein’s Mass Atrocities against Rohingyas Require Urgent recommendation that the Human Rights Council ask the General Assembly to establish a new independent and impartial mechanism to prepare criminal proceedings against those responsible for the atrocities in Rakhine State.
In the face of genocide, the UN’s foremost human rights body must shoulder its responsibilities and pursue justice for the Rohingya. Survivors have told harrowing accounts of killing, rape, abduction, torture, and arson. We urge the Human Rights Council to heed High Commissioner Zeid’s recommendation. The Council should call on the General Assembly to launch the mechanism in its next resolution on Myanmar.
The UN must act urgently. The government of Myanmar demonstrates time and time again that it is unwilling to pursue justice. Instead, it repeatedly obstructs efforts to investigate the horrific crimes. The authorities refuse access to Rakhine State for UN
