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10 August 2005

 

JRS and IRC call for resumption of UNHCR RSD

for Burmese  in Thailand

 

 

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) have called for the resumption of refugee status determination (RSD) in Thailand in a new report saying that the Royal Thai Government has failed to set up an effective RSD system of its own.

 

In January 2004, UNHCR announced it would suspend RSD for Burmese in order to comply with Thai government policy and to reduce its own backlogs.  According to media reports, the previous UNHCR RSD system was seen by some as vulnerable to abuse, but the new system has been criticized for failing to protect refugee rights. 

 

“There has been no government response to the void left by UNHCR’s withdrawal from status determination,” said the JRS/IRC report.

 

Both JRS and IRC provide legal counseling to asylum-seekers seeking refugee status determination in Thailand.

RSDWatch.org

An independent source of information about the way the UN refugee agency decides refugee cases.

 

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