Attachments
Situation Overview
Context
Since the military takeover in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, widespread violence against civilians across the country and the resurgence of clashes between the Myanmar Military (Tatmadaw) and ethnic armed groups (EAGs) in border areas have forcibly displaced thousands of people within Myanmar and to neighbouring countries. Within Myanmar’s south-eastern provinces, people fled from violence, military attacks and airstrikes. Several thousands of civilians fled their villages to seek safety and refuge in the jungle along the Salween River, along the Myanmar-Thai border. Since February 2021, over 20,000 refugees have crossed into Thailand to flee fighting and seek protection. A high proportion of those who have crossed are women, children, and older persons. The majority returned to Myanmar after the fighting reportedly subsided. In the first half of 2022, over 5,000 refugees arrived in Thailand and were hosted in the Temporary Safety Areas (TSAs) as per the Standard Operating Procedures on Managing Myanmar displaced persons fleeing unrest situation who enter Thailand along the border. As of 30 June 2022, according to official RTG sources, 855 refugees remained in the TSAs. A significant number of refugees are reportedly remaining in Thailand outside of the TSAs. No official numbers are available on these groups.
While most refugees subsequently returned to Myanmar, thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) located close to the Thai-Myanmar border remain at high risk of harm, and along with others newly displaced, may seek to cross into Thailand to escape persecution and the situation of generalized violence. As of June 2022, some 244,500 IDPs are reported to remain displaced in southeast Myanmar, including in areas bordering Thailand (Shan South, Kayah, Kayin and Mon States and Tanintharyi Region). As of end of June, there were also some 11,000 IDPs in areas of Shan State bordering Thailand, already present prior to the 1 February coup.
As part of the on-going preparedness efforts, humanitarian agencies are planning for up to 24,000 people potentially seeking refuge in Thailand over the coming six months, from 1 July to end of December 2022. How the situation will evolve remains unclear given the ongoing conflict in the south-eastern region states as well as the increasedviolence in other locations across the country. In the first part of 2022, Kayin State remained the flashpoint in the SouthEast as clashes escalated again between the military forces and ethnic armed groups in March and June 2022.
The plan is focused on readiness and preparedness to support the Thai authorities in the response. Thailand has decades-long experience in receiving influxes of persons seeking protection from its neighbours, including Myanmar. Refugees fleeing fighting and persecution in Southeast Myanmar have received protection and assistance in nine temporary shelters (camps) on the Thai border since the 1980s. In the camps, NGOs from the Committee for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT) provide essential services and material assistance and UNHCR leads on protection and solutions. In more recent influxes of refugees that occurred before 2021, the Royal Thai Government (RTG) with the support of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) organized holding areas and took the lead in responding. Complementary support was requested from humanitarian agencies only as needed.
Inter-agency response
In light of the developments in Myanmar since 1 February 2021, Thai authorities have held contingency planning discussions at local level to prepare for the arrival of Myanmar refugees, evacuated Thai citizens, and nationals from other countries. At central level, the RTG developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in preparation for the arrival of Myanmar refugees fleeing armed conflict, growing violence and unrest.
According to the RTG SOPs, Thailand will initially receive refugees at temporary safety areas managed by the RTA. Following this, individuals would be moved to holding areas designated and managed by Provincial authorities, where they would be accommodated. The humanitarian agencies remain ready to support the RTG in providing protection and assistance to refugees at any point during their stay in Thailand.
Newly arriving refugees require urgent life-saving support and their fundamental human rights must be protected. This calls for a holistic multi- sectoral approach to refugee emergency preparedness and response where the humanitarian agencies (RRP Partners) must be well-prepared and ready to extend support to the RTG’s own response efforts, in an effectively coordinated and timely manner.
An initial inter-agency contingency plan was developed in early 2021, identifying in-country resources. It can be mobilized and reallocated in a timely manner to bridge gaps in life-saving assistance and protection services. The document, which was based on a minimalist planning scenario, was also used as a basis to engage with RTG agencies, including to clarify roles and advocate around the essential protection issues.
Second, and to strengthen inter-agency preparedness, a multi-sector coordination mechanism was agreed and established at the national level and in the provinces to be ready to support the RTG in responding to newly arriving refugees. The coordination mechanism, which is separate from the regular coordination mechanism for the nine camps, is structured around the following sectors: Education; Food; Health; Non-food items (NFIs); Protection; Shelter; and Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH). This Refugee Preparedness and Response Plan is an inter-agency document jointly prepared based on agreed scenarios and contingency planning discussions that have taken place for each sector.
In addition to working closely with both national and local authorities, CBOs and CSOs, since the start of the emergency, some of the key activities of the Inter-sector Co-ordination Working Group have included developing guidance on the humanitarian principles for assistance in safety areas and outside of areas specified in the RTG SOPs for all sectors, accompanied by a protection checklist; joint site assessments with the local authorities in holding areas identified by the districts along the border; a mapping of CBOs and CSOs in selected provinces; the development of a rapid needs assessment tool; the establishment of referral pathways; continuous review of the standard minimum NFI kit and harmonized distribution processes, as well as the development of a post-distribution mechanism tool; the re-design of sustainable shelters in line with SPHERE standards and the design of a toolkit for small groups to engage in shelter construction and repair; distribution of hygiene kits and latrine construction materials; an assessment of water type and nature of water sources in identified holding areas; the creation of a Mental Health Psycho-Social (MHPSS) toolbox; the distribution of a Home Based Learning Kit and development of minimum standards for temporary learning centres. Additionally, training sessions on emergency preparedness, including child protection and child safeguarding, assistance to persons with specific needs in forced displacement as well as general refugee protection principles and protection mainstreaming, were delivered for both sector members as well as CBOs and CSOs. Training was also provided to sector members on WASH and MHPSS, the latter including a Mental Health Training of Trainers and Psychological First Aid (PFA), as well as on NFI processes, tools and accountability mechanisms in emergency and post-emergency settings. Finally, sectors leads and members at both national and provincial level were able to participate in an online, comprehensive simulation exercise to test preparedness.