International protection and public accountability: The roles of civil society

Abstract

© Cambridge University Press. Introduction. I was sent back to Lao PDR by the Thai army last December but managed to come back. I was recognized by UNHCR as refugee and was already accepted by the Australian Government to be resettled there. I was waiting with my family in the Detention Centre in Nong Kai for about three years just to be forced back to where I was trying to escape. All my papers were confiscated once I arrived in Lao PDR. I have never been considered as their citizen; why they want to keep us there? If the Burmese and Wa armies start fighting again, how can we protect our property? Where will we go? How will we survive? (Shan woman, Mong Hsat Township, SRDC interview, July 2009) Tens of thousands of migrants all around the world – in developed and developing countries alike – have been put into prisons, not because they're criminals but just because they are in the country irregularly. Countries will often call these detention places something else, like migrant centres, but they end up being detention centres nevertheless. In many parts of the world, the conditions in the prisons are absolutely appalling. The author does not have any intention to make any judgment nor analysis of the above quotations, but some of the “testimonies” from those who fled their own country of origin suggest that, although for different reasons, they do share more or less the same fate. Some might be recognized as refugees by international organizations like the UNHCR but their status might not be recognized by the countries concerned. For the Thai government, the thousands of Hmong Laos entered into Thailand illegally, therefore they had to be returned to their own countries. For those who came from Myanmar, most are not qualified for refugee status. Millions of them end up becoming migrant workers and some have been registered and some not.