CCSDPT Meeting
26th September 2013
Member organizations present:
ACTED, ADRA, COERR, HI, IRC, JRS, PU-AMI, RTP, SVA, TBC, TOPS, War Child Holland, WE, ZOA
AusAID, DFID, EU, Embassy of Japan, USAID, US Embassy
ICRC, IOM, UNHCR
1. Introduction of Special Guests and Round Table Self-Introductions
2. Amendments to the August 2013 Meeting Minutes
The minutes were approved.
3. Refugee Situation
 UNHCR Update
UNHCR is waiting for dates to be announced for the second round of the fast-track Provincial Admission
Boards (PABs).
There has been positive indication that the Royal Thai Government (RTG) will move forward on the issue
of birth registration for the backlog of children that were born to registered parents since 2010. Every
child has a right to a birth certificate since the 2008 Act in Thailand, so UNHCR is also promoting birth
registration for children of non-registered parents as well.
There is a need to look more closely at standard operating procedures for ‘unnatural’ deaths, including
suicide and other cases. UNHCR is in discussion with KRC and others involved so the cases can be
handled in the correct way.
There was a cross border INGO/UNHCR meeting in the last week of September with four NGOs from
each side of the border. It was not part of the formal structural voluntary repatriation (‘volrep’)
coordination, but it was a useful level of consultation.
UNHCR has continued its survey on non-formalized population movements. The survey shows that
while there was movement out of the camps, they were not significant permanent returns to the
Southeast.
In collaboration with NGOs, UNHCR would like to develop criteria that might help to define or determine
the level of intervention or support for spontaneous or self-assisted returns.
UNHCR met with KRC and camp leadership Monday, 23rd September to report the main statistical results
of the pilot profiling survey in June/July in Mae La. They plan to meet with KRC, KNRC, and the nine
camp committees to analyse the data and discuss next steps. They are keen to continue the project in
the other eight camps, which was the request of the refugee committees early in the year.
As an overview, there was high participation in the survey, and more unregistered refugees than were
on the record participated in the survey. There was an extremely high indication of the preference to
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either resettle or remain in Thailand and a very low percentage, less than 10%, who made a preference
for return.
The purpose of the profiling was not to try to determine the preference for durable solutions. When the
High Commissioner was in Bangkok at beginning of 2011, he suggested a profiling of the refugees since
there has been no registration since 2005. The essential question was about life skills and livelihoods,
wherever refugees might determine is their future. That remains the essence of the survey.
The profiling took more than two years to get the approval of the RTG and then a lengthy consultation
with the refugees themselves. In the time of two years, the environment has changed and there is
anxiety about the changes in Myanmar and preparedness for return. UNHCR feels the Mae La survey
reflects the current ‘pulse’, not the future intent.
UNHCR has been told by all nine camp leaders that they want to undertake the profiling. If when Mae
Fah Luang begins the profiling and if it is clear refugees don’t want or understand the process, they will
stop to clarify and get the sense of the majority.
UNHCR does not intend to release a public report on all the findings, but there was a press release on
general findings on 26th September. They planned to share and answer queries on the detailed findings
with humanitarian actors, donors and governments.
One of the lessons learned for UNHCR from the pilot project was the need to better communicate with
CCSDPT members and donors about the purpose and methodology so that they can explain when asked
the purpose. UNHCR reiterated that the purpose is for refugees to have a voice about their future and
livelihoods, whether the livelihood is in Thailand, Southeast Burma, or in resettlement countries. The
order of survey questions may be changed so that the focus on livelihoods is clear.

Refugee camps and other displacement along the Thailand-Burma/Myanmar border
The need for mental health to be in the discussions on preparedness was an issue addressed at by the
psychosocial working group in late September. They are currently mapping services for psychosocial
support and mental health along the border, and there are gaps based on addressing stigmas around
mental health.
There continue to be new arrivals in camps, but less than in previous years. The arrivals are spread
proportionately throughout the border in all nine camps, primarily because of skirmishes, land
confiscation, and accessing education.
About 150 people were in hiding in Prachup Khiri Khan province, after a skirmish in July between New
Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Tatmadaw. The incident appeared to be a one-off event, outside the
ceasefire areas. The majority have gone back to the other side of the border, but there may be an IDP
camp for some time. TBC is providing food assistance. Local authorities have been cooperative.
There was a question about declines in IDP numbers on the IDP maps. Two Mon resettlement sites are
no longer included in the figures because TBC is no longer providing food assistance to them - in part
because of restrictions on access when there was the breakdown between the NMSP and the
government a couple of years ago, and in part because there is increased access into those areas from
inside.
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In September there were two new cases of landmine-injured people from Mae Rah Ma Luang who were
logging on the Myanmar side. Handicap International (HI) tracks cases by visiting and interviewing
victims to determine where the incident occurred and to make sure injured persons are cared for and
fitted for prosthetics if needed. HI has a project to train people about mine risk education in all nine
camps. If people working in the camps hear about refugees planning to travel, make sure they are
provided proper training to avoid risk. Also, if people know of cases of mine incidents, let HI know so
that they can visit.

Refugee resettlement to third countries
As of the end of September, there had been just over 6,000 for the year. That puts the total at over
90.000 since 2004 for this group. There has been a 30% increase from last year, and a 30% decrease is
anticipated in the next calendar year. There will be a significant increase in departures to Australia
between October and December, before the end of the Australian government fiscal year. Australia
issued about 1000 refugee visas, so refugees will start departing in increasing numbers.

Burmese migrant workers in Thailand
A migrant survey of about 5000 people has been undertaken by IOM. There were some questions
related to intent to return of the migrant population. The issue will be brought to the stakeholder
meeting to see if there are any parallels to the camps.
Earlier this year, irregular migrant workers were allowed to enter a regularization process. They had to
go to one of the 12 One Stop Service Centres (OSSC) across the country to receive a temporary passport
from their country of origin and apply for a work permit with the Thai government. In total, 492,881
persons have completed the process, meaning they have been verified by country of origin as citizens
and they received a work permit from Ministry of Labour.
The figure for those who didn’t complete the process stands at 158,262 persons. In August 2013, the
RTG issued a Cabinet Resolution that allows them to register by applying for TR38/1 with the Ministry of
Labour (MOL). Before that process, employers have to report to employment offices that the person is
already in the system waiting for registration. This resolution also allows people in the fishing sectors to
register twice a year; before migrant workers in the fisheries can go for registration, Ministry of Interior
(MOI) has to issue a ministerial regulation allowing them to register.
In a joint meeting of officials from Thailand and Myanmar, it was decided five Nationality Verification
worker registration centres would be opened on the border for people whose passports are about to
expire.
To summarise the migrant statistics, there are 1,689,849 regular migrant workers in Thailand,
categorised in three groups: The first is migrant workers who are in the process of regularization. This
group totals 651,143 which includes those who have completed the process and those who still have to
go for registration. The second group is those who completed nationality verification and have valid
work permits. The figure is 899,658. The third group of 139,048 is those who have entered Thailand
through MOUs between Thailand and neighbouring countries and this group also has valid work
permits.
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There is a new health care policy that allows for all unregistered and registered people to buy health
insurance at the government hospital. For people over seven years old, the cost is 2,200 baht plus 600
baht for a health check. For children under seven, it is 385 baht. The coverage extends to immunizations
and services for pregnant women as well as ARV treatment for HIV. Refugees in the camps can also
apply for the health insurance. There is some confusion about the insurance fee, because Ministry of
Labour (MOL) said that fee should be 1,500 baht but the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) said it should
be 2,200 baht.
4. Sector activities
 Updates from CCSDPT Sector Sub-Committees and Working Groups
Protection
The protection subcommittee finalized their strategy and three main objectives. One is identifying
protection related issues on the border through protection forums and their own work on all different
levels. The second is to advocate for those issues and determine how to address them; and the third is
to focus on making protection a core element in program design and implementation throughout
CCSDPT agencies. One activity is the Code of Conduct and making sure that all agencies have codes of
conduct on all levels, from camp based through headquarters.
The subcommittee decided to have thematic areas to revise each year or as they emerge in the changing
context. They’ve identified gender, registration, preparedness for future durable solutions and
disaffected youth as current thematic areas to be revised as the context changes.
They also finalized the Terms of Reference (TOR). They put a lot of focus on coordination with other
protection groups on all levels on the border to ensure the refugee voice is heard in the committee and
to be able to address concerns based on the actual issues happening on the ground.
The subcommittee is developing indicators to monitor changes and reduction in assistance. They will
develop indicators on which agencies can report in order to try to devise a system to get relevant data
and analysis.
There was good representation of UNHCR at the subcommittee, as well as prior to the meeting with
suggestions, etc.
Food and Nutrition
TBC is rolling out a significant information campaign in all the camps with regards to the ration
reductions that will go into effect at the end of November for December distribution. As the process
gets underway, there will undoubtedly be confusion as to what are the changes in the ration. The
message going out is that people will have to take more responsibility for providing for themselves. The
cuts reduce rice and only to adults, so for everyone under 18 the ration remains the same.
There are three different levels of cuts depending on the camp situation. The camps that find it the most
difficult to have coping strategies are Don Yang and Site 2, so their ration will not change. The camps
where it is felt they have more access to other ways to support their families are the Tak camps, so Mae
La, Umpiem and Nu Po, will receive the largest reduction of kilos in the standard ration. It is then up to
the community to identify which households are vulnerable and need more support.
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The ration reduction is not about the individual but is about the whole household, so it depends on the
situation of the household. Some stipend workers may be in a vulnerable household, for example, if
they have a lot of dependents.
WASH working group
The WASH working group was created to replace the Environmental Health and Infrastructure (EHI)
subcommittee. It is comprised of five NGOs at the moment – MI, IRC, ARC, COERR, and Solidarites
International. It will be a technical working group and subcommittee and the chair will remain vice chair
of the health subcommittee. The working group also talked about infrastructure and disaster risk
reduction. As there are no funds for infrastructure and disaster risk reduction, it should be treated camp
by camp to be able to manage it.
Education
There was an education stakeholders meeting held in Mae Sariang on 22nd August. The meeting brought
together actors from all nine camps, including KRCEE and KNED to discuss multiple education issues.
NGOs from both Thailand and Burma were in attendance. The next meeting is 21st November in Mae
Sariang. Anyone interested in participating should get in touch with the education subcommittee.
There is an emergency funding appeal for migrant learning centres in Tak province. There are 19 migrant
learning centres, 132 teachers, and almost 3000 students who are affected by a funding shortfall of
about $200,000 USD for this year. The Migrant Education Emergency Team (MEET) has written a
proposal. Current donors including Global Neighbours, Help without Frontiers, VSO, and the Embassy of
Luxembourg have contributed about $25,000 of the needed funds.
5. Presentations
UNHCR to present on the Information Management Common Service – web portal
One of the important themes that came out of the UNHCR/CCSDPT strategic retreat in 2012 was sharing
information with refugees in the context of preparedness of return. Refugees feel they don’t have
enough information about the changing dynamics inside Burma.
The Information Sharing Taskforce was started to address that. It met a couple of times in Bangkok and
took that discussion to the field in a total of six meetings to date. The CBOs and refugee committees
have been part of those discussions.
The new web portal is a component of the overall information management common service
mechanism. One of the ways for refugees to learn more about what is going on in the Southeast is to
create a single platform repository for information. The web portal will be one component of that. But
the most important thing will be actual dissemination. The information sharing centres will be one of
the ways, and a central point for the information to be put in its various forms and formats for
dissemination to refugees down to the household level.
The aim is to launch the web portal on 1st October.
The portal is cross border, with UNHCR working with information management colleagues in Myanmar.
There is a unique difference between this web portal and classical web portals for Syria or Sri Lanka,
Congo or Sudan, which are designed as an information tool primarily for putting out messages to
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donors. There are facts and figures, dollars, appeals and gaps. The uniqueness of this portal it is
actually information for refugees for helping them and assisting them to find their durable solution.
UNHCR emphasised that the portal is everyone’s platform, a common CCSDPT/UNHCR goal. UNHCR will
provide administration and oversight and make sure anything on the portal will remain of a neutral,
impartial, non-political nature. The more contributors, the better it will work.
The information centres will be a central part of the mechanism. People working in the information
centres can download the information from the portal very quickly and their task is to find the
mechanisms, strategies and methodologies for putting out their appropriate way with the zones,
sections and households.
6. Updates on Processes
- Information Sharing Centres
Ideas, feedback, and concerns from a consultation process were worked into a terms of reference (TOR)
and guidelines for how refugees will use the information centres, their purpose, and how refugees
contribute information of their own to the common service to be shared in all nine camps.
In collaboration with KRC, and to a lesser extent KNRC, as they are involved in elections at the moment,
CCSDPT is discussing how to run the centres and who is needed to do that. It has been agreed
information committees will be set up. They will be part of the camp management structure but they
will be seeking to recruit members from a representative sample of the community. In order to
facilitate that process, job descriptions and roles for the committees are being developed to determine
what type of activities they will need to fulfil, and what skillsets are needed. It is anticipated there will
be about 5-7 staff members per camp depending on the camp. The emphasis is on people in the camp
rather than in the centre, using existing communication networks and platforms and activities of
different organizations to get the information to camp residents. Information committees are being
recruited at the moment in the camp, led by KRC. A joint training between KRC, CCSDPT and UNHCR
was scheduled for 12th-14th November in Mae La Camp for all seven Karen-based camps.
CCSDPT is going to conduct a briefing for field staff of the NGOs to know more about the project.
In terms of getting started, CCSDPT is waiting for final confirmation on the funding. However, ground
work has begun. Tham Hin is the chosen pilot project, and an initial assessment was set to begin in mid
October to meet with camp committee and other interested parties to determine what communication
tools and existing networks are already in place.
CCSDPT is also working on building relationships with local partners who will help develop dissemination
methodologies – radio, TV, film and ,theatre people. In terms of roll out for other camps, it depends on
when the pilot opens its doors. It is hoped that in the dry season the other eight centres will become
operational.
-
Stakeholders Meeting
The last stakeholder meeting was held on the 21st August in Mae Sariang, with the highest attendance to
date. There is now wider representation as people see the meeting as a venue to talk about concerns
with regards to preparedness for return. There is an aspiration by all that the stakeholder meeting
becomes refugee led. There is a sensitivity that people misunderstand what the purpose of this meeting
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is. At present, refugees want the stakeholder meeting to continue and wish to be more engaged in
developing the agenda, but they don’t currently want the ownership. CCSDPT will continue to support
that meeting and process. The next meeting is 20th November. It is important there is consistent
attendance from the NGOs and CBOs, as the discussion is on-going; it is not helpful when there are new
people each time and they ask questions that take the process backwards.
-
Donor Humanitarian Actors Working Group (DHA)
The last meeting was held on the 27th August. They endorsed a Terms of Reference (TOR) for the DHA to
specify their objectives and purpose. There was also an endorsement for the current ‘volrep’
coordination mechanism. It is an important link to try to elevate the voice of refugees in coordination,
planning, and strategic discussions.
The next meeting was to be held the 22nd of October, and the agenda was to return to the issue of nonformalized movements in and out of camps, as well as spontaneous or self-assisted returns. It is
important to discuss standards from a protection context for returns, be they organized, self-assisted, or
spontaneous to help humanitarians define levels of intervention. From the perspective of Do No Harm,
there is great sensitivity, as some who have returned don’t want people to know they returned, or don’t
need assistance and would rather not have the spotlight of the international humanitarians in the
Southeast.
7. Evolving context Burma/Myanmar
-
Political situation and Peace Processes
There are two parallel processes for national dialogue. One process is with the ethnic armed groups, led
by United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). They had a meeting with the Myanmar Peace Centre
with a technical team representing the Union Peace Committee, to try to come to an agreement on a
framework. That meeting at the end of August ended in a deadlock due to disagreements.
Another process has since been initiated, led by KNU and the Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS),
the political wing of the SSA-South. This followed on from initial work of the working group for ethnic
coordination process. The KNU and RCSS have had dialogue in Naypyidaw with the president,
president’s advisors, commander of the Tatmadaw, and parliamentary committees and the House
speaker to try to get broad level political engagement - looking at the formal political level about what
the framework might be. From that KNU/RCSS process there is a lot of agreement in principle about
how to move forward. The challenge is for those two groups to be able to get buy in from the other
armed groups. It is a high-risk strategy because there is danger of it dividing armed groups at just the
time when the political process could be blossoming.
-
Humanitarian situation
Surveys and Information Management Initiatives
MIMU has launched a registry of different assessments and surveys; they are inviting all agencies that
have done surveys in the Southeast to provide input. They also launched a request to update
information on their ‘who, what, where’ information about programming in the Southeast. They
provided support sessions for civil society groups on the border in the last week of September about
data entry and how to input that information.
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At the UNHCR Peace Consultation meeting in Yangon in late September, Mercy Corps presented a
survey of social and economic analysis of Kayah state. UNHCR Myanmar has compiled village profiles
since 2008 into a common document and that was shared with the humanitarian agencies.
TBC is in the process of compiling a survey on poverty, local governance, and protection mechanisms
from 209 villages conducted this year that will be released at the beginning of November.
UNDP, OCHA and UNHCR had a joint mission to Karen state planned in October and coordination
mechanisms was to be one of the issues they raised in the technical mission.
The impact of the expansion of humanitarian aid in conflict-affected areas is a current debate. One of
the concerns is that it can be a new way of facilitating the expansion of government reach into conflictaffected areas that ethnic groups and communities have long resisted.
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Other areas of the country (Rakhine, Kachin)
Rakhine
Although there is some improvement in Northern Rakhine State (NRS), like a reduction in forced labour,
there are a lot of arrests now. For example, if someone travels without travel permission, before it was
possible to pay money and get out. Now they are arrested and sent to jail. The reason why people flee
remains the same. In Malaysia, new arrivals say they were afraid of being arrested. Restriction of
movement has been tightened which affects access to fishing and forests to collect resources. One of
the main reasons people cited was loss of livelihoods due to restrictions.
Since last year, there has not been a ‘boat season’ as the period October - April used to be called; now
boats leave all year round. Since June 2012 when the violence started in Rakhine state, more than
40,000 people have left on boats. This figure is extremely conservative, because boats have left from
other areas that have not been documented, including southern Rakhine state. Since Eid in early
August, there has been an increase in boat departures from Northern Rakhine State (NRS). The vast
majority transit through Thailand.
In Thailand, more than 500 of the 2000 Rohingya detainees held in IDCs since January have escaped.
They were immediately picked up by brokers on escape, so it was apparently organized. As of 19th
September, 1473 persons were being held in 39 locations. ICRC has maintained access to the detainees;
tension is high as the outcome of their detention remains unknown.
In Thailand, UNHCR advocated for an extension on the initial six months of protection; it has been
extended de facto as the six months has passed. UNHCR has been focused on family unity in
humanitarian facilities, which has met resistance from local communities who don’t want the detention
facilities nearby or to have them expanded.
8. Any Other Business/ Announcements
TBC’s six month report is available for download from their website.
9. Closing
The next meeting is on Thursday, 28th November at 9:00 am.
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


Next CCSDPT Meeting: Thursday 09.00 am 28th November 2013
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