 WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS IN TSUNAMI AFFECTED COUNTRIES March 22, 2005 This report is a joint effort of women’s organisations and groups involved in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the countries affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami on December 26, 2004 . Representatives of women’s organisations participating at the Asian Civil Society Consultation on Post Tsunami Challenges in Bangkok, February 13-14, 2005, from India, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka and Maldives felt there is a need for a comprehensive report focusing on women’s human rights violations in the tsunami aftermath given the gravity of the violations and the extent of marginalisation and exclusion of women from the rehabilitation process. We would like to make special acknowledgements to Titi Soentoro of Solidaritas Perempuan ( Indonesia ), Fatima Burnad of Society for Rural Education and Development ( India ), Pranom Somwong of Migrant Action Program ( Thailand ) and Wanee Bangprapha of Culture and Peace Foundation ( Thailand ) for their inputs to the report with detailed testimonies. The objectives of the report are:
Why we should be focusing on a gender perspective of the tsunami disaster “Women and men experience the same hardships,” replied Kofi Anan to a question on women’s specific needs in the tsunami aftermath, at the press-conference during his visit to Jakarta in January 2005. The Indian Ocean tsunami may have made no distinction between men and women in the grim death toll it reaped with its waves but it has produced some very gender-specific after shocks, ranging from women giving birth in unsafe conditions to increased cases of rape and abuse. In Sri Lanka , dead bodies were sexually abused and women were dragged out of the rushing water and raped as payment for being saved. We call on the governments of the affected countries, national and international non-governmental organisations involved in rehabilitation and reconstruction processes and international aid and UN agencies to ensure that relief and reconstruction efforts are conducted within a framework that protects and promotes human rights, especially women’s human rights, as women, marginalised and disempowered under normal circumstances, are more at risk because of their socio-economic status, barriers to choice and lack of access to resources. Women are more vulnerable during disasters and marginalised in their access to relief resources because relief efforts rely on existing structures of resource distribution that reflect the patriarchal structure of society. Women constitute majority of tsunami victims and yet they are excluded from participation in disaster relief and their voices silenced resulting in violation of their human rights from the basic right to food to the right to housing. Women’s Specific Concerns From consultations conducted by women’s organisations in Aceh ( Indonesia ), Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu ( India ), the most pressing problems facing women in tsunami hit areas in the order of priority set by the affected women are:
In some areas, e.g. Tamil Nadu, babies are dying for lack of milk. Distribution of food, mattresses, sheets and blankets is mainly based on the needs of single adults with no consideration of their children. As a result, mothers go hungry after sharing with their children and have to sleep on the ground during rainy season in Indonesia . Women specific requirements are not on the priority list of emergency relief items. Shelters and housing are being constructed without consulting affected communities and their size and design violate women’s right to adequate housing and land and their human dignity. Further, women and their children face displacement, without adequate relocation, as many are prevented from returning to the sites of their homes, due to private sector development. There is an urgent need for trauma counselling, maternity and post-natal care, women gynaecologists and general health care clinics. Immediate attention is required for reproductive health concerns amongst the displaced. More than 150,000 women are currently pregnant in the affected areas, of whom 50,000 are due to give birth during the next three months. Volunteers in Aceh were eye-witnesses of women giving birth in unsanitary conditions, some in the open air in the rain. Special care must be provided to lactating women who lost their children to the tsunami. In Tamil Nadu, hospitals are denying medical assistance to women suffering with milk clotted breasts for dubious reasons. Women in the IDP (internally displaced people) camps are worse off with no privacy, no secure bathrooms and no sanitary necessities. Women-survivors need for psychological trauma counselling should not be underestimated. After securing food and shelter, psychological support is the next essential step to long-term livelihood recovery. There are reports of rape and molestation in IDP camps although underreporting is obvious as rape victims are reluctant to report to the police for fear of a threat to their safety and ostracism. There is a sense of insecurity and fear in most camps. Young girls are forced into marriage to get protection and supplies. There are cases of violence against women human rights defenders from the military in Aceh. Affected women lost their jobs and means to livelihood as their land, houses, equipment and workplaces have been destroyed. Now after two months of living in camps with nothing much to do women want to go back and start rebuilding their homes but in some countries people are denied this right. In Aceh, the military government launched a resettlement program which implies people are forced to live in hastily built “barracks” and not allowed to go back to their villages. In Tamil Nadu, the Government, instead of providing boats and nets to the fishing community, is bulldozing fishing settlements on the coast clearing the beaches for tourism industries. In Sri Lanka , the rule related to rebuilding homes 100 meters away from the sea shore has given rise to another wave of displacement, especially for fisherfolks. Reopening of schools would be the best way of healing the trauma suffered by children. All authorities involved in re-starting educational activities should facilitate an enabling environment and provide support services to the children. In Sri Lanka , children living in camp sites have requested for a community hall with chairs and tables to conduct educational activities. In Thailand , the plight of thousands of Burmese migrant workers, both documented and undocumented, who largely concentrate in the tsunami affected areas of the country, is of special concern. Stranded Burmese migrant workers in Thailand have been left at bay by their “government“, which has failed to even acknowledge the true damage from the disaster, and pushed aside, intimidated, and neglected by Thai officials who are more interested in cleaning up beaches for the arrival of new tourists than dealing with the devastation to the livelihoods and families of these group of workers. Several thousands of them have died in the tsunami but two months after the disaster are still left lying in makeshift morgues as their relatives, who are migrant workers themselves do not dare to claim the bodies of their loved ones, as they fear arrest. Many of them had their work permits and documents swept away into the sea. Burmese migrants are ineligible for much of the official aid due to their tenuous legal standing. Recommendations To address specific needs of women affected by the tsunami APWLD calls on the governments of the affected countries, national and international non-governmental organisations involved in rehabilitation and reconstruction processes and international aid and UN agencies to ensure the following:
Indonesia , Aceh Total population of Aceh: about 4 million Civil Emergency Situation in Aceh and its Implications for Tsunami Survivors In 2003, after declaring martial law in Aceh, the Indonesian Government launched a massive military operation to crush the pro-independence opposition. In May 2004, the martial law was downgraded to civil emergency. However, the military conflict with gross human rights abuses, including displacement of tens of thousands of people, torture, killings, rape and sexual abuse of women continued. Local and international NGO have to operate under severe restrictions of their movements inside Aceh. In the aftermath of the tsunami, international humanitarian agencies were permitted to enter Aceh on request but international staff must seek permission to move outside of the city centres of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh. The foreign troops helping with relief operations in Aceh have been asked to leave by the end of March 2005. A meeting of NGOs called in Banda Aceh in February aimed at discussing tsunami aftermath and coordinating relief and rehabilitation efforts was banned by the military authorities of Aceh. The imposition of restriction of movement of humanitarian agencies is said to be based on security concerns and the need to coordinate the relief efforts. However, these restrictions isolate communities from much needed outside assistance and prevents independent human rights monitoring of the ongoing conflict and its impact on the civilian population. Two months after the tsunami, there are still remote villages on the west coast of Aceh and North Sumatra that have received very little in the way of supplies or medical help. Relief groups, like Rumoh Kita, are still receiving requests for body bags, gum boots and masks, so that the corpse burial team can remove and bury decomposed bodies. The survivors in Sigli, which is only two hours drive from Banda Aceh, are struggling to get food and medical assistance. External debt and civil participation in the rehabilitation process The Consultative Group on Indonesia ( CGI , includes 11 donors countries) in Jakarta on January 19, 2005, made a commitment to provide a new loan to Indonesia in the amount of USD 3.4 billion; of them USD 1.7 billion are meant for recovery measures in Aceh and North Sumatra. USD 2.8 billion will be disbursed through the Indonesian state budget for reconstruction of Aceh, and USD 600 million will be channelled through NGOs. There was no indication whether these are national NGOs of CGI countries, international NGOs or Indonesian NGOs. It is an important point given that the military denied permission to the local NGOs to participate in the distribution of aid. Aside from concerns on misuse, lack of transparency and accountability with relation to the recovery fund, additional debt will increase the existing heavy burden of debt repayment on the Indonesian people in the form of subsidy cuts for social services, increasing costs in health and education sectors, resulting in further impoverishment of the people and feminisation of poverty since over 50% of the poor in Indonesia are women. Furthermore, CGI and international financial institutions such as IMF, WB and ADB will use increased external debt as a leverage to pressure the Indonesian Government to adopt economic deregulation, privatisation and trade liberalisation measures. Indonesian Government’s “Resettlement Programme” denies IDPs’ right to go back to their villages “Going back to the village” does not seem an option for many IDPs. The Indonesian Government is developing a blue print for recovery of Aceh excluding its 4 mln population from the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction. At the above mentioned CGI meeting, the Indonesian government presented its “resettlement programme” - concentrating IDPs in a smaller number of larger camps “to make it manageable for relief and recovery efforts”. IDPs are forced to move to the larger camps which are hastily built barracks and their size and design violate human right to adequate housing and human dignity. Relief organisations and survivors are very concerned with this programme. Most survivors do not want to be relocated to bigger camps, remote from their former villages. There are allegations that the programme is designed to facilitate the Indonesian Government to control Acehnese people and to take over the coastal land. There are cases when the military solicit “payment” for the permission to clean up villages and rebuild houses. Women’s Human Rights Concerns With the entire 4 mnl population of Aceh being excluded from deciding the course of their lives, women’s needs and concerns are totally ignored. Joint Volunteer Centre of Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights)-Aceh branch and Flower Aceh in Banda Aceh supported by several women’s CBOs (Community Based Organisations) such as Serikat Inong Aceh, Permata (Perhimpunan Masyarakat Tani Aceh), Matahari, Kelompok Kerja Transformasi Gender Aceh (KKTGA) and CCDE, working at five IDP camps in Aceh since January 10, 2005 report on women’s concerns:
Some families hosting IDPs in their houses are facing deprivation themselves as they are running our out of rice and other supplies. These households do not have access to government assistance or to most organised relief support. Aceh is a province with predominantly Muslim population and strong patriarchal culture where Shariah (Islamic) law is practiced. Women are represented by male family members in the public life, therefore at IDPs camps women are not involved in management of the camps. There are concerns among women that Shariah law will be reinforced. In the tsunami aftermath, women have not been afraid to carry on daily activities without wearing veils. Many women do not want to be forced to wear veil, or be subject to other Shariah restrictions such as not being allowed out after 6 pm unless accompanied by a male relative. Moreover, the Indonesian government policies do not acknowledge women as head of the household. But the fact is millions of Indonesian women are head of their households and main earner of the family. This policy denies access to public services to many young women who lost their fathers or married women who lost their husbands. We call to the international community given the involvement of the Indonesian Government in the armed conflict situation in Aceh:
Tamil Nadu , India In India, the coastal areas of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, the Pilgrim centre Nagapattinam, the state of Pondicherry, Karaikal, and the southern part of Tamil Nadu, including Tuticorin, Kanyakumari and Nagercoil are the areas worst hit by the tsunami. Over 12,000 have been reported dead, 50 percent of them children. Bodies scattered around all over the coastal villages constituted mainly women and children. Dead bodies could be seen hanging from the trees and buildings. The mortuaries cannot hold the dead bodies, which are collected and heaped up. In Nagapattinam District alone, 45 villages where the Dalit Movement is active, have been washed away and 18 of the movement leaders have been drowned. Movement activists have been feeling psychologically traumatised themselves. Caste discrimination Special care should be taken to see that the needs and priorities of women, children and marginalized groups, Dalits and Irulas, are addressed. Dalits, or so-called untouchables, are denied their basic human rights and face the most terrible forms of deprivation and abuse under normal circumstances. The problems of caste discrimination have added to the misery caused by the tsunami. They are receiving less relief and support from aid groups. Indian authorities are discriminating in providing financial assistance to the families of deceased Dalits. Dalit areas have been the last to have electricity and water supplies restored during rehabilitation efforts. In Karaikkal, in Paravaipet village, Rajeswari, 9 months pregnant woman, ran with her children away from the chasing waves. She ran into a house where another caste family lived. As Rajeswari was a Dalit woman, she was not let in. Rajeswari had to push the hostess and ran upstairs to save her children. Caste discrimination at relief camps: at Muttukaddu, Ekanthammal (Irula) was beaten up by fisher folks for demanding milk at a centre set up by an NGO. The relief materials designated Irulas and Dalits were diverted. Fisher folk abuse the Irulas and Dalits and prevent them from getting relief materials. Women cannot go near water pumps to get water as fisher folks scorn at them and drive them away. At Karaikkal, T.R. Pattinam Vadakattalai village Dalit women lost their work as housemaids with the fisher folks. Since the fisher folks lost means to livelihoods the Dalit women are left without jobs. The following are testimonies of violations of women’s human rights in Tamil Nadu: Children starving to death Akila, a two year old baby-girl, died in Vellapallam camp because there was no milk available in the camp. Jothi, an activist helping the tsunami affected families in the camp, spoke out about the issue. She demanded that relevant authorities should ensure immediate supply of milk to children. No actions were taken and it caught the media’s attention. Jothi was arrested for disclosing the death of the baby to the media and harassed by the politicians belonging to the ruling political party. In Muttukaddu, in Villupuram district, a young mother with one month old triplets had to appeal for milk to feed her children. Needs of lactating and pregnant women The State is very insensitive to the health issues of lactating women who lost their babies to the Tsunami. No treatment is given to women who suffer from breast milk clotting at the camps. In some hospitals they are denied medical assistance for dubious reasons. Bhoopathy, a lactating mother, after 8 years of married life had a baby, who was 8 month old when taken away by tsunami waves. The mother is now suffering with milk-clotted breasts in addition to all other pains she is bearing. She could not get treatment at the camp at Poriayar in Nagai district so she had travel to the Government Hospital in Chidambaram. Kalaiselvi is suffering from the same pain. Karaikkal Government Hospital refused to give her a pain relieving injection under the pretext that she will not have milk for the next baby if she takes injection for the pain. So she has to live with the physical pain in addition to the pain of loss of her child. There are no gynaecologists available at the camps, only midwives from Primary Health Centres to treat common illnesses. Not enough relevant medicines or doctors at IDP camps sheltering, in average, 1500 people each. Only available medicines are T.T. as anti-biotics. There are 20 pregnant women in the village of T.R. Pattinam who do not have access to gynaecological assistance. At Jeeva Nagar, a woman who gave birth during Tsunami has not received any medical assistance. She has been suffering with the newborn child. Needs of disabled women At Cuddalore, Singarathoppu Venmathi was hit by a big log and fractured her hand whilst saving her son. She has been suffering from fracture with no money to pay for treatment. Kasambu with both her legs injured, stitches on her thigh and hand fractured asks in despair: “How will I carry the basket on the hip because of fractures, how will I earn my livelihood now? Need for trauma counselling Amudha lived in Devanampattinam, one the worst affected villages in Cuddalore. When the tsunami hit, she grabbed both of her sons and ran into her house. As the water engulfed the house, her one-year old son died in her lap. She could not find her three-year-old. It was his birthday and Amudha cries that she could not give him the chocolates and new clothes she had bought. “I don’t understand anything,” she sobs. “I saw my elder child drown in front of my eyes. If I can I will bear more children but my body is weak. I have been thinking of dying, as I can’t think of living. I don’t want clothes or shelter. I want my children.” Ananthi’s 5- month old baby sleeping in the cradle was washed away into the sea. She has been using herbal treatment to relieve physical pain in her milk clotted breasts but she does know how to deal with the unbearable mental pain of losing her baby. There are thousands of women like Ananthi who have to live with such pain. And most of them are not receiving any psychological counselling. Some of them are on the verge of insanity. 24 year old Minn from Alikkal, Kanyakumari district, who lost her 4 months old baby, was admitted to hospital as a mentally disturbed patient. Rosemary, a widow, who lost her two sons, faces abuses from the society because she was not able to save her children. Loss of livelihood Lakshmi of Kottaimedu, Nagai district, staying at the Thandavakulam relief camps, said: “Our livelihood has been washed away by the sea. How long can we live like this in the camp? When are we going to get back to normal life? How and where to begin again?” Most women staying at relief camps are going through the same trauma. They have lost their huts with all their belongings, their jobs such as selling fish, selling snacks, marketing fish besides the middle men with whom they had struggled while auctioning. They lost their boats, catamarans, goats and cows. No utensils, no clothes to change. Everything has been taken away from them and they are left without anything waiting for the next relief material to come. Women are the one’s standing for hours in long queues to get either the cards or relief packages delivered to the camps. At the various camps women are asking for petticoats, blouses and underwear. Drinking water in tsunami affected areas is salinated adding to the burden of women who have to look out for drinking water for the whole family. In Kolathur village, Kancheepuram district, women earned living by river fishing. As a result of the tsunami the river is sand clogged, and the river water is salinated. Fish has gone living Kolathur women with no means for living. The coconut trees, another source of income, are damaged. Women used to weave and thatch the leaves. On February 14, in Chennai, women from various settlements sat in a daylong hunger strike to protest against the state for evicting them to alternate sites. At a meeting with 300 women in Kolathur village, Kancheepuram district, we find starvation is a real threat. They have no milk for their children, no kerosene to cook. They demand employment opportunities. They are willing to work hard to earn for their families. “We are getting old rice, smelly with worms, old clothes. We want work. Only the sea can provide our needs,” say the fisher women but they are still scared to go near the sea. Relief camps The relief camps are overcrowded, not safe and very insecure. Some women have been sleeping under trees with their children. Only one well is available so there is a shortage of drinking water, and people are suffering from skin diseases. There are not enough toilets. Women are forced to use open toilets, they have to walk one km away from the camp, and they go only at night. Men sit and play cards close to the toilets so women are not able to use them. At the temporary relief shelters set up for survivors from villages of Karaikkal, T.R.Pattinam and Vadakattalai, there are no facilities for women to bathe. They bathe only at night. In another relief camp, Kema is sat in a queue waiting for biscuit packets being distributed. Her seven-year-old son was found dead, caught in a tree when the first wave came in. Kema is happy enough that she has her two other boys with her. She used to sell fish but is willing to change her job. What does she expect now? “I expect food, housing, and utensils,” she says. Sexual abuse/Violence against Women In Chennai, Pattinapakkam Srinivasapuram, 15 year old girl was raped and murdered, while she was asleep on the platform along with all the other tsunami affected fisher folks. Sri Lanka Sexual abuse Some of the worst violations of women's rights, involving sexual abuse, seem to have taken place in Sri Lanka . There have been reports of incidents of rape, gang rape, molestation and physical abuse of women and girls in the course of unsupervised rescue operations and while resident in temporary shelters. Dead bodies were sexually abused; women were dragged out of the rushing water and raped; a woman was dragged out to safety, her gold necklace stolen by her saviours who then pushed her back into the waves. However, most incidences of sexual abuse have gone under-reported. Victims are normally afraid of reprisals and being ostracised. Despite the enormous evidence of women’s vulnerability during disasters, relief efforts have been slow in responding to such needs undermining women’s safety or suggesting that incidents of violence against women have been exaggerated or may not have occurred. The Coalition for Assisting Tsunami Affected Women (CATAW) sent a fact finding team to tsunami affected areas to find out what protective mechanisms for women are in place. The areas visited were Galle , Tangalle, Hambantota, Matara, Kalmunai, Akkaraipattu, Batticaloa and Jaffna. Women at IDP camps were concerned about safety of their own and their children. Even if no actual incidents occurred, there was a sense of insecurity and fear that prevailed in most camps. A girl on her way to the makeshift toilet had been dragged by two men but she managed to escape. There had been attempts at molestation by men in charge of camps. Husbands were abusive since alcohol was smuggled into the camps. There were police and security personnel in the camps but they were primarily present to maintain discipline. They had not received clear instructions regarding possible interventions and responses to complaints of gender based violence. In some camps where women police officers had been detailed, their presence gave the women and girl children a sense of security. Special needs of women ignored Most camps are managed by men and even where Camp Committees have been set up they are still male dominated. As a result, women’s special needs, like health and reproductive care and privacy needs have been ignored. Women are too shy to request sanitary towels and contraceptives from male leaders of the camp. Pregnant women face greater hardships than others. They were given greater care in most of the camps. In the eastern sector with predominantly Muslim population, most displaced persons have taken refuge in relative’s homes. So they did not have access to food and other aid distributed at camps. Thailand The tsunami affected six provinces in the Southern Thailand located along the costlines of the Andaman Sea : Phuket, Krabi, Sathun, Ranong, Trang, and the hardest hit province of Phang Nga . Three groups have been identified among the people affected by the tsunami in Thailand : 1) residents of the six affected provinces: fisher folks, mainly Muslim; sea-gypsy communities; employees and owners of tourist businesses and hotels; small scale business groups and hawkers on the beaches and agriculturists. 2) non-residents of the affected provinces: tourists, both Thai and foreign, migrant workers from various parts of Thailand and from the neighbouring countries, mainly Burmese migrant workers. 3) workers in the service sector now unemployed due to suspended businesses. These groups include marginalised women such as heads of household, women hawkers, small traders, sea-gypsy women, labourers, migrant workers, sex workers and workers in the entertainment industry. They lack access to the relief assistance and cannot voice their concerns. The Thai Government has been providing relief support to the affected people, including loans for big businesses, temporary housing, monetary compensations for the destroyed boats and assistance to the orphaned children. Nine sub-committees have been appointed to monitor the rehabilitation projects. However, in many cases the tsunami survivors have problems accessing relief assistance due to several factors.
Many women in fisheries and their families, sea gypsy communities, sex workers, entertainment workers, migrant workers and small traders cannot access various types of government assistance which require documents such as identification cards, social security cards, boat registration documents. They either lost or did not have the documents. They also lack access to information about the assistance, the procedures and documents required. Hence, they do not receive relief food and assistance or compensation from the government. The sea gypsy villagers in some islands still need food support, especially rice. Women and their families staying with their relatives, not in the IDP camps, are also denied the assistance. The less affected areas seem to have been left out of the relief assistance, especially food. The affected internal migrant workers who went back to their home town in other regions of Thailand have not received any compensation or assistance. Women in fisheries complain that the flat assistance rate of 20,000 Bht (USD500) is not sufficient to repair the damaged boats and fishing or nurturing equipment. In some islands, e.g. Koh Lanta, villagers received only partial boat assistance to pay for the repair of engines, as government officials explained. Most fisherfolks cannot access even this partial assistance as they do not have boat registration documents. They also have high debts from pre-tsunami period, therefore, not eligible to borrow more loans. So they struggle to make ends meet. Many women and their families, especially sea gypsy groups, fisher folk and others who lived on the seashore are deprived of their rights to the land they used to live for decades. It is reported that as many as 32 villages in the affected areas may be wiped out from the map of Thailand because private corporations have claimed ownership to the land in many villages right after the tsunami. A woman who had lived in her house for 30 years in Nam Khem Village , Takua Pa district, Phang Nga said her house and land was fenced off so she could not even get into the premises to search for her daughter who has been missing after the tsunami. She also received life threatening phone calls. Several other families in her neighbourhood are in the same predicament. Their houses happen to be located on the land leased by the government to the mining companies. The question is how these private corporations claiming the land have obtained land titles? Sea gypsy communities living near the beaches face the same predicament and have been fighting for the land they have been residing on for a hundred years. In Ranong province, villagers’ land is claimed by the national park. These communities face housing and livelihood problems with the loss of land. They are forced to relocate to places far from the sea from which they make a living. If they refuse to move they will get only partial compensation for their houses which is already meagre. The affected communities, including women, are not consulted by the agencies providing relief assistance. Some women expressed the need for educational support for their children (at least, 500 baht (10 USD) per month) and some educational activities for children for the coming summer holidays. It has been reported a teenage girl was harassed by a man in a women’s toilet at an IDP camp in Takua Pa district, Phang Nga province. This raised a question of safety and the trend of gender based violence at IDP camps. There are reports of widespread violation of labour rights of the tsunami survivors. Female workers in the service sector such as entertainment workers, workers at resorts, hotels or massage parlours, in addition to not being able to access the government assistance for lack of required documents from the employers, do not receive redundancy compensation when their employer’s business closes down. Loopholes in the labour law (Section 75 of the Labour Protection Law) and the employers’ evasive tactics contribute to the lack of access to the social security fund. Affected communities, especially the fisher folks, face environmental problems which they cannot solve without assistance of the local and the central government. e.g. A river mouth must be cleaned of sand caused by the tsunami to let fishing boats in. Recommendations
The Plight of Burmese Migrants in Thailand Over 120,000 Burmese migrants and their dependents registered with the Thai authorities in the four provinces in the south of Thailand and were issued temporary ID cards, according to the July 2004 statistics. Most of them lost their cards during the Tsunami. Of them, about 7,000 were employed in the sectors most affected by the tsunami: fisheries, construction and tourism. There are also many unregistered migrants working illegally in Thailand who have lost family members, their homes and their jobs. Most of unregistered migrants are women. In the tsunami aftermath the Thai government started arbitrary arrests and forced deportation of Burmese migrant workers. Due to the pressure from both inside and outside of the country arrests and deportation were stopped. However, two months after the tsunami Burmese migrant workers are still hiding in the hilltops, among plantations of coconut, rubber and banana. Some migrants have also gone to neighbouring provinces in search of work and staying with friends and relatives. Many intend to return to the tsunami affected areas soon and seek work with their employer, hoping that by that time the employer would also have recovered and would be ready to employ them again. Some of them are back from Burma and neighbouring provinces because they heard that there have not been any arrests recently and that NGOs are providing assistance to re-issue work permits and emergency relief supplies. Burmese migrant workers who survived the tsunami need the state authorities to reissue their temporary ID cards as quickly as possible. Without the cards they have no right to stay in Thailand , they have no access to health services and cannot apply for a work permit. They are forced to live in a climate of fear, desperation and humiliation. Migrants with children, who lost a spouse, are worse off but do not dare to go back to Burma as they have heard reports that migrants returning from the tsunami affected areas have been arrested, fined, imprisoned or forced into digging graves. Currently, the Thai authorities are not arresting or deporting migrants back to Burma . Due to the humanitarian crisis in the area, most migrants are not engaged in paid employment. Employed migrants are not receiving regular pay since their employers also suffered huge losses during the tsunami. Relief is provided as an intermediary form of survival for migrants waiting for paid work to become available. Many employers have lost family members and their livelihood, and have become stressed and financially insecure. As a result, some employers are unable, sometimes unwilling to pay migrants. Coercion has been reported where employers have not allowed migrants to leave the work site at fishing areas. Migrants who lost their cards during the tsunami, or whose employers who were holding their cards, died during the tsunami receive assistance from the TAG team (migrant’s rights NGO) at Takuapa District office. They assist to search for the details of their registration for a temporary ID card (Tor Ror 38/1), and the district office re-issues the cards. To date, 93 migrants have had their cards re-issued. About 7,000 migrants registered in Takuapa district for the temporary ID card, of them 5,139 registered for a work permit. The total number of migrants who registered for the Tor Ror 38/1 temporary card in all the districts of Phang-nga was 30,572 (20,391 men and 10,181 women). The process of re-issuing cards is slow due to many factors. Migrants are spread out throughout the country, and they are getting information mainly by word of mouth. Also, they are still intimidated to meet Thai authorities. There are technical problems: lack of staff and office space, an old computer search mechanism, need for Burmese speaking volunteers. Solving these problems would speed up the process of re-issuing cards to, at least, 130 ID cards a day. Currently, it is limited to 10 cards a day. Thai government must ensure protection of aid workers who are facilitating the return or re-registration of migrants. Burmese migrants who have organised themselves into outreach teams are facing harassment and arrest, and yet they are the only people who speak the same language and who other migrants will trust, the only people who could find the migrants in their hiding places to ensure they had food and shelter. Three Burmese World Vision aid workers, one of them a woman, were locked up in a cage in Baan Tab Lamu fishing village in Phang Nga province because the employer was angry with them for facilitating Burmese migrant workers to go back home after Tsunami. Migrant Women’s Concerns
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) Flower Aceh and Solidaritas Perempuan Main source of information: Titi Soentoro (Solidaritas Perempuan) Indonesia : The role of Human Rights in the Wake of the Earthquake and Tsunami. Amnesty International, January 19, 2005 PBHI Statement on Resettlement in Aceh Indonesia : The role of Human Rights in the Wake of the Earthquake and Tsunami. Amnesty International, January 19, 2005 Main source: Fatima Burnad, Society for Rural Education and Development/Tamil Nadu Dalit Women’s Movement Main sources: The Women and Media Collective (WNGO), Colombo , Sri Lanka ; “Women’s groups helping tsunami affected women and girl children”, Sunday Island , January 23, 2005 Wanee Bangprapha, Culture and Peace Foundation "Recommendations for rehabilitation in the tsunami aftermath" The Southern Civil Society Network and the Six Provinces Community Organizations Network, 2005. The issues and recommendations based on interviews with the participants and from the participation at the seminar on "Policy Formulation by people affected by the Tsunami" organised by the National Human Rights Commission in Phang Nga Province , 19 February 2005. |