TO COMPLAIN OR NOT TO COMPLAIN: STILL THE QUESTION ...

To complain or not to complain: still the question
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• Revive monthly PSEA meetings to re-invigorate camp and national level fora for
sexual exploitation and abuse discussion.
• Establish a coordination desk (clearing house) for sexual exploitation or abuse related
misconduct cases with “help” desk in each organisation that will handle emergency
referrals, especially those requiring medical or other special assistance. 48
3. THAILAND: Mae La and Umpien refugee camps
I. INTRODUCTION
Conducting the beneficiary based consultation in Thailand from 22 August through
4 September, 2007, was an invaluable field trial prior to consultations in two other countries
where humanitarian services are provided. Over five days, forty-seven refugees were
consulted in twenty-four separate discussions held in Umpien and Mae La refugee camps.
Discussions with staff from eight CBOs serving Burmese migrants and refugees in and
around Mae Sot provided valuable additional background and context related to sexual
exploitation and abuse. In Mae La camp, we also met informally with camp-based staff
from the newly opened Legal Assistance Centre and the Planned Parenthood Association of
Thailand to ask their perspectives on sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response,
including current referral mechanisms for refugees affected by sexual abuse and exploitation.
In addition to consultations with beneficiaries, BBC researchers met with several key
international humanitarian service stakeholders to introduce the BBC methodology and
to learn more about current sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response efforts.
These stakeholders included senior staff from the Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC);
the International Rescue Committee (IRC); UNHCR’s Bangkok and Mae Sot Field Offices
and the U.S. Embassy’s Regional Refugee Coordinator.
The Thai-Burma border was selected for several reasons. Burmese refugee camps in
Thailand are administered by refugees with the support of some twenty organisations
providing humanitarian assistance along the Thai-Burma border through the Committee
for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT). 49 Because
the Burmese refugee camps continue to be self-administered, they are unique in terms of
humanitarian contexts across the globe. Learning more about beneficiaries’ perceptions of
sexual exploitation and abuse risk, prevention and responses in this context provides an
excellent opportunity for comparison with countries where humanitarian services were
initiated and, in most cases, are still managed entirely by international agencies. Specifically,
Mae La and Umpien camps were selected for their access and profile. They are two of
the biggest and oldest refugee camps located within a three-hour drive of a major town.
Before starting consultations in Thailand, several international humanitarian staff expressed
puzzlement about how and why HAP chose Thailand for the beneficiary based consultation.
“Why here? Sexual exploitation and abuse is not a problem here.” Sexual exploitation and
abuse still seems to be perceived by some international staff and beneficiaries as more of “an
African problem.” The BBC intended to learn more about the factors influencing whether
sexual exploitation and abuse is a concern along the Thai-Burma border.
II.
BURMESE HUMANITARIAN CONTEXT
The first refugees arrived from Burma in 1984. There are some 154,000 Burmese refugees
living in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. An estimated 2–3 million Burmese
48
This concept of a “coordination desk” was specifi cally recommended by a Kakuma refugee advisor who
reviewed and commented on the Kenya chapter.
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It is important to note that all Burmese refugee camps are self-administered, not just Mae La and Umpien
where the BBC was conducted.