Protection staff based in recently established field offices in Tak, Mae Hong Son and Kanchanaburi will visit the camps regularly. This assistance will be provided pending their admission to the Maneeloy Burmese Centre in Ratchaburi. The Regional Office in Bangkok will consider resettlement options for compelling cases. Meanwhile, individual refugees may approach embassies which have specific resettlement programmes for this group. The Burmese Border Consortium estimates that the total border population of 100,395, as of the end of September 1998, was composed of 86,896 Karen refugees accommodated in nine camps and 13,499 Karenni refugees accommodated in four camps.
Most camps are in remote areas and are difficult to reach during the rainy season.
The agency will support local authorities in improving access roads to the camps and in relocating camps to safer sites away from the border. Assistance in reconstructing relocated camps, including building refugee shelters and essential community buildings, water and sanitation systems and electrical grids, will also be provided. Alternative cooking fuel will be provided in an effort to minimize damage to local forests. A modest level of community-based assistance will be provided in Thai villages affected by refugee populations. The three provinces will be asked to submit proposals for environmental rehabilitation and the reinforcement of community-support structures to redress the negative effects of refugee settlements.