IOM has now resettled 67,000 refugees from Thai refugee camps since
2004.  Of these over 50,000 came from Myanmar and nearly
55,000 – over 80 per cent of the total – went to new
homes in the United States.

In the first half of 2009 through the end of June, IOM Thailand
moved nearly 10,000 refugees accepted for resettlement by the US
(7,488), Australia (1,396), Canada (402), Norway (225), Finland
(216), Sweden (75), New Zealand (59), Denmark (9) and the
Netherlands (4).

The largest group of 4,281 came from Ban Mae Nai Soi – a
refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border in Thailand's northern Mae
Hong Son province. A further 1,691 came from Mae La camp, 1,080
from Umpium Mai camp, and 908 from Nu Po camp – all in Tak
province to the south, according to IOM Resettlement Coordinator
Hans Beckers.

"The programme is still very challenging, partly because the
logistics keep getting tougher as we shift our focus from the more
accessible camps in Kanchanaburi and Tak provinces to the most
remote – like Ban Mae Nai Soi – in Mae Hong Son," says
Beckers.

Since 2004 IOM Thailand's refugee resettlement programme has
sent a total of 54,757 refugees to the US, 5,701 to Australia,
3,559 to Canada, 1,593 to Norway, 1,234 to Finland, 1,163 Sweden,
453 to New Zealand, 424 to the Netherlands, 276 to the UK, 110 to
Denmark and 97 to Ireland.

While IOM plays no part in selecting which refugees are
accepted, its global responsibilities in refugee resettlement
include medical screening, which comprises physical examinations
and chest x-rays for tuberculosis (TB) that is rife in the camps.
If laboratory tests confirm the disease, IOM medical staff provide
the lengthy treatment needed until the refugee is fit to travel
with his or her family to their new home. 

IOM Thailand's medical and laboratory staff are now acknowledged
to be at the forefront of refugee TB screening worldwide. In June
former Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom O'Rourke and Regional
Laboratory Manager Warren Jones were honoured by the US Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) as co-authors of a scientific paper on the
multidrug-resistant form of the disease among Hmong refugees
leaving Thailand for the US in 2005.

IOM also provides a brief pre-departure cultural orientation
programme for the refugees – some of whom have spent their
whole lives in remote refugee camps – to prepare them for the
trip and their new lives in resettlement countries.

When the refugees are issued with Thai exit permits, IOM
arranges their flights and buses them to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi
airport. Depending on the composition of each group, IOM also
provides an IOM medical or social escort to accompany them on the
trip.

IOM's 34-year history of refugee resettlement from Thailand
began in 1975 in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, when it helped
nearly half a million Indochinese refugees from Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia to leave the country and start new lives abroad. It works
closely with the Royal Thai government, the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, and the governments of resettlement
countries.  

For more information, a fact sheet detailing IOM Thailand's
resettlement operations and detailed statistics, please contact IOM
Bangkok. 

Chris Lom

Tel. +66.819275215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int

or

Michiko Ito

Tel. +66.2.343.9334

E-mail: "mailto:mito@iom.int">mito@iom.int