REPOST AP: UNHCR gets permission to visit eastern Myanmar

[Editor]

[This AP article did not post in todays BurmaNet even though it was listed
in the contents index.  Thanks for bringing it to my attention--Ed]

March 11, Associated Press
UNHCR gets permission to visit eastern Myanmar

The United Nations refugee agency said Thursday it has been given
permission by the government of Myanmar to visit the country's eastern
border to prepare for a future return of refugees from Thailand.

But the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees stressed that it is not yet
time for the at least 130,000 refugees to return to their homes in Karen
State.

"We have worked on getting access to areas of return for the last 10 years
and we have finally been able to get the OK," UNHCR spokesman Milton
Moreno told The Associated Press.

However, "we are in no way saying that conditions are at the moment
appropriate for return," he added.

Moreno said the agency plans to start missions to the region in the next
few weeks to assess the situation there. The area is strewn with land
mines, and UNHCR believes infrastructure, education and health services
are severely lacking.

Karen ethnic rebels have been fighting for independence from Myanmar, also
known as Burma, for more than five decades. The Karen National Union is
the only major guerrilla group in Myanmar that has yet to sign a formal
agreement with the ruling junta to lay down arms.

The two sides gave initial agreement to a cease-fire in December, but have
not formalized the deal during two subsequent rounds of peace talks.
Rebels and relief workers say government attacks against the guerrillas
have continued.

Moreno said any future return of refugees would be "contingent on the
political discussions and the eventual settlement."

"If there isn't a settlement, we are basically back at square one," he added.