GL: Medicine To Burma

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Subject: GL: Medicine To Burma

/* Written  2:33 pm  Feb 10, 1994 by greenleft@xxxxxxxx in igc:hrnet.asia-pac */
/* ---------- "GL: Medicine To Burma" ---------- */
## author     : greenleft@xxxxxxxx
## date       : 09.02.94

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Chamarette slams blockade of medicine to Burma

WA Greens Senator Christabel Chamarette has spoken out
against the Thai government's confiscation of medical
supplies intended for ethnic minority groups inside Burma.
The supplies were a private donation.

``I cannot understand why privately donated medical supplies
should be held up by anyone, let alone the Thai
government'', she said on January 31. This action seems to
indicate that the Thai government is becoming more and more
supportive of the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
Burma's military junta.''

Chamarette said that, according to information from
non-government agencies operating in the region, thousands
of displaced people on the Burmese side of the border are in
urgent need of medical supplies. ``Tropical diseases are
rife as well as respiratory infections and malnutrition.''

The displaced people have, in most cases, fled over the
border after harassment by Burmese troops. Well-documented
reports of human rights abuses, including forcing people to
become porters for the army, rapes, beatings and torture
continue to come in from the border regions. NGOs including
Amnesty International, Asia Watch and Tribal Refugee Welfare
have gathered information of such abuses occurring on a
massive scale.

``It's high time the international community took urgent
steps against the illegal regime in Burma. Depriving victims
of the regime of medical supplies is a violation of
fundamental human rights'', Chamarette concluded. [Senator
Chamarette will be one of the keynote speakers at the
International Green Left Conference to be held at the
University of New South Wales, April 1-4.]