SEA: Press-Ganged Burmese Workers F

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

/* Written  3:21 pm  Feb 23, 1994 by DEBRA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:hrnet.asia-pac */
/* ---------- "SEA: Press-Ganged Burmese Workers F" ---------- */
## author     : spectre@xxxxxxxx
## date       : 21.02.94

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  1510  BANGKOK, Thailand  (Reuter)  -  Burma's  military  government  is
  1511  drafting  thousands  of  villagers to build a railway line in the
  1512  southeast of the country, raising concern in  Thailand  the  move
  1513  will cause a wave of refugees to flee to the border.
  1514
  1515  Burmese guerrilla and other sources estimate at least 10,000 vil-
  1516  lagers have been conscripted to labor without pay on the 100-mile
  1517  rail line from the town of Ye in Mon state to Tavoy in  southern-
  1518  most Tenasserim Division.

  1529  The reports of  forced  labor  have  come  as  the  international
  1530  spotlight  has  again  fallen  on Burma with the meetings earlier
  1531  this week between a U.S. congressman and the detained  opposition
  1532  leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
  1533
  1534  The visits by U.S. Representative Bill Richardson, the first such
  1535  meetings Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed since she was detained
  1536  in July 1989, led to speculation the military might be  softening
  1537  its iron grip on the country it has ruled since 1962.
  1538
  1539  Conscription of workers for the railway began at the beginning of
  1540  the  dry  season  late last year, and it appeared the authorities
  1541  were trying to complete its construction before  the  arrival  of
  1542  the rains in May, the sources said.
  1543
  1544  Forced labor on public works is common in Burma. The Burmese army
  1545  has  traditionally drafted villagers as porters in its offensives
  1546  against guerrilla groups.

  1556  Military supervisers provided neither food nor medicine  for  the
  1557  workers, and reports of beatings were common, the refugee workers
  1558  said.
  1559
  1560  To escape the forced labor, hundreds of  villagers  have  already
  1561  fled  to  the  Burmese  side of the Thai-Burmese border, which is
  1562  under the control of the Mon guerrilla group,  one  human  rights
  1563  worker in Thailand said.

  1570  "The fear is that these new people running to Thailand  will  not
  1571  be allowed in," the human rights worker said.
  1572
  1573  There are currently some 60,000 refugees from Burma in  camps  in
  1574  Thailand.  The  majority  of  them are from ethnic minorities and
  1575  have fled from government military operations in their areas.