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Report on the Attack at Halockani R
- Subject: Report on the Attack at Halockani R
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 02:39:00
Subject: Report on the Attack at Halockani Refugee Camp
************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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REPORT ON THE ATTACK AT HALOCKANI REFUGEE CAMP: July 21, 1994
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This report is primarily based on a report made by an extremely well-informed
observer who has been on the scene. Additional background information was
provided by other sources.
MAP OF THE HALOCKANI AREA
****************************************************************
Thai/Burma Border
*
Burma side * Thai side
*
Route of No. 62 Battalion troops * /\ /\ /\
(start point) * Three Pagodas Pass
X *
/ *
/ *
/ *
/ *
/ * N
/ * |
| * W- -E
/ * |
| * S
/ *
| *
/ *
1\/ 2 *
Plat A+++>->->B ++++++++++ *
Hon +++ <-<- ++++++++++ C * F
Pai 3 / ++++++++++ *====================================
/ Main Camp * D 5
/ *
/ *
4<--/ *
*
A Plat Hon Pai (westernmost section of the camp, also called Kwan Saya
village). Plat Hon Pai had about 100 dwellings and a population of 450.
B Ambush Site
C Main body of Halockani Camp (right on the border; population of about
3,500)
D Thai Border Police Checkpoint
F Dirt Road to Huaymek/Sangklaburi
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CHRONOLOGY
July 21, 1994--Thursday
1 360 Burmese Army troops (tatmadaw) from Infantry Battalion No. 62 enter
Plat Hon Pai at 8:30a.m. Troops ask directions to Hah Mom village.
The soldiers then rounded up refugees and "arrested" 8, including the camp
section leader (Nai Saite Mon(sp?)) and a teacher (Nai Chan Kwat(sp?)),
putting these men in irons. Camp records were also confiscated. Soldiers
said they wanted all the medics and teachers and they seemed be looking for
individuals by name.
At about 10:45a.m, the tatmadaw troops took 40 refugees as a "human
shield" and proceeded towards the main body of Halockani Refugee Camp,
which is about a 30 minute walk through the forest.
2 Ambush site
At about 11:00a.m., the tatmadaw troops encountered a small number of
troops from the Mon National Liberation Army, which set off firefight
lasting about 15 minutes. One tatmadaw soldier was wounded and the unit
then retreated to Plat Hon Pai.
3 After retreating to Plat Hon Pai, the tatmadaw troops burned down
approximately 50 dwellings. They also destroyed rice stocks, stole, rice
salt and personal possession, including some cash. One man reported that
10,000 kyat was stolen from him (about $100US at a realistic black market
rate)
The deputy commander of the 62d Battalion, who was the senior officer
present, then told the refugees that they could not stay in Plat Hon Pai
any longer. He told them they must go either to the Three Pagodas Pass
(controlled by SLORC) or flee. He told them that he and his men would
return in three days and kill anyone remaining in Plat Hon Pai.
At about 3:00p.m., the tatmadaw troops left, taking 16 refugees with them,
including the 8 men detained earlier. These 8 were in chains, the other 8
were taken away at rifle point.
4 The troops and their prisoners spent that night in a river valley, which is
a two hour walk away.
Once the troops left, the refugees from Plat Hon Pai began to flee to the
main body of Halockani refugee camp, which is two kilometers away (only a
few had been able to escape earlier.)
5 The refugees living in the main body of the camp had already begun to flee
across the border when the tatmadaw troops attempted to enter the camp at
11:00am. They fled to the Thai Border Patrol Police checkpoint, which is
about 20 minutes from the camp on foot (this is the rainy season and the
roads are extremely muddy just now). Nearly all of the refugees spent the
night at the checkpoint.
July 22, 1994--Friday
Some refugees began returning to Halockani camp. By the evening of the
22d, about 150 refugees remained in Plat Hon Pai. They didn't know what to
do and said that they would leave for the Border Patrol checkpoint on the
following day (Saturday, the 23d) because the tatmadaw had threatened to
kill them. Many of the Plat Hon Pai refugees had lost everything.
On the afternoon of the 22d, some 20 deportees from Thailand's Immigration
Detention Center (IDC) arrived at Halockani camp. Thailand deports
approximately 200 "illegal immigrants" per week through Halockani. They
are usually held at the at the IDC in Bangkok for a time and then
transported to the IDC in Kanchanaburi. From Kanchanaburi, they are
trucked to a point just past the Border Patrol Checkpoint and dropped off.
A few will remain in Halockani camp and some will return to Burma. Most
however (about 80%), will pay brokers to take them back into Thailand.
*****************************************
CONCLUSION.
The Mon refugees do not want to go back to Halockani because they feel
unsafe. Their alternatives however are extremely few. It is now the rainy
season and it would be virtually impossible for them to set up a new camp.
The Mons did not want to be moved from Loh Loe to Halockani in the first
place but they were given little choice. Thai officials guaranteed their
safety and told them they could come back across the border if their safety
were threatened. When Mon leaders contacted the Thai official who had
earlier given the guarantees, his reply was reportedly, "its not my problem."
The motive for the attack is difficult to determine. At one point, Thai
officials stated that a number of porters had escaped from a Burmese army
unit and the Burmese soldiers had entered the camp to retrieve them. There
does not seem to be any evidence that this is true. When the Burmese troops
entered the camp, they were looking for Mon officials, including teachers and
medics, by name. It is possible that the attack was related to the failure
of the latest round of cease-fire negotiations between the Mons and SLORC.
*****************************************************
NOTE 1: There are several variations on the spelling of the camp name. Among
there are: Halockanie, Halockhani, Halackanee, etc.
NOTE 2: The main body of the refugee camp is literally on the border and
there is some dispute over exactly where the border lies. When the camp was
established at the end of last year, criticism was aimed at Thai authorities
for putting the camp in Burma, thus endangering the refugees. At the time,
some Thai authorities claimed that Halockani was on the Thai side of the
border. A diplomat from a western country with the technical means to
determine the camp's precise location was asked which side of the border the
camp was on. The diplomat's replied that the site is on one of a number of
areas disputed between Thailand and Burma. According to the diplomat,
Halockani was "right on the border" but that "Thai assertions of sovereignty
are operative." Privately Thai authorities acknowledge that the camp is on
the Burma side and the Mons quite clearly believe that they are inside Burma.
NOTE 3: Population figures for the camp have been cited in news reports as
4,000, 5,000 and 6,000. As of June 1994, the official population of the camp
was about 4,200. Of this number, about 450 lived in Plat Hon Pai, the
section of the camp which was attacked. There are a total of 8,750 Mon
refugees in camps in Thailand, almost half whom are at Halockani camp. There
are a total of 32 camps in Thailand for civilian refuges from various of
Burma's ethnic groups. The total population of these camps is 77,614.
According to Thailand's National Security Council, there are about another
500,000 "illegal immigrants" in Thailand, most of them from Burma. Their
estimate is probably accurate.