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U.S.Lawmakers Press Thailand
- Subject: U.S.Lawmakers Press Thailand
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 02:05:00
U.S. Lawmakers Press
Thailand
Thursday, March 6, 1997 9:41 am EST
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thailand came under new
pressure from the United States today to open its
borders to ethnic
Karen refugees fleeing a Burmese army offensive.
Thailand sent hundreds of Karen men, women and
children back
to Burma last week, prompting criticism from the
international
community and human rights groups.
The Thais insisted the refugees would be safe. But
human rights
groups said they were being sent into the path of
advancing
Burmese troops trying to crush the rebel Karen
National Union.
Burma's army is accused of rape, random execution
and burning
villages.
Three Republican congressmen sent Prime Minister
Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh a letter today demanding respect for
the refugees'
``basic human rights'' and calling the
repatriations ``against
international law and internationally accepted
humanitarian
standards.''
It was signed by Benjamin Gilman of New York,
chairman of the
House Committee on Foreign Relations; Christopher
Smith of
New Jersey, chairman of the Subcommittee on
International
Operations and Human Rights; and Dana Rohrabacher of
California.
Spokesmen for the prime minister's office and the
Thai Foreign
Ministry said they had no knowledge of the letter.
The Thai army appeared to succumb to the
international outcry
over the weekend, transferring some 2,300 refugees
reportedly
slated for deportation to a safer location inside
Thailand. Burmese
troops raiding across the border had twice tried to
attack their
camp.
A Thai army spokesman, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said
it had always been Thailand's policy to help
unarmed people.
The spokesman had been asked to clarify remarks
attributed to
Gen. Chetta Thanajaro, the army commander, on
Wednesday that
Thailand would allow all Karens to enter the
country if they were
unarmed.
The remarks appeared to be a reversal of Chetta's
stance last
week to bar entry to all fighting-age males, saying
he did not want
Thailand turned into a guerrilla rear base.
But statements from Thai officials have been
inconsistent and
confusing over refugee policy and under what
circumstances any
repatriations took place.
A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees had
no immediate comment on Chetta's remarks.
The Coordinating Committee of Human Rights
Organizations in
Thailand was hopeful Chetta was indicating a new
policy. But the
committee's spokesman, Pairoj Pholphit, said he was
not confident
it was official and would be carried out.
About 15,000 ethnic Karens have fled to Burma in
the past three
weeks. Thailand historically has opened its borders
to refugees
from Burma and used ethnic rebels as a buffer
against Burma's
military government.
The Karens now fear a change of heart due to warming
Thai-Burmese relations linked to cross-border
infrastructure
projects.