Thailand sends back Karens,aid not

[aungsan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Thailand sends back Karens,aid not cut off. Indian News paper.

Thailand has pushed about 3500 Karen refugees back into Burma, but 
apparently with out cutting off relief assistance, aid workers said on 
Tuesday. The Thai Ninth Army told Karens in two temporary camps in 
Kanchanaburi province that they had the option of moving back to sites just 
across the border, to a larger holding center in Tak province to the 
north. More than 2000 refugees formerly at Tho Kah and 1500 at Hti Taw 
Baw camps, which were evacuated when threatend by Burmese troops last 
month,were apparently pushed back into Burma on Sunday and Monday, the 
sources said. Ninth Army officers in Kanchansburi refused to comment, 
while the Thai Army information office in Bangkok was waiting for a 
report from the provinces.
	The Ninth Army has called a meeting with relief Agencies 
Wednesday, however, to discuss assistance to the refugees, aid workers 
said. Thailand's population of registered Karen refugees rose more than 
13,500 last month to more than 92,000, as Burmese soldiers conducted what 
the military government calls "heavy patrolling" to secure the areas. The 
Karen National Union calls it a dry season offensive that has entailed 
the burning, looting and forced relocation of villages.(AFP, BKK March 11)
The Asian Age, March 12