[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

1,000 Burmese Head for Thailand




1,000 Burmese Head for  Thailand 

                                                                   By
JIRAPORN WONGPAITHOON 
                                                                   Associate
d Press Writer 
                                                                   Wednesday
, March 19, 1997 7:52 am EST 

                                                                   BANGKOK,
Thailand (AP) -- The Burmese army has attacked a key
                                                                   rebel
village, sending another 1,000 refugees fleeing into Thailand.
                                                                   Hundreds
more were believed to be on their way, relief agencies said
                                                                   today. 

                                                                   The
refugees joined as many as 20,000 other ethnic Karens who have
                                                                   sought
shelter inside Thailand since Burma launched a massive
                                                                   offensive
in early February to stamp out the Karen National Union
                                                                   rebels
and their 48-year rebellion for more autonomy. 

                                                                   The
Burmese army launched an artillery attack Tuesday against Hta
                                                                   Ma Pyo. A
lumber yard and sawmill make the town economically
                                                                   crucial
to the rebels. 

                                                                   The
shelling, which continued early today, sent at least half the 2,000
                                                                   people
living at Hta Ma Pyo fleeing across the border to Ban Tako Bon
                                                                   village
in Thailand's Ratchaburi province, military sources and relief
                                                                   agencies
on the border said. The rest were expected to arrive today. 

                                                                   Thai
soldiers allowed the refugees to enter without any problem, said
                                                                   Chalida
Tajaroensuk, program assistant for the Asian Forum for
                                                                   Human-Rig
hts and Development, a local nongovernmental organization
                                                                   monitorin
g the situation on the border. 

                                                                   But a
Thai military source from the 9th Army Division, which controls
                                                                   the
border, downplayed the scale of the fighting. 

                                                                   The
source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 400 Karens
                                                                   were
poised to enter Thailand, but were being asked not to cross by
                                                                   Thai
troops unless the situation worsened. 

                                                                   The Thai
army has been criticized by the United States, the European
                                                                   Union and
human-rights groups for denying entry to Karen males of
                                                                   fighting
age and for shipping back other refugees, including women
                                                                   and
children, into the path of the offensive. 

                                                                   The
policy, adopted in late February as one Karen stronghold after
                                                                   another
was falling, reversed decades of Thailand's practice of
                                                                   granting
sanctuary to ethnic minorities fleeing repression by Burma's
                                                                   military
government. 

                                                                   Officials
in Bangkok and on the border have issued conflicting
                                                                   responses
to the criticism, with some suggesting refugees would no
                                                                   longer be
sent back and others leaving room open for their
                                                                   repatriat
ion. 

                                                                   About
90,000 refugees from Burma were living in camps in Thailand
                                                                   before
the fighting started. Thailand had long used the Burmese
                                                                   minoritie
s and the guerrilla armies fighting on their behalf as a buffer
                                                                   against
Burma. 

                                                                   The Karen
National Union believes Thailand and Burma have agreed to
                                                                   crush its
revolt in order to secure the border for investment and
                                                                   developme
nt, including a natural gas pipeline now under construction. 

                                                                   The
Karens are the last major rebel group still fighting Burma's military
                                                                   governmen
t. A dozen others have signed cease-fires as the regime has
                                                                   stepped
up pressure in recent years to control the unruly border. 

                                                                   Peace
talks between the KNU and the government broke down partly
                                                                   because
of the rebels' insistence that any comprehensive peace deal
                                                                   include
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of
                                                                   Burma's
pro-democracy movement. 

                                                                   The
military has ruled Burma since 1962. The current regime took
                                                                   over in
1988, killing thousands of anti-government protesters. 

                                                                   The
government has rolled back socialist policies that impoverished
                                                                   the
country and allows foreign investment, but keeps a tight lid on
                                                                   political
dissent.