Thousands of Karen refugees leave T

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Subject: Thousands of Karen refugees leave Thai camps 

Thousands of Karen refugees leave Thai camps 
12:53 a.m. May 09, 1997 Eastern 

UMPHANG, Thailand, May 9 (Reuter) - Thousands of Karen refugees who fled
from fighting in
Burma have disappeared from camps in Thailand, and officials say they have
either returned home
or slipped away to work in Thai cities. 

A Thai army source said thousands of Karen refugees living in the sprawling
camps in Mae Sot and
Song Yang districts in Tak province had left. 

``The young men and women have escaped from the camps to find work in the
big cities,'' the army
source said. 

He said a Thai government move to allow Asian workers, especially from
Burma, to work legally in
43 of Thailand's provinces had encouraged the refugees to escape from the
camps and seek work. 

``Only old people and young children are in the camps at the moment -- the
young and strong
people have gone,'' the source said. 

At least 15,000 Karen refugees have disappeared from the camps, he said. 

A further 1,500 refugees who fled from a Burmese government offensive
against Karen rebels earlier
this year went back home to Azin and Jaidong villages in Moulmien, Burma, on
their own accord in
April, a refugee official said. 

An additional 1,200 have informed refugee officials that they are willing to
return to Burma. 

``We will begin to repatriate these people back to their villages from May
20,'' U Zaw Hlae, deputy
chief of Nu Po refugees camp, told Reuters. 

About 11,000 refugees now live in Nu Po camp, many of whom may decide to
return home later,
Zaw Hlae said. 

About 100,000 Karen refugees, including followers of the Karen National
Union (KNU) guerrilla
group, have lived in camps in Thailand since they began fleeing fighting in
Burma in 1984. 

The refugees have been a target of attacks by a rival Karen group since 1995
when a Buddhist
faction of the predominantly-Christian KNU defected to Burmese troops and
began to fight against
the KNU. 

The KNU, which was formed in 1948, is the last major rebel organisation
still fighting against
Burma's military government. 

So far 15 rebel group have reached ceasefire agreements with Burma's
government. ^REUTER@