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13.6.97_AFP:NLD-MP DIED IN CUSTODY



Subject: 13.6.97_AFP:NLD-MP DIED IN CUSTODY & REFUGEE INFLUX INTO THAILAND

	ASIA: BURMA OPPOSITION BLAMES JUNTA FOR DEATH OF POLITICIAN
BURMA OPPOSITION
   RANGOON, June 13 AFP - Burma's opposition National League for 
Democracy (NLD) has blamed the ruling junta for the death in 
custody of a senior party official.
	   In a statement released last night, the NLD said central 
committee member Tin Shwe had died in Insein Jail on June 8 after 
authorities refused him access to proper medication and food 
despite his known heart condition.
	   Tin Shwe, a lawyer, was serving an 18-year sentence on charges 
of instigating civil unrest and involvement in forming a parallel 
government. He was arrested in November 1990 after nationwide 
pro-democracy demonstrations.
	   Government officials announced June 9 that Tin Shwe had died of 
heart disease at Rangoon General Hospital a day earlier. The NLD 
said he died while being moved from his cell to hospital.
	   The NLD central committee member was buried yesterday at Yayway 
cemetery, 15 km north of Rangoon. The funeral ceremony was attended 
by NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo and close friends, witnesses reported.
	   On April 21, authorities refused an appeal by his family to 
allow him to be treated by specialists outside the jail, the NLD 
statement said.
	   Learning that Tin Shwe's health was deteriorating, NLD chairman 
Aung Shwe wrote to the junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, on 
April 23 to say the authorities would be held responsible if the 
prisoner died due to lack of proper treatment.
	   Tin Shwe, 67, was chief party organiser in the Mandalay 
division. Before his arrest he had sent letters to local and 
national authorities protesting over an incident in which soldiers 
fired on a peaceful rally of NLD supporters and Buddhist monks in 
Mandalay in August, killing two monks.
	   AFP  ts

	ASIA: 3000 KAREN REFUGEES FLEE FROM BURMA SINCE APRIL
BURMA KAREN
   BANGKOK, June 13 AFP - Around 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers have 
fled into northern Thailand from their homes in Burma over the past 
two months to escape abuses by the forces of Rangoon's military 
junta, sources said today.
	   Junta troops have forced whole villages in the Papun district of 
northern Karen state to relocate as part of a drive to cut off 
support for rebel ethnic forces still battling Rangoon, the sources 
at the border said.
	   Karens have poured over the border into northern Thailand's Mae 
Hong Son province and have settled in camps in the Mae Sariang 
district.
	   About 3,000 refugees have crossed to the area since early April, 
with 2,000 of entering the country over the past six weeks, one 
source said.
	   Some had walked for two weeks or more to reach Thailand, where 
they were allowed by authorities to build shacks.
	   Thousands more Karen refugees are believed to be hiding in the 
forest around their homes in Burma.
	   The exodus came after Rangoon in February began a massive sweep 
through territories in eastern Burma held by the Karen National 
Union (KNU), the only major ethnic insurgency which has not reached 
a ceasefire with the junta.
	   Over 10,000 villagers escaped to camps in Thailand, which is now 
sheltering around 90,000 Karens. The KNU is maintaining a 
small-scale guerrilla resistance campaign in its former border 
enclaves.
	   Meanwhile, in Bangkok, representatives from international 
non-governmental organisations were today meeting with interior 
ministry officials to discuss living conditions for Burmese 
refugees in Thailand.
	   Aid workers are particularly concerned about the siyuation in 
refugee camps in the Thai provinces of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi, 
south of Mae Sariang, as the start of the rainy season approaches.
	   Some refugees are still sheltering under plastic sheets after 
fleeing the junta offensive against the KNU as long ago as 
February, and are still prohibited from building elevated platforms 
to keep dry.
	   Earlier this year, the Thai authorities came under fire for 
reportedly repatriating Karen refugees into a war zone opposite 
Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi. Refugees remain worried they will be 
forcibly sent back to Burma.
	   Burma's ruling junta, the State Law and Order Restoration 
Council, has come under heavy international criticism for its 
treatment of some ethnic minorities in its bid to clear away all 
ethnic insurgencies still opposing the regime.
	   AFP  ts