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NCGUB CONDEMNS ATTACK OF HWAY KALOK



NCGUB CONDEMNS ATTACK OF HWAY KALOK REFUGEE CAMP

March 12,1998

Asks Quickest  Assistance for Refugee Victims; Urges United Nations Inquiry---


The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma(NCGUB) strongly condemns the calculated and deadly cross-border attack of Tuesday, 11 January, against unarmed and defenseless Burmese Karen refugees on Thai territory by forces of Burma's military junta.

At least three refugees were killed in indiscriminate firing by about 200 attackers. Forty others are known to be wounded, some critically.  Others are still missing, and may have been kidnapped.  The attackers burned most of the camp, which housed more than 7,000 refugees.

"These repeated cross-border attacks against defenseless refugees are nothing less than premeditated murder," NCGUB representative for United Nations Affairs, Dr. Thaung Htun said in New York.  "They are also an insult against the sovereignty of Thailand and an affront to international standards for treatment of refugees.  We are asking the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to actively investigate the attack and to publicize its findings and suggestions to prevent future incidents."

The NCGUB urges the international community to join it in denouncing this at least in a series of illegal and murderous assaults on refugees by Burma's military regime.  The NCGUB also asks the Royal Thai Government to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of all people on its territory, and to assist in expediting quick aid to the victims of the attack.

"We urgently ask for immediate assistance from the international community to provide food, shelter and  medicines for the refugee people who have lost all of their few possessions," Dr. Thaung Htun added.  "And we implore the Thai authorities to take action now to stop these attacks before they escalate to an even more deadly level."

  Details of the Attack

At about 12:00 midnight on 10 January, Burmese army soldiers and an allied militias, the Karen Democratic Buddhist Army (DKBA), attacked the Hway Kalok refugee camp near Maesot, a Thai-Burma  border town in Thailand.  According to reports from NCGUB sources, the Burmese Army and DKBA with some RPGs, M9 A1 grenade launchers, 60mm mortars and assault rifles crossed the Moei River and invaded Thai territory.  They surrounded the Hway Kalok refugee camp and shelled the refugee camp from three	directions.  During entering the camp, outriders began to fire randomly and at everything they saw in the camp. Afterwards, the intruders looted. then burned down most of the camp's houses.

Amid the chaos of indiscriminate gunfire and their homes being  burned, many  refugees sought shelter in the nearby jungle. However, Burmese soldiers and militia were waiting in ambush and kidnapped a number of refugees.  Hway Kalok camp  accommodates 8,767 refugees, fleeing from the persecution of the Burmese Army.  On January 28,1997, Hway Kalok camp was attacked in a similar manner.

Background

The DKBA militia is the break-away faction of the Karen National Union fully supported by Burmese military regime.

The NCGUB has the view that repeated incursions by the Burmese Army and DKBA militia into Thailand during the last three years are the serious threat and insult to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Thailand.  It is also an early  warning sign that civil war in Burma has spilled over into the neighboring country and starts to damage the regional peace and stability.

The attacks are also a clear violation of the "Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War" that the military regime ratified on 24 August 1992.  The NCGUB urges the international community to condemn the inhuman act of the Burmese armed forces and remind the Burmese military regime of its obligation to comply with the provisions of Geneva Convention, in particular to refrain from attacking civilian targets.  It is further requested to governments and international NG0s to provide  emergency humanitarian assistance to those homeless refugees.