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NATION: PM ponders new options fo
- Subject: NATION: PM ponders new options fo
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 16:47:00
Headlines
PM ponders new options
for refugees
IN defiance of a long-held foreign policy
taboo, Chuan Leekpai may become the
first Thai premier to allow the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) to administer Burmese refugee
camps inside Thailand.
The economy-driven option, pros and cons
of which are being weighed, has been
advocated by Chuan to ease Thailand's
financial burden, according to Foreign
Minister Surin Pitsuwan.
What the UNHCR's mandate would cover
was unclear but may require legal scrutiny.
The proposal was among others discussed
at the Cabinet meeting Tuesday in light of
mounting attacks on refugee camps, mainly
inhabited by Karens loyal to Gen Bomya's
Karen National Union (KNU), by its rival
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA),
believed to be backed by Burmese troops.
However, according to Surin, there are
those who favour and those who oppose
this idea. ''Some said it was good because
the country now could not afford the cost of
camps; others said it wasn't good because
UNHCR's rules and regulations might pose
problems for Thai authorities in supervising
camps,'' the minister said.
He added that the army had proposed
regrouping the 19 camps dotting the Thai
side of the border into 11 and moving them
deeper into Thailand but reported difficulty
in finding suitable sites.
The UNHCR seeks the same protection
mandate as when looking after Cambodian
refugees. However, Thai security was
reluctant for fear that the UNHCR's role
would become overbearing and prolong the
refugee's stay when the country had
suffered from shouldering Cambodian
refugees for more than a decade.
Thailand has long used the camps, which
houses over 100,000 refugees, mainly
Karen, as a buffer in the complex rivalries
between ethnic Burmese insurgents and
the government. Following the ceasefire
agreement which the Rangoon government
secured with most of the armed insurgency
groups except the KNU, policy has
changed in favour of their return.
Meanwhile, in what Deputy Foreign Minister
Sukhumbhand Paribatra described as the
strongest form of protest, the Thai
government Tuesday handed a protest note
to Burmese Ambassador U Hla Maung
about the latest attacks by the DKBA on
Maw Ker camp in Tak province.
The note said the many intrusions by the
DKBA on to Thai soil had badly affected
the relationship between Thailand and
Burma.
''The protest note was handed to the
Burmese ambassador in what can be
described as the strongest manner, being
conveyed by the deputy foreign minister,
where notes in the past were submitted by
senior Foreign Ministry officials.'' he said.
Moreover, this was the first time that the
Foreign Ministry had named the intruders
as the DKBA instead of an ''armed group
from Burma''.
''We demand that the Burmese government
take all steps to prevent the DKBA entering
Thai territory again to attack Thai camps.
Lives were lost in the invasion.''
''These repeated attacks violating our
sovereignty have also badly affected the
relationship between Thailand and
Cambodia,'' Sukhumbhand stressed.
He declined to comment on reports that
DKBA troops acted for the Burmese
government.
''Those attacks should be dealt with
seriously and sincerely, particularly since
Burma and Thailand are members of
Asean. What we should do is increase
mutual cooperation instead of having such
problems,'' he said.
He stressed that the problems should be
solved before the annual meeting of Asean
foreign ministers in July.
''I expect that the problems will have ended
before the Asean meeting, so that Thailand
and Burma can enter the meeting with pride
and unity,'' Sukhumbhand said.
The Nation