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BKK POST: Enhanced role for UNHCR w
- Subject: BKK POST: Enhanced role for UNHCR w
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 02:02:00
March 27, 1998
BORDER / MIXED REACTION TO THAI MEASURES
Enhanced role for
UNHCR
welcomed
But silence greets repatriation plan
The regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees yesterday affirmed its willingness to help the
government ease the burden of assisting refugees on the
Thai-Burmese border.
But the UNHCR and Western embassies which have shown
particular concern over the attacks on refugee camps on the
border declined comment on the warning from the army chief,
Gen Chettha Thanajaro, of a planned move to repatriate Karen
males from all camps along the border.
"The UNHCR is prepared to help the Royal Thai Government to
ease the burden of assisting refugees," said a statement from its
regional office. "But, with regard to recent media reports on
activities concerning the Thai-Myanmar border, we have not
received any official communication from the Royal Thai
Government."
Western embassies whose ambassadors visited Huay Kalok and
Mae Hla camps last Friday following attacks by
Rangoon-backed forces welcomed Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai's comments about plans to enhance the UNHCR's role.
A US official said: "We would welcome it as a good and positive
step if the Thai government went ahead with the proposal to give
the UNHCR a bigger role."
A British embassy official said: "We welcome the prime
minister's comments on an enhanced role for the UNHCR."
An Australian diplomat said: "We support the relocation of the
camps and support efforts to find a sustainable solution to the
problem. In that context, we would also welcome a greater
UNHCR involvement."
On Gen Chettha's remarks, a Western analyst said the primary
objective seemed to be identification of possible combatants in
the camps, and removal of any that might be found.
"We can hardly object to such a move which would be in
keeping with international standards," the analyst added.
"But if there were any wholesale repatriation of Karen males,
there would be an international outcry and this would come at a
particularly critical time, when Thailand is trying to garner
investor confidence."
Two Border Patrol Police units yesterday staged pre-dawn
weapon searches at two refugee camps in Mae Hong Son
province as part of a security beef-up.
The searches at the Ban Nai Soy and Bang Tractor camps were
ordered by Pol Lt-Col Decha Khamkerd, commander of the
336th BPP Unit.
No weapons were found in the two camps, which house
hundreds of Karen refugees who had fled fighting in their
motherland.
Sources said Thanit Nanthawong, chief of the illegal immigrant
suppression centre in the province, yesterday ordered the Pang
Ma Pha district chief to survey the living conditions of about 222
Shan refugees in Ban Pang Yon camp.
Provincial authorities also planned to evacuate these refugees to
the Bang Tractor camp for control and security reasons.
The planned evacuation of the refugees follows a series of
attacks by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.
The pro-Rangoon DKBA has staged several attacks on refugee
camps this month.
Thousands of Karen refugees, many of whom are supporters of
the Karen National Union, have been living in refugee camps
inside Thailand after fleeing a decade of fighting in their
homeland.
The camps have become prime targets of attacks by the DKBA,
which wanted to suppress the KNU.
Gen Chettha yesterday ordered the Infantry Regiment's 4th
Special Task Force to conduct a weapons search at refugee
camps in Tak province and to separate Karen males from female
refugees before repatriating them to Burma.
Gen Chettha said the authorities wanted to search for weapons
and DKBA members hidden in the camps as spies.
He stressed that the army would not allow any foreign armed
force to use Thai soil as a battlefield.
"We will not let any foreign armed force use our territory to stage
any attack against its rival. If they want to attack, they must do it
outside our land. Those who intrude on our soil will be disarmed
and sent back to Burma," said the army chief.
The army also plans to reduce the number of refugee camps to
only eight - four in the North and four in the South - for security
reasons.
Gen Chettha added he has assigned his secretary Maj-Gen
Pongthep Thespratheep and deputy director to the army's
Directorate of Civil Affairs Col Jongsak Panitchakul to hold
press conferences relating to the army and its planned
repatriation of refugees.
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Last Modified: Fri, Mar 27, 1998