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BKK POST: Enhanced role for UNHCR w



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