BKK Post,April 10, 1998. BORDER

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

April 10, 1998. BORDER

Security stepped up amid fears of renegade attacks on camps
Execute intruders, says Burma junta 

Military authorities in Mae Sariang district of Mae Hong Son have 
stepped up security following reports that pro-Rangoon Karen forces plan 
to attack refugee camps during the Songkran festival.

The disclosure from Col Sanchai Jaruwan, commander of the 7th Infantry 
Regiment, came after the Burmese leadership in Rangoon denied control 
over the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and suggested that Thai 
authorities "arrest and execute" any DKBA members who staged incursions 
into Thailand.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement, the suggestion was made 
during Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra's visit to Rangoon 
on Wednesday and Thursday.

Col Sanchai said his regiment had been put on full alert, with security 
raised at all camps in Mae Sariang, "particularly those vulnerable to 
attacks".

"We will not let the DKBA stage any acts of sabotage on our soil," he 
stressed.

The DKBA left four Karens dead and several others injured in 
cross-border attacks last month on camps at Huay Kalok and Mae Hla in 
Tak province further south.

A National Security Council meeting yesterday agreed that the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should be given access to camps 
along the border with Burma in June, Supreme Commander Mongkol 
Ampornpisit said.

"The UNHCR will work jointly with Thailand in relocating the refugees to 
safer areas further inside Thailand's borders," he said, without clearly 
outlining the long-term role of the UN agency.

The relocation will "allow the military and the UNHCR to take better 
care of the refugees and provide for their security," he added.

The Interior Ministry will decide on the new camp locations, and NSC 
chief Gen Boonsak Kamhaengrithirong will coordinate with concerned 
agencies reorganisation of the camps, Gen Mongkol added.

UNHCR officials in Bangkok said they had not yet been officially 
informed of the NSC decision.

To protect Karen refugees from attack and prevent them from being lured 
to cut trees in the Salween forests, Mae Hong Son authorities have 
already begun moving them to safer areas, officials said.

But the evacuation plan has advanced slowly as a result of lack of 
cooperation among concerned agencies and resistance from the displaced 
Karens.

So far 900 out of 12,000 Karens have voluntarily returned to Burma while 
the rest have hidden in the Salween forests, sources said.

Thanit Nanthawong, chief of the illegal immigrant suppression centre, 
who oversees the evacuation of refugees, said Mae Hong Son authorities 
plan to evacuate 158 refugees from Ban Nam Rin camp in Muang district to 
a temporary shelter in Mae Surin by the end of the month.

For better management and security reasons, provincial authorities plan 
to reduce the number of refugee camps from the current 13 to four.

He admitted that Karens hired to cut trees in the forest resisted the 
evacuation plan for fear of loss of income.

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