Burma refugee: 60,000 Karen to be l

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Subject: Burma refugee: 60,000 Karen to be listed


THE Tak provincial authority will today begin registration of
60,000 Karen refugees living in camps in districts along the
border with Burma.
The aithorities will also strictly control aid to the refugees
from non-governmental organisations.
A prominent official in the province said the registration of the
refugees would start at Dong Pa Kiang camp, which holds about
4,500 Karen in Mae Ramat district.
The same work will then be carried out at 10 other camps in Mae
Sot, THa Song Yang and Phopm Phra districts.
The registration, to be finished by the end of this month, is
being carried out with a budget of one million baht.
The move followed a seminar of government officials held by the
Interior Ministry on August 24.
Government policy is for the ministry to find ways to keep all
aliens in the country under proper control for the sake of
national security and conservation of natural resources and
enviornment.
"The government began to be concerned about aliens in te country
after the Thai Chamber of Commerce proposed tha talien work
forces be employed.
 "It was revealed in the proposal that there were about 500,000
aliens living in Thailand," the official said.
There are four or five groups of aliens in Tak. 
The include Burmese political asylum-seekers, ethnic minority
groups who fled fighting in Burma and illegal immigrants who
managed to have permanent residence in Thailand and illegal
immigrants in general.