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BurmaNet News: February 1, 1995
************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
**************************************************************
The BurmaNet News: February 1, 1995
Issue #103
Special Issue: Karen Refugee Crisis
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
[They] "will be pushed back without having to wait for
fighting to cease...My understanding is that it is a
military, not a political, matter. If it was a political
matter we would give them protection...but I want to stress
that we will certainly push them back, we cannot let them
stay here for years."
Sanan Kachornprasart, Thailand's Interior Minister
<see "NATION: FLEEING KAREN REFUGEES TO BE SENT BACK>
Contents:
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
1 BURMANET: FEW CASUALTIES IN MANERPLAW FIGHT, KNU REGROUPING FOR
GUERRILLA WARFARE
2 KNLA: THE BATTLE SITUATION
3 NATION: FLEEING KAREN REFUGEES TO BE SENT BACK WITHOUT WAITING
FOR A LULL IN FIGHTING
4 BURMANET: SITUATION NOTES ON THE THAI-BURMA BORDER
5 KNU: FORCED RELOCATION OF ZAW HE VILLAGE, MURDER OF HEADMAN
6 VOA: SITUATION IN BURMA
7 AP: BURMESE EXPAND OFFENSIVE
8 BURMANET: THAI POLICE HAND REFUGEES TO SLORC AT MYAWADDY, USE AS
PORTERS FEARED
9 REG.BURMA: KAREN REFUGEES
10 KHRG: SLORC SHOOTINGS & ARRESTS OF REFUGEES
11 VOA: U.S. CALLS ON BURMA TO END ATTACKS ON KAREN
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*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BURMANET: FEW CASUALTIES IN MANERPLAW FIGHT, KNU REGROUPING FOR
GUERRILLA WARFARE
February 1, 1995
Kawthoolei
Casualties in the fighting around Manarplaw were extremely light
considering the number of people with guns around. The KNU withdrew
rather than fight a pitched battle. According to a KNU colonel, the
Karen forces withdrew once the SLORC, with their DKBA guides, were
across the Salween in force. Even though the KNU still held the high
ground, they would have been forced to defend along two ridgelines
stretching some 20 kilometres. With DKBA defectors to guide them, the
SLORC troops would have been able to penetrate the thin defence lines.
Rather than fight under these conditions, the KNU ordered a general
evacuation and consequently, casualties were extremely light (between 20
and 60 killed, probably closer to the lower number).
Manarplaw was the best known of KNU bases, but dozens of smaller bases
remain in KNU hands further inside Burma. The corrent SLORC offensive seems
to be aimed at the bases right on the Thai border; Manarplaw and Kawmoora.
Inside Karen State (Kawthoolei), some 1 million people live in territory
firmly controlled by the KNU and approximately another 2 million live
in contested areas.
After the fall of Manarplaw, rumors circulated briefly that Gen. Bo Mya was
wounded, but the reports turned out to be groundless. BurmaNet has received
several enquiries have been received about the Karen Human Rights Group
staff. The KHRG staff was safely evacuated to the Thai side and are with
the refugees at Pwe Ba Lu, where they have resumed work. <See the KHRG report
in this issue>
Although a large number of refugees and troops are demoralized over the
evacuation, there is a sizable group within the Karen National Liberation
Army that is not disappointed with their departure from Manarplaw. Among
the second and third tier officers (colonels and majors), there is a group
that has been pressing Gen. Bo Mya to end the strategy of defending fixed
positions and move to aggressive guerilla warfare. One young officer
claimed that over the last two months, they have finally been getting
the attention of Bo Mya and this particular officer discussed the end
of Manarplaw with barely disguised glee. If views of these two
officers are representative of the rest of the KNU leadership,
we can expect to see a more mobile, bloodier campaign of hit and run
tactics, targetting SLORC government personnel, infrastructure and
foreign investment projects which cause harm to the Karen people.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
KNLA: THE BATTLE SITUATION
February 1, 1995
Karen National Liberation Army
Kaw Thoo Lei
Due to the massive SLORC force consisting of Divisions 22,33,44 and 66 brought
up against our troops, we were forced to give up Manerplaw. Now battalions
from the Light Infantry Regiments 201, 203, 204, 209 and 210 are
reinforcing the Nawta area. Battalions of the Burma Regiments 338 and
339 have moved up to Hlaing Bwe. On the Wanka front, the 441 Tactical Command
and battalions of LIR 1, 118, 335, 9, 356, 357, 102 and BR 2 are poised
for a major attack with armor reinforcing them
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
NATION: FLEEING KAREN REFUGEES TO BE SENT BACK WITHOUT WAITING
FOR A LULL IN FIGHTING
February 1, 1995
About 10,000 Karen refugees forced into Thailand by recent Burmese army attacks
"will be pushed back" into Burma "without having to wait for fighting to cease,"
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said yesterday.
Sanan's statement confirmed fears of private aid agencies who have expressed
strong opposition to any forced repatriation of refugees before the Burmese
offensive against armed ehtnic groups dies down.
He said he considered the latest Burmese operation against the Karen guerrillas
an internal affiar of Burma and "not a political matter", se "we [Thailand] can
push the refugees out at any time."
Thailand, he added, "will assist only those who are wounded or sick, and send
them back immediately when they are well enough to travel, without waiting until
the fighting stops."
"My understanding is that it is a military, not a political matter. If it was a
political matter we would give them protection...but I want to stress that we
will certainly push them back, we cannot let them stay here for years" he said.
The Interior Minister said Thailand would arrest Karen leader Gen Bo Mya if he
was found to be taking refuge in the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Karen guerrillas are preparing for a possible major Burmese offensive
against he area under the Karen National Union 4th Bridgade in the southern
Tenasserim division, after their outpost in the area was attacked last Saturday.
Preparations are being made in response to Burmese army movements and
reinforcements in the Mergui and Tavoy districts, where KNU forces are active.
A senior KNU leder from the area, while acknowledging that the situation has
been calm since cthe clashes last Saturday, predicted that an imminent major
offensive against hte KNU's 4th Brigade would take place "soon."
Saturday's attack on a KNU frotnline outmost at Kawmawhaw, which is under the
control of the KNU's 10th Battalion, forced about 1,200 refugees to take refuge
in Thailand's Bong Ti Pass in Say Yok district of Kanchanaburi province. The
assault was conducted by about 100 Burmese troops from the 25th Battalion.
Kwee Htoo Win, KNU governor of Mergui and Tavoy distric, said in an interview
yesterday that he believed the offensive is aimed at smashing the KNU's southern
strongholds and facilitating the passage of a gas pipeline which will run
through the 4th Brigade's area.
He said the Kraen had benve been consulted by either Thailand, or US or French
oil firms--Unocal and Total--which are partners with the Burmese junta in a
multi-billion dollar project to extract natural gas from the Gulf of Martaban
and transport if for sale in Thailand.
"We have tried to contact the [US and French] companies but we have heard
nothing from them in response." Kwee Htoo Win said.
He did not state clearly whether the KNU would obstruct the projected gas line
but said "everything that benefits Slorc, we will destroy."
The Burmese and Karen troops who engaged in clashes last weekend are currently
confronting each other on opposite banks of the Tenasserim River, which runs
parallel to the Thai froniter and is between 15 and 40 kms awayu.
A senior Thai official in Bangkok said yesterday that local Thai security
officers in the region had not allowed Burmese troops to enter into Thailand to
tatack the Karen from the rear, as Thailand will not tolerate territorial
violations by either side in the conflict.
The official said after the clash, Thai border patrol police and rengers had
been sent to strengthen the border area to prevent any forces from trespassing
onto Thai soil.
The KNU governor predicted that between 7,000-10,000 people living close to the
area of confrontation and the 4th Brigate Headquarters at Minthamee could be
affected if the Burmese offensive starts. Minthamee is about 20 km south of
Kawmawhaw.
The whole population of 50,000 people who live along the river could pour into
Thailand if the Burmese army stages an all out offensive to wipe out the 4th
Brigade's controlled area.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
NCGUB/DAB/NDF/NLD: JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING SLORC OFFENSIVE AGAINST MANERPLAW
January 28, 1995
Manerplaw has been the Headquarters of our Burmese opposition organizations
struggling for democracy and antional freedom. We, NCGUB, DAB, DDF and NLD(LA)
are therefore issuingf this joint statement regarding the recent SLORC offensive
against Manerplaw.
1 SLORC has declared widely that it intends to bring about cease-fires with
various ethnic minority groups, border area developments and national
solidarity. But now the recent SLORC offensive against Manerplaw demontstates
that in practice it does not want national solidarity and contradicts its own
declaration.
2 On the other had the varios armed groups decided to depart from their earlier
decision that they should only talk jointly and such they tried talks one by
one. Some of them have obtained a cease fire with SLORC, while some are still
in processes of negotiation and some are still looking in an appropriate means
to begin negotiation. The KNU was still in the process of trying to obtain
negotiations with the SLORC, but the SLORC's recent offensive has demonstated
its insincerity.
3 Recently the SLORC declared that except for the Khon Sa group in Shan State it
intedns to negotiate with all other ethnic armed organizations and will engage
in reconstruction work of the nation. But the recent offensive against
Manerplaw shows that the SLORC is attempting to deveive the people of Burma and
the international community as well.
4 Although the SLORC has captured Manerplaw by military means, this hshoudl not
be regarded as the final victory for SLORC, but rather as just a temporary
military win. This can not solve the essential underlying political problems in
Burma. As such the consequences which arise in future will be the
responsibility of SLORC.
5 We acknowledge and honor the effors of the KNU and KNLA to denfend Manerplaw
against hte SLORC's offensives. We all stand united with KNU to resist and
over-come the SLORC offensives.
6 We will continue out struggle to finish the military dictatorship from Burma,
and try hard to find the solutions to Burma's problems by political means, and
establsih a Federal Union for Burma, where theer will be full human rights and
genuine democracy.
Signed,
U Maung Aye
Information Minister, NCGUB
Myint Zaw, Joint General Scty, DAB
Khaing Soe Naing Aung, General Scty, NDF
U Tin AUng, Vice Chairman, NLD(LA)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BURMANET: THAI POLICE HAND REFUGEES TO SLORC AT MYAWADDY, USE AS
PORTERS FEARED
February 1, 1995
Mae Sot, Thailand; Myawaddy, Burma
A three week long roundup of "illegal immigrants" by Thai police in the
border town of Mae Sot has wound down. During the crackdown, approximately
400 ethnic Burmans who did not have legal papers or the money to bribe their
way out were handed to SLORC authorities at the Moei River crossing at
Myawaddy. The handover took place on January 20, 1995. The "illegals"
are refugees from Burma who do not live in the refugee camps. They are
regarded by the Thai government and UNHCR as "economic migrants" rather
than refugees.
Reports from Karen people in Mae Sot indicate that the returnees have been used
by SLORC forces as porters in the current offensive. Reports of their use in
forced porterage have not yet been confirmed. Due to the large number of
porters used and the confusion of battle, a number of porters regularly
escape and end up in refugee camps along the Thai border. If this instance
of porterage turns out to be true, border sources expect to see some of the
400 turn up in camps in the near future.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BURMANET: SITUATION NOTES ON THE THAI-BURMA BORDER
February 1, 1995
by Wednedsay Observer for BurmaNet
Thai-Burma border
1. Overall Political Analysis
The current offensives against Karen strongholds at Manerplaw, Ka Moo Raw and
Htee Hta (4th Brigade) mark a rapid escalation of Burma army efforts to gain
control over Karen-held strategic border points. The Burma army has had the
resources to mount this campaign for some time, but chooses to do so now,
apparently with a crisp, border-wide strategy.
Burma-watchers may be surprised at SLORC's timing; why launch a huge offensive
just as international recognition is coming to fruition? Why risk increased
contact and approval with the world when the status quo-- successive ceasefire
deals and a declared unilateral "ceasefire" were winning praise globally?
My speculation is that SLORC has entered into a clandestine deal with Thailand,
and that last week during his visit Thaksin Shinawatra sealed the agreement with
Rangoon. Thailand is banking on two massive energy projects with Burma: the
Martaban pipeline and, a little further down the road, damming the Salween.
Both of these projects will provide long-term energy resources to Thailand; both
of these projects will provide large amounts of long-term foreign exchange for
Rangoon; both of these projects are threatened in all stages by continued armed
resistance in Karen and Mon states. Other projects, such as the completion of a
bridge and road network linking Mae Sot to Moulmein and beyond, and rail and
road links to connect a deep sea port at Ye to Western Thailand, also promise
economic gain for both countries. Both are also threatened by continued
insurgencies.
Of course, one unpalatable ramification of an all-out assault on the rebels
would be an enormous refugee influx to Thailand-- a scenario that Thailand is
eager to avoid. We can speculate that in the past five years or so since
relations with SLORC have warmed, fear of another large refugee influx inhibited
Thailand from encouraging large-scale military operations against the rebels.
Also, lucrative local business interests provided incentive for official and
non-official Thai policymakers from putting the brakes on Karen timber. But now
the stakes have been raised way beyond the timber game, in which the KNU had
figured heavily.
Is it possible that SLORC and Khun Thaksin cut a deal: SLORC would wipe out
the KNU, ABSDF, NMSP (?) and DAB once and for all by displacing them from the
border jungles. Thailand would have to accept thousands of refugees. NGOs
would provide humanitarian assistance, but the Thais have the power and the
right to set up and control the refugee camps, access to them, and distribution
of aid. With the formerly rebel-held areas under SLORC control, both countries
could argue that the villagers would be safe, as combat had ceased. Within one
year, a huge forced repatriation program would begin, including all recent
arrivals as well as all refugees who have come since 1984 (who have now all been
registered by the MOI).
Meanwhile, SLORC troops would secure and prepare the Salween and pipeline routes
for energy projects.
Supporting evidence:
-Proximity of Shinawatra's trip
-Agreement to sign further accords on the gas agreement
-Shinawatra's Foreign Ministry immediately issuing a statement that refugees
would be accepted short-term, while the MOI, which in the past had been the
issuing office, was silent even though it has a new tough guy on refugee
affairs.
Possible future supporting Indicators:
-Further Thai military and government control over refugee camps and assistance
(which has been hinted at for months) -Dialogue within the next four or five
months about the Salween projects -Harassment of KNU and other leaders,
including possible arrest or restriction to special camps -Road-building from
Myawaddy westward
-Shinawatra extending personal business and political contacts with key players
in the aforementioned projects
2. Conjecture on the Situation in Karen State
SLORC's seizure of Manerplaw deals a crippling blow to mobility of Karens in the
mountains of some parts of Karen state. Soldiers, civilians seeking refuge in
Thailand, people who periodically trek back from the border to their villages
(and vice-versa), aid workers, students, missionaries, teachers, and anyone else
who had use the Moei to reach the critical juncture of the Salween to head north
into 3rd and 7th brigade areas will either choose not to travel or travel only
at risk of confrontation or harassment with the Burmese soldiers. The freedom to
travel thus is a mainstay of the traditional Karen life, as well as the
perception that the mountains belong to the Karen people.
Thus restricted, whatever infrastructure has existed in the form of schools,
covert aid programs, decentralized training, fact-finding and other
communications will face extreme hardship. Up until now, many if not all of
these activities were coordinated and launched from Manerplaw under the
protection, in many cases, of the KNLA. Unless either the Burma army or
incumbent Karen elements can sustain or replace these systems, Karen villages--
particularly displaced Karen villages-- will face serious setbacks in their
struggles to survive.
Depending on how extensive the Burma army's grasp on the territory becomes, some
of the economic sabotage that has been documented in other parts of Burma may
follow suit and be added to the repertoire of human rights abuses by which the
Burma army has subsisted and defined itself. Perhaps these village-level abuses
will be particularly harsh in areas that once enjoyed the protection of and
provided sustenance for the KNLA. Economic abuses would include: land
confiscation, crop taxing, forced labor on military farms an business projects,
rearrangement of village political structures to channel resources to the
military.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
KNU: FORCED RELOCATION OF ZAW HE VILLAGE, MURDER OF HEADMAN
Karen National Union intelligence sources
January 17, 1995
Kaw Moo Rah, Kaw Thoo Lei
Chronology of the forced relocatoin of Zaw He village.
25 November, 1994
Warrant Officer Kyar Ma Naw, Battalion 97, demanded Yan Koke village,
(near Kawkreik,) to pay 2,000 kyat each month for the next 5 months
in recompense for a Burmese soldier who was killed near their village.
1 December, 1994
U Ba He, the village head of Zaw He village was arrested by a patrol
from the 230 Battalion, headed by Capt. Kyaw Moh Thoo, and was
subsequently secretly executed.
Naung Keing village was required to give Mya Pa Daing, the headquarters
of the 230 Battalion, headed by Capt. Kyaw Moh Thoo, porter fees at
the rate of 4,000 kyat for 1 month througout 1994, thus bringing the total
given for the year to 48,000 kyat.
29 December, 1994
An officer of the 230 battalion demanded Tee Po San village give
30,000 kyat and Naing Keing village give 20,000 kyat, "for the
construction of a school at Mya Pa Daing."
1 January, 1995
Zaw He village forcibly relocated, and cannot be traced. The
reason for this, and the execution of U Ba Eh has been given
as first, that U Ba Eh was accused of being a "robber" by the
230 Battalion and second, that a Karen soldier who was killed
at the nearby Po Kya bridge was found to have been a member
of the village.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
VOA: SITUATION IN BURMA
DATE=1/30/95
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-173172
TITLE=BURMA SITUATION (L)
BYLINE=DAN ROBINSON
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: NON-GOVERNMENT AID AGENCIES IN THAILAND ARE CONTINUING
EFFORTS TO ASSIST REFUGEES FROM BURMA FLEEING A GOVERNMENT
OFFENSIVE AGAINST ETHNIC KAREN REBEL AND OPPOSITION FORCES.
FROM V-O-A'S SOUTHEAST ASIA BUREAU, CORRESPONDENT DAN ROBINSON REPORTS
KAREN OFFICIALS; SPOKESMEN FOR THE BURMESE OPPOSITION ALLIANCE;
AND, THAI MILITARY OFFICIALS SAY FIGHTING IS CONTINUING ALONG THE
BORDER.
TEXT: SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE FALL OF MANERPLAW -- THE MAIN BASE
OF KAREN REBELS AND OTHER GROUPS IN THE BURMESE DEMOCRACY
ALLIANCE -- GOVERNMENT FORCES ARE REPORTED CONTINUING ATTACKS.
REPORTS SAY SEVERAL THOUSAND BURMESE TROOPS ARE PRESSURING
REMAINING KAREN UNITS ALONG THE MOEI RIVER, SOUTH OF MANERPLAW --
AN AREA ABOUT 250 KILOMETERS EAST OF RANGOON.
THAI AUTHORITIES ARE PERMITTING NON-GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO ASSIST
AN ESTIMATED SIX THOUSAND REFUGEES WHO HAVE FLED ACROSS THE RIVER
MARKING THE BORDER.
AN OFFICIAL OF ONE RELIEF AGENCY, WHO ASKED NOT TO BE IDENTIFIED,
TOLD V-O-A MANY REFUGEES WERE SCATTERED IN THE JUNGLE -- IN HIS
WORDS -- WAITING FOR THE DUST TO SETTLE. HE SAYS THERE IS A
CONTINUING NEED FOR FOOD, BLANKETS AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES.
// OPT // THE RELIEF OFFICIAL SAYS AN ESTIMATED THREE THOUSAND
KAREN CIVILIANS WHO FLED MANERPLAW TO A SMALL VILLAGE
(KWAY-BAW-LU) HAVE MOVED FURTHER INTO THAI TERRITORY. ANOTHER
FOUR THOUSAND OR SO REFUGEES HAVE ARRIVED IN ANOTHER AREA. // END
MEANWHILE, THE LEADER OF THE KAREN REBELS -- GENERAL BO MYA --
REMAINS IN THAI TERRITORY. KAREN STATEMENTS VOWED THAT THE
REBELS WOULD RE-GROUP AND RESUME THEIR GUERRILLA CAMPAIGN.
IN A V-O-A INTERVIEW, TIN MAUNG WIN -- A SPOKESMAN FOR THE EXILE
DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE OF BURMA (D-A-B) -- SOUGHT TO DOWNPLAY THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LOSS OF MANERPLAW. HE URGES THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST BURMESE GOVERNMENT
ACTIONS:
// TIN MAUNG WIN ACTUALITY //
YOU KNOW WE NEED A CONCERTED EFFORT. NOT ONLY THE
UNITED STATES BUT BRITAIN SHOULD SPEAK OUT, AUSTRALIA
SHOULD SPEAK OUT, GERMANY SHOULD SPEAK OUT, THE SAME AS
THE UNITED STATES. AND ALSO THE ASEAN NATIONS. I THINK
THIS IS A SITUATION THAT CONCERNS NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES
AND THEY SHOULD BE MORE VOCAL ON THIS THING. I DON'T
KNOW WHY THEY HAVE KEPT THEIR MOUTH SHUT ON THESE
THINGS.
// END ACTUALITY //
TIN MAUNG WIN SAYS HE LACKED ACCURATE INFORMATION ON KAREN
LOSSES. HOWEVER, A REUTER REPORT -- QUOTING REBEL AND THAI
MILITARY SOURCES -- PUTS REBEL LOSSES ANYWHERE FROM 15 TO 60
DEAD.
IN THE FIRST OFFICIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE OFFENSIVE, BURMA'S
MILITARY-CONTROLLED MEDIA SAYS MANERPLAW WAS TAKEN BY KARENS WHO
BROKE AWAY FROM THE MAIN REBEL MOVEMENT.
KAREN REBELS ADMIT THEY WERE HURT BY AN INTERNAL SPLIT THAT
EMERGED IN DECEMBER, PITTING BUDDHISTS AGAINST CHRISTIAN K-N-U
MEMBERS. OPPOSITION SPOKESMAN SAY SOME OF THE MUTINEERS ACTED AS
GUIDES FOR GOVERNMENT TROOPS IN TAKING MANERPLAW. (SIGNED)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
AP: BURMESE EXPAND OFFENSIVE
January 30, 1995
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Burmese forces attacked the Karen rebels' last
major northern base Monday and moved against guerrilla positions to the south,
Thai military and aid sources said.
Some leaders of the ethnic rebel movement, along with thousands of
followers, have fled to Thailand, and more refugees are expected. Refugee
estimates run from 6,000 to 15,000.
The Karen, in rebellion for 46 years, were the strongest of more than a
dozen ethnic insurgencies fighting for greater autonomy from the brutal,
military-run central government.
In recent years the Rangoon government has crushed or negotiated peace
deals with most of the insurgent groups. Last week, Karen rebels said Burma's
military regime launched its biggest offensive in at least three years against
the group.
The headquarters of the Karen National Union at Manerplaw, about 150 miles
east of the Burmese capital of Rangoon, fell to government troops Thursday
after six days of fighting.
Thai border patrol police officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said
the rebels also lost six other bases along the Thai-Burmese frontier to the
north and south of Manerplaw.
The officers said Burmese troops were attacking the rebel stronghold of
Kawmoora and had opened up another front further south, opposite the Thai
province of Kanchanaburi.
Nearly 1,000 refugees fleeing the offensive were reported inside
Kanchanaburi, and more Karen villages were being evacuated.
Burma's junta rulers, who crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, have
been condemned by human rights groups for widespread abuses, including
arbitrary execution, torture and rape of villagers in ethnic minority areas.
End..
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BURMANET:
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
REG.BURMA: KAREN REFUGEES
To: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Karen Refugees
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.90.950130094207.4193H-100000@sol>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
I received a call from Thailand with the following information:
Karen refugees are being allowed to stay in Thailand in new camps around
Puay Baw Loo village. NGOs are not being allowed to take supplies into
the refugee areas, but they can drop the supplies off at the Thai
checkpoint on the road into Puay Baw Loo. The Karen can then pick up the
supplies and take them to the refugees. Reporters are not being allowed
into the Puay Baw Loo area, but some Karen have been able to come out and
give interviews to the reporters. The Karen refugees are safe at the
moment, and they are not being shelled by the Burmese troops who continue
to occupy Manerplaw.
Christina Fink
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
KHRG: SLORC SHOOTINGS & ARRESTS OF REFUGEES
Manerplaw
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
January 14, 1995 / KHRG #95-02
There are currently over 60,000 Karen refugees registered in refugee
camps in Thailand. These camps are scattered along the Burma border
for hundreds of kilometres, from Kanchanaburi in the south to the Mae
Hong Son area in the north. None of these refugees or camps are
officially recognized by either the Thai government or the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees. They only receive strict rations of rice,
salt and fishpaste, little or no clothing or educational aid, and
extremely limited medical assistance, all of which comes from
overseas agencies and is tightly restricted by the Thai Ministry of
the Interior. As a result of the overcrowded and restrictive living
conditions in some of the camps, thousands of other refugees avoid
them and stay in villages outside the camps, where they receive no
aid and must earn their living themselves. Both these people and
those inside the camps find that they need their own sources of food,
money and building materials in order to survive, but they are not
allowed to plant anything or cut any bamboo or wood on Thai soil.
Some find sporadic day labour for Thai farmers, but many find they
have to take the risk of planting fields, cutting bamboo or searching
for vegetables on the Burma side of the border. Over the past year,
there has been an alarming increase in the numbers of these refugees
who are being arrested, tortured, or shot on sight by the SLORC
Battalions who control the areas across the border. This report
documents some of the incidents which have occurred in the Moei River
area where it forms the Thai/Burma border north of the Thai town of
Mae Sot. The incidents documented here make up only a small sample of
the hundreds of arrests, disappearances and killings of refugees
which the SLORC has conducted up and down the border.
These incidents are of special concern right now, because Thai
authorities are starting to indicate that they want to repatriate all
Karen refugees as soon as possible. Over the past year, the Thai Army
has already been conducting large-scale forced repatriations of Mon
refugees and refugees from Shan State. In the Mon case, refugees were
driven into an area where they were later attacked and fled, only to
be driven back there again; while many of the refugees from Shan
State were handed back to SLORC patrols who then took them as
frontline military porters. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) has done nothing to protect those refugees, and has given no
indication that it will do anything to protect Karen refugees in the
event of a forced repatriation (refoulement). Instead, UNHCR Bangkok
chief Ruprecht von Arnim recently commended the Thai authorities for
their "changing attitude" towards refugees from Burma, while a UNHCR
press release volunteered to "assist in any voluntary repatriation
operation". Von Arnim held up the UNHCR-assisted repatriation of
Rohingya Muslim refugees from Bangladesh as an example - however,
recent reports by Mdcins Sans Frontires, Refugees International and
others have stated that most of the Rohingyas are being forced back
against their will, that many of those who tell UNHCR they don't want
to go have subsequently been deprived of food, beaten by camp
officials, and summarily sent back, that many returnees are being
taken for slave labour by SLORC and their land is not being given
back to them, and that UNHCR is seldom to be seen in the camps in
Bangladesh or in Burma, where they reportedly stay exclusively in the
towns and only travel escorted by SLORC Military Intelligence.
The Thai authorities and UNHCR seem to feel that Karen refugees are
only in Thailand because of battles between SLORC and Karen forces,
when in fact it is Burma Army repression in their villages which
drove these people to Thailand. As documented in other KHRG reports,
this repression, including slave labour, looting, extortion,
destruction of homes and crops, torture, rape, and killings, is only
getting worse. The incidents documented in this report should be
enough in themselves to show why no repatriation should even be
considered until there is significant improvement in the human rights
situation in Burma. The SLORC's attitude toward refugees remains
clear: SLORC leaders have repeatedly been quoted stating that "there
are no refugees in the border areas, only insurgents in the disguise
of refugees". A typical article in SLORC's newspaper "The New Light
of Myanmar" (15/9/94) referred to people who fled from forced railway
labour as "those who lived in insurgent camps and kept going into the
other country [Thailand] as 'refugees'." Some of the soldiers'
comments mentioned in the following testimonies make it clear that
SLORC tells all its soldiers to consider refugees as insurgents (see
for example Interview #7 with "Pi Lah Ghay"). This attitude is hardly
likely to suddenly change in the event of a repatriation deal. Some
of the testimonies show that the refugees do not even feel safe on
the Thai side of the river if SLORC is on the other side, because
SLORC troops have shown little respect for the Thai frontier in the
past. Only a few days before our visit to Don Pa Kiang refugee camp,
SLORC soldiers crossed the river in civilian clothes, stole some
cattle, took them back across and then demanded extortion money from
the refugees to get them back.
Some of the people interviewed live in refugee camps, some live in
villages on the Thai side. The interviews were all conducted
throughout November 1994 in several camps along the border north of
Mae Sot. Across the river the area is controlled by several
battalions of SLORC #44 Light Infantry Division. The testimonies
sometimes refer to sawmills; these are small Thai-owned sawmills,
often on the Burma side of the river. All logging has been banned in
Thailand since 1988, so Thai loggers pay large bribes to SLORC
commanders to take logs from Burma, and often hire refugees to work
for them. Sometimes the Thais fail to pay the ever-increasing bribes,
so the soldiers go after their sawmill. Thai loggers also log
illegally on the Thai side, then bring the logs along the river as
though they came from Burma. The "river" referred to by many people
is the Moei River, which is the border. All interviews were conducted
on the Thai side of the river. In this report, people often refer to
others as "uncle" or "nephew" - Karen people often refer to their
elders or juniors this way. Where it does not refer to a real
relative, we have put it in quotation marks. SLORC soldiers often
accuse people of being "Kaw Thoo Lei", the name of the Karen
homeland, which SLORC men use to mean "Karen soldier". Two currencies
are mentioned: Baht (Thai currency; US$1=25 Baht), and Kyat (Burmese
currency; US$1 = 6 Kyat at official rate, 120 Kyat at market rate).
Names of those interviewed in this report have been changed to
protect them - throughout the report, false names are denoted by
enclosing them in quotation marks. All other names are real. Please
feel free to use this report in any way which may help alleviate the
suffering of the peoples of Burma.
TOPIC SUMMARY: Shootings and killings of refugees (Interview
#1,2,3,4,5,7,12,13,14,16,17,18, 19,20,21,22,23,24,26), arrest,
torture and detention of refugees (Int #1,6,7,8,9,10,12,20,28),
disappearances (Int #15), extortion(Int #9,10,25,28), shootings in
villages(Int #26), forced labour (Int #12,26), forced portering (Int
#27), robbery (Int #10,11,19,24). (See list below for a more
comprehensive index.)
VICTIMS OF INCIDENTS IN THIS REPORT
The table on the following page lists the victims of the main abuses mentioned
in this report. All the Battalions listed are in #44 Light Infantry Division.
IB = Infantry Battalion, LIB = Light Infantry Battalion. IB #1 and LIB #3 hav
e both been rotated home now, and LIB #9 arrived in August. Refugees say LIB #
9 is much worse than the others. Note: all numeric dates throughout this repor
t are given in dd/mm/yy format. Names enclosed in quotation marks have been ch
anged to protect interviewees.
Battalion
No. Date Name Age Sex Incident Refug
ee at No. Interview #
1 Jan/94 Pa Dee Mah 50 M Shot dead Kamaw Lay Ko IB ? 24
2 Jan/94 "Saw Po Thay" 18 M Shot at " IB ? 24
3 19/2/94 Pa Wah Mu 35 M Shot dead Tala Oh Kla IB 1 21,22
4 19/2/94 Kalay Tay 40 M Shot dead " IB 1 21,22
5 19/2/94 "Pa Kyaw" 23 M Shot at " IB 1 22
6 19/2/94 Saw Wih ? M Shot at " IB 1 21
7 28/2/94 Pa Doh 40 M Shot, wounded " IB 1 23
8 28/2/94 "Maung Tay" 40 M Shot, wounded " IB 1 23
9 28/2/94 Ta Bwey 25 M Shot, wounded " IB 1 23
10 28/2/94 Thaw Aye 16 M Shot, wounded " IB 1 23
11 Apr/94 "Saw Ler Wah" 32 M Arrested, detained Gray Hta LIB ? 28
12 4/5/94 Kyi Way 24 M Shot, wounded Noh Pa Doh LIB 3 n/a
13 May/94 "Pa Boe" 29 M Detained,tortured Noh Pa Doh LIB 3 12
14 5/6/94 "Pa Htoo" 38 M Shot, wounded Don Pa Kiang LIB 3 20
15 5/6/94 name unknown 19 M Arrested, detained " LIB 3 20
16 3/7/94 Saw Kya Po 34 M Disappeared " LIB 3 n/a
17 3/7/94 Pa Yah 28 M Disappeared " LIB 3 n/a
18 July/94 Po Htoo Doh 60 M Detained,tortured Noh Pa Doh LIB 3 9,10
19 July/94 "Pa Lah" 38 M Shot, wounded Gray Hta LIB ? 26
20 20/8/94 Pa Noh Ter 36 M Shot dead Tala Oh Kla LIB 9 16
21 20/8/94 Pa Noh Kee 36 M Shot dead " LIB 9 16
22 21/8/94 Po Tha Htoo 19 M Shot at, drowned " LIB 9 16
23 2/9/94 Saw Eh Say 27 M Shot at, drowned Noh Pa Doh LIB 9 4,3
24 3/9/94 Kwe Tha 39 M Shot dead Ka Na Su LIB 9 17,18,19
25 3/9/94 "Saw Ler Thu" 30 M Shot, wounded Don Pa Kiang LIB 9 17
26 3/9/94 "Saw Bway" 34 M Robbed Ka Na Su LIB 9 19
27 19/9/94 "Thein Lwin" 24 M Detained, tortured Noh Pa Doh LIB 9 6
28 3/10/94 Maung Tin 38 M Disappeared Kamaw Lay Ko IB ? 15
29 3/10/94 Pa Paw 50+ M Disappeared " IB ? 15
30 27/10/94 Naw Koh Mit 19 F Shot at, drowned Wah Pa LIB 9 n/a
31 28/10/94 Pa Klih Bo 43 M Arrested, killed Kler Ko LIB ? 13,14
32 28/10/94 Pa Dee Dee 15 M Arrested, killed Kler Ko LIB ? 13,14
33 29/10/94 Saw Tah Kee 30 M Arrested, still held Noh Pa Doh LIB 9
7,8,2,10
34 29/10/94 Maung Kyaw Pu 27 M Arrested, still held " LIB 9 8,7,
10
35 29/10/94 "Saw Bo Gyi" 42 M Arrested, robbed " LIB 9 11
36 29/10/94 Day Wah 27 M Shot dead " LIB 9 2,3,5,12,7
37 29/10/94 Ah Toe 18 M Shot dead " LIB 9 2,3,4
38 29/10/94 "Naw Tee Ker" 27 F Shot at " LIB 9 3,2
39 29/10/94 "Kaw Thaw" 21 M Shot at Don Pa Kiang LIB 9 2
40 30/10/94 Pleh Ghaw 35 M Shot dead Kler Ko LIB 9 1
41 30/10/94 "Aung Htoo" 35 M Arrested Kler Ko LIB 9 1
42 8/11/94 "Maung Aye" 32 M Escaped porter " LIB 9 27
43 9/11/94 "Toe Aung" 42 M Arrested,extortion Noh Pa Doh LIB 9 9,10
44 9/11/94 "Naw Paw Kee" 45 F Arrested,extortion " LIB 9 9,10
45 9/11/94 Mi Sho 40 F Arrested,extortion " LIB 9 9,10
46 9/11/94 Ma Tay Myint 21 F Arrested,extortion " LIB 9 9,10
47 9/11/94 Pu Lu 21 M Extortion " LIB 9 9,10
48 26/11/94 "Htoo Klay" 48 M Arrested,extortion Tala Oh Kla LIB 9 25
#1.
NAME: "Aung Htoo" SEX: M AGE: 35 Karen Buddhist farmer
ADDRESS: Noh Po Kee village, Pa'an District - now in Kler Ko refugee
camp, Thailand FAMILY: Single
We came to Thailand about 10 years ago because we were afraid of the
Burmese, so we ran. They tortured people. We didn't dare stay
anymore. The whole village came. Nobody lives there anymore. The
Burmese never arrest us here, but in our village they shot people
every time they saw them. This year I went back to Noh Po Kee on
October 30th, because it's not so far. My uncle and I went to collect
betelnut, and we were staying in a little field hut. He went to look
for betelnut in the village while I stayed in the hut. I was cooking
rice for us. Then I turned my head and I saw a Burmese soldier. Just
then another soldier ran up behind me and stuck his gun against my
back. He had come up running, and I hadn't seen him. There were 3 of
them, but then more came. They said "Don't run away". Then they took
me and the officer tied me up to a tree. They asked me, "Do any
[Karen] soldiers stay here? How many?" I answered, "Sometimes many,
sometimes few." They also asked about the refugees. They asked, "Do
you sometimes go to the refugee camp?", and I said "No, I never go."
If I said I went, they would have killed me.
At 9 o'clock [a.m.] my uncle came back from the village to eat with
me, and he met the soldiers along the path. I heard the sound of his
shouting from over by the cliff. I also heard gunshots: "Ta! Ta! Ta!"
I couldn't count them- 7, 8, or 10 gunshots, I think. I never saw him
after that. The soldiers tied me up and tied one of my hands, so I
couldn't walk ["Aung Htoo"'s leg is deformed from polio, and he can
only walk slowly and with difficulty, leaning on a stick. He still
has a mark on his wrist from the rope he was tied with.]. Then they
said they would come with me and take me half way home. They carried
me a short way, then they told me to go back home alone. They didn't
beat me, but they would have beaten anyone else.
My uncle's name was Pleh Ghaw. He was 35. When I got back here, some
villagers went to look for my uncle. They found his dead body the
next day [October 31]. They saw it, but I didn't ask them how many
wounds there were. I couldn't go there anymore. We used to survive by
growing betelnut, but now we can't, neither here [in Thailand] nor
there.
[Pleh Ghaw's widow added: "Nobody told me about the body. If they
told me, I feel like I would die! I thought I would go there with
them, but I couldn't. If you ask them about the body they can tell
you. Nobody told me anything. I couldn't eat anything, and I still
can't. Nobody would tell me if he died or didn't die. We have 3
children - the eldest is a girl, 15 years old. The second is a son,
aged 12. The third is 11. I just have to stay here like this, and now
my children are sick. We have nothing, and we can't buy anything. We
just have rice that people give us. My head feels very heavy, and my
eyes are dark."]
[Note: the man who found the body reported that Pleh Ghaw was hit in
the chest by 2 bullets. There were no visible marks of torture.]
_______________________________________________________________
#2. NAME: "Kaw Thaw" SEX: M AGE: 21 Karen Christian
farmer/boat driver ADDRESS: Gker Ghaw village, Myawaddy Township Now
living in Beh Klaw refugee camp, Thailand; interviewed at Don Pa
Kiang camp FAMILY: Single, 2 brothers and 3 sisters
I have been in Thailand for 7 years, because my father was in the KNU
[Karen National Union] so we found it very hard to stay in our
village in Burma. I stay in Mae La [a refugee camp also known as Beh
Klaw, 60 km. north of Mae Sot] but I came up here to visit my uncle.
On October 29 [1994] I went to the other side of the Moei River and
went fishing. There is a place to fish a little ways from the river.
That day many others had gone to fish before me [other witnesses
confirm that there were 15 people fishing at the pond]. While we were
all fishing at the pond at about 11:30 a.m., we heard people calling
us from Noh Pa Doh on the Thai side of the river. They yelled, "Don't
come back!", but we didn't hear them well and we thought they were
shouting "Come back quickly!"
Only four of us ran toward the riverbank to get back by canoe, but on
the way the SLORC soldiers were waiting for us hidden in the bushes.
When we passed them they started shooting at us. We didn't see them,
but they saw us and started shooting. As we arrived at the riverbank
we tried to split up. Two of us ran in one direction and the 2 others
ran the other way. I was with Day Wah. I jumped and dived into the
river, and Day Wah jumped in the boat. The soldiers were sitting and
shooting at us from the bushes along the path. They shot at me while
I was running but they didn't get me because I dived into the water.
They shot Teacher Day Wah first. Two soldiers shot at him, one
sitting and one standing, with a G3 and a carbine [G3 is the standard
Burma Army automatic assault rifle; carbine is a bolt-action rifle,
usually carried by officers or NCOs]. Day Wah was hit by a G3 bullet
in the chest and he died immediately. He fell into the water while I
was in the water. After they shot Day Wah I saw the 2 soldiers
running back into the bushes. I tried to swim across the river with
only my nose above the water and the rest of my body underwater. When
I got to the other side I could see that the soldiers weren't there
anymore so I got out of the water. I just sat there. I wanted to cry,
I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't. I just rested for a while and then
came back to the village.
Across the river there is bamboo, and behind that there are fields.
There were 2 soldiers shooting at us, and I saw 4 others hiding in
the bamboo. The other 2 villagers ran further down the river, took
off their trousers and started swimming. They were one man and one
woman. Then the soldiers arrived at the riverbank. The woman couldn't
swim and asked the man to take her across the river, but he couldn't.
He tried to help her but he let her go when the soldiers started
shooting. The soldiers shot at the woman. I looked downriver and saw
this while I was floating in the river. I also saw Teacher Day Wah
fall into the water, and I saw 2 people with the soldiers at the
riverside, one of them tied up with his hands behind his back. I saw
one soldier shaking the man and shooting his gun in the air right
beside the man's ear. It was the disabled man. [Saw Tah Kee: see
testimony #7 by "Pi Lah Ghay", his mother.] Then they all disappeared
into the bamboo.
The other people who were at the pond hid in the bushes and after the
soldiers left they all came back. Nothing happened to them. Day Wah
was my "uncle". His sister is married to my uncle. He was 27 years
old and single, and he was the teacher in Noh Pa Doh primary school.
As for me, I feel bitterness and pain for what SLORC is doing to the
people. I'm afraid of them. I was helping my uncle in his peanut
field, but now I don't dare go anymore. There is nothing we can do
about that - the weeds will just grow over everything.
_______________________________________________________________
#3.