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Subject: Human Rights Watch/Asia
Status: RO
Human Rights Watch/Asia
485 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10017
TEL: 212/972-8400
FAX: 212/972-0905
E-mail: hrwnyc@xxxxxxx
1522 K Street NW, Suite 910
Washington, D.C. 20005
TEL: 202/371-6592
FAX: 202/371-0124
E-mail: hrwdc@xxxxxxx
33 Islington High Street
London, N1 9LH United Kingdom
TEL: 44-171-713-1995
FAX: 44-171-713-1800
E-mail: hrwatchuk@xxxxxxxxxxx
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 26, 1995
For more information:
Zunetta Liddell 44-171-713-1995 - (office) In London
44-171-278-4485 - (home)
Mike Jendrzejczyk 202-371-6592 x113 - (office) In DC
301-585-5824 - (home)
Sidney Jones 212-972-8400 x290 (office) In NY
718-398-4186 (home)
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON BURMESE
REFUGEES
Human Rights Watch/Asia today condemned three attacks on
Burmese refugees in Thailand since April 23 by Burmese government
troops and their allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA), and called for Thailand to increase the protection of
refugees in all camps. In the course of the attacks, the combined
Burmese and DKBA forces burned refugee camps, forced scores of
refugees to return to Burma against their will and may have been
responsible for the deaths of two refugees. Human Rights
Watch/Asia calls on the Burmese and Thai governments to allow an
international monitoring presence along their border in the area
where the raids took place and on the Thai government to allow
full access to the refugee camps by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian agencies, with
whatever security protection may be necessary.
Since the fall of the Karen National Union (KNU) bases
at Manerplaw and Kawmoora in January and February 1995, over
10,000 Karen have sought refuge in Thailand, joining the 70,000
already in camps along the Thai-Burma border. The DKBA, a
breakaway group of Buddhist Karen who left the Christian-led Karen
National Union in December 1994, alleging religious discrimination
and human rights abuses by Karen officers, had assisted in the
Burmese government's offensive against the KNU. Following the
defeat of the KNU, the DKBA began raiding refugee camps,
kidnapping Buddhist Karen leaders and killing others in
what are thought to have been acts of revenge. The most recent
attacks are the most serious yet, and appear to be linked to
leaflets distributed by the DKBA in early April warning all
refugees to return to Burma by April 19.
On April 23, around 200 government and DKBA troops
crossed the river Moei which marks the border with Thailand and
entered Klay They Loo refugee camp, close to the river in
Thailand's Mae Sam Leb district. Fighting broke out between them
and Karen camp guards. Unconfirmed reports suggest that at least
two refugees were killed in the crossfire, and nine people were
taken by the DKBA. The fighting spread to a nearby Thai Karen
village, resulting in all the residents of that village fleeing,
and the village was reported to have been razed to the ground. The
following day, April 24, further intrusions were made into Klay
The Loo camp and more refugees were abducted.
On April 25, a separate group of around 200 Burmese and
DKBA troops crossed into Thailand from the north, and were
reported to have attacked Mae Ra Ma Luang camp, north of Klay
They Loo. Unlike the other camps, this is a new camp established
five and half kilometers inside Thailand after earlier attacks on
camps close to the border. There were over 4,500 refugees in the
camp at the time of the attack. The details of the attack are
unclear, but it reports suggest that sections one and three of the
camp were razed. It is not known how many people were injured
in the attack, nor how many people were abducted. Representatives
of French and German aid organizations are attempting to reach the
camp today, but there has been no confirmation as to whether they
have succeeded. Without protection from Thailand, the area remains
very dangerous for both refugees and those groups seeking to
provide them with food and shelter.
At midnight on April 25, a further attack took place in
Kamaw Lay Kho camp,which is south of Mae Ma Ra Luang, between the
river and the Mae Sot - Mae Sariang highway. Press reports quoted
a Thai army officer as saying that some 100 troops were involved
in this attack, in which 300 houses were razed and an unknown
number of refugees and Thai villagers were abducted. Since the
attack 3,000 residents of the camp have been forced to live in the
forest.
A representative of the Burma Border Consortium, the main
provider of aid to the refugees, told Human Rights Watch/Asia that
these attacks have dramatically increased the tension in the
camps, with the fear that now any camp could be attacked at any
time.
It is unclear how the Thai military in the area responded to
the attacks, but the Thai Third Army Region Commander, Gen.
Surachet Dechatiwong, is reported to have traveled to the area to
investigate the incident. He had met with his Burmese
counterpart, Gen Khet Sein, at a Thai-Burma Regional Border
Committee meeting on April 25, where he was reported to have
raised the issue of incursions into Thai territory and was told
that the SLORC could not control the DKBA forces "who are like
children staying under their roof." While Human Rights Watch/Asia
has no details of the current relationship between the government
and the DKBO, it is known that they regularly meet and that the
government has provided financial and military assistance to the
DKBA. Moreover, as a paramilitary group operating from inside
Burma (and the headquarters of the DKBA is just across a river
from the large Kammamung military base), the Burmese government
remains responsible for their actions.
Human Rights Watch/Asia calls on the Thai government to
protect civilians taking refuge in their country. In cases where
refugees are abducted and taken to Burma against their will, the
Thai government is responsible for permitting refoulement, a
violation of international law. It also calls on the government
to step up its protection of the camp, rather than forcing the
refugees to provide for their own protection with armed guards,as
this could lead to the camps being considered legitimate military
targets.
Human Rights Watch/Asia (formerly Asia Watch)Human Rights
Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to
monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized
human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and
among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. Kenneth Roth is
the executive director; Cynthia Brown is the program director;
Holly J. Burkhalter is the advocacy director; Gara LaMarche is
the associate director; Juan E. Mendez is general counsel; and
Susan Osnos is the communications director. Robert L. Bernstein
is the chair of the executive committee and Adrian W. DeWind is
vice chair. Its Asia division was established in 1985 to monitor
and promote the observance of internationally recognized
human rights in Asia. Sidney Jones is the executive director;
Mike Jendrzejczyk is the Washington director; Robin Munro is the
Hong Kong director; Zunetta Liddell, Dinah PoKempner, Patricia
Gossman and Jeannine Guthrie are research associates; Mark
Girouard and Shu-Ju Ada Cheng are Luce fellows; Diana Tai-
Feng Cheng and Jennifer Hyman are associates; Mickey Spiegel is a
research consultant.