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Update #2:forced repatriation



BURMANET: UPDATE # 2: FORCED RELOCATION AND REPATRIATION OF KAREN REFUGEES
IN WESTERN THAILAND
February 27, 1997

The Burma Army reportedly took over Htee Htah last night, and it is expected
that Htee Kee, KNU 4th Brigade Headquarters has also fallen by now.  The KNU
and KNLA (Karen troops) have moved out.  Reports indicate approximately 40
KNLA have died and approximately 200 Burma Army troops are dead or injured.
There are approximately 3,000 refugees, all women and children, still at Ban
Pu Nam Rawn village, Amphur Muang, Kantchanaburi Province.  The Burma Army
is 3-5 km away.  The refugees and Thai villagers are reportedly unprotected,
as there are no KNLA or Thai Army troops in the area.  

On February 26 the Thai Army refused entry to 500 men attempting to flee the
BA offensive in Minthame and Htee Kee.  These men are common villagers
seeking safety.  Furthermore, the Thai Army gathered over 100 young male
refugees in Pu Nam Rawn and forced them back to Htee Kee.  Some of the males
were only 10 years old.  The Thai Army told the young males they should
either fight or surrender.

Sounds of mortar and small arms fire were clearly heard from Pu Nam Rawn
during the past 24 hours.  Channel 7 Thai TV reported, with film footage, on
the February 26 evening news that (2,000) refugees (women and children only)
from Ban Bong Tee village were loaded into large, orange, 18-wheel trucks
belonging to a Thai logging company.  The women and children were moved to
Ban Ta Goe Bone/Ban Baw Weh village, Amphur Suan Pung, Ratchaburi Province.
"Amphur officials welcomed them", and then they were "pushed back to their
own country".  They were sent to Hta Ma Pyo and Paw Mah Pwu, directly west
of Suan Pung, inside Tenasserim Division.  Male refugees were previously
forced across the border at Bong Tee.  

Channel 7 reported that Thai villagers in Pu Nam Rawn were packing and
preparing to leave their homes.  Thai Army Major General Suwit is in charge,
and Major Paitoon is in charge of the Border Police.

The reports of February 26 have been confirmed, signalling clearly that the
Thai Army is forcibly repatriating refugees in an active war zone.

Fleeing refugees reported that Burma Army troops raped five women in front
of their families in Kaserdoh township, located in the Kah Tawnee/Ban Chaung
area.  Burma Army troops are also burning houses and villages.  300-500
refugees left Amalah Kee, which is about 10 km south of Htee Kee, but their
current location is unknown.  Reports indicate that the Burma Army recently
ordered 1,000 Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) uniforms to be made in
Moulmein.  There are already indications that Burma Army troops involved in
the offensive are wearing DKBA uniforms, which indicates further terrorism
likely awaits the refugees.

There were also approximately 50 ABSDF family members (women and children)
in the Pu Nam Rawn area, but where they have gone or what has happened to
them remains unknown.

Concerted efforts to separate families, force refugees into an active war
situation, and prevent any appearance of a 'refugee situation' in the
Thai/Burma border region violate international law and humanitarian values.
The safety of the Karen refugees is being sacrificed.  An urgent call has
gone out to governments, UN agencies, private humanitarian organizations,
media, and concerned persons to call for a halt to these operations and to
call for the establishment of a safe refuge for the refugees.