AP/AFP: BURMA REFUGEE SITUATION DET

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Subject: AP/AFP: BURMA REFUGEE SITUATION DETERIORATED(26/2/97)

	ASIA: THAI ARMY PUSHES REFUGEES BACK TO BURMA
BURMA KAREN DAYLEAD
	   BANGKOK, Feb 26 AP - As another ethnic Karen rebel camp fell 
today to a Burmese military offensive, the Thai army began pushing 
back some of the thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting.
	   A Thai television station reported that as many as 5,000 Karens 
seeking shelter inside Thailand were denied entry or sent back 
today.
	   The numbers could not be confirmed, but TV Channel 7 showed film 
of what it said were Karen refugees being taken by truck to the 
border and turned over to the custody of a Burmese district 
official. At least five large trucks were being used in the 
operation.
	   The footage appeared to confirm a report from Karen sympathisers 
that women and children refugees had been taken by logging trucks 
from makeshift camps in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province south to 
the border in Ratchaburi province, 95 kilometres west of Bangkok.
	   Thai army officials said today only that they were turning back 
any Karen men among the thousands of refugees trying to flee across 
the border.
	   The rebels charged that the Thais were working with Burma's 
military government to wipe them out.
	   Since launching a massive attack on February 11 against the 
Karen National Union, which has battled for autonomy from the 
government in Rangoon since 1949, the Burmese military has 
penetrated deeply into rebel strongholds along the rugged border.
	   The rebels have opted to abandon their bases and stage 
hit-and-run guerrilla attacks rather than fight overwhelmingly 
superior forces to defend the camps.
	   Today, the Burmese occupied Htee Kee, a Karen military command 
base about 15 kilometres from the Thai border on the offensive's 
southern front.
	   Fewer than 2,500 Karen guerrillas are struggling to survive the 
offensive of an estimated 100,000 Burmese troops.
	   Nearly 15,000 Karen have sought refuge in Thailand since the 
offensive opened with an onslaught against the rebel headquarters 
of Teakaplaw, which was set ablaze and abandoned.
	   The refugees are joining more than 90,000 Karen and other ethnic 
minorities from Burma who have lived in refugee camps in Thailand 
for years.
	   AP hu
	   
	ASIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED ABOUT BURMA REFUGEES
BURMA KAREN AMNESTY
   BANGKOK, Feb 27 AFP - Amnesty International today expressed 
concern for the safety of Karen refugees fleeing a Burmese 
government offensive who have been refused refuge in Thailand.
	   A statement released by the rights group said ethnic Karen 
refugees who were not allowed to seek refuge in Thailand or were 
sent back across the border "are at risk of ill-treatment, being 
taken as porters, or possible unlawful killing by the Burmese 
army."
	   "Amnesty International is gravely concerned for the safety of 
thousands of refugees fleeing a Burmese army offensive against the 
Karen National Union (KNU)," the statement said.
	   Border sources said yesterday that Thai troops had pushed Karen 
refugees -- possibly including women and children -- back across 
the border into the path of advancing Burmese troops.
	   Thai television reports said last night that some 3,000 refugees 
were forcibly repatriated from Kanchanaburi province into areas 
where attacking Burmese troops were just a few hours walk away.
	   Amnesty said 500 men among a group of Karen people seeking 
refuge in Thailand were turned back by the Thai military on Tuesday 
and that another 230 men who had made it across the border were 
sent back the following day.
	   There are currently more than 90,000 Karen refugees who have 
fled Burma since 1984 being housed in camps along the Thai border.
	   Amnesty said it was concerned for the welfare of non-combatants 
at the hands of the Burmese government troops, saying that over the 
past eight years it had documented widespread human rights abuses 
against civilians.
	   The Burmese governtment offensive aimed at wiping out the KNU, 
the last major rebel group yet to sign a peace agreement, was 
launched early this month.
	   AFP  ts

	ASIA: CONCERN FOR KAREN REFUGEES PUSHED BACK INTO WARZONE
BURMA KAREN NIGHTLEAD
   BANGKOK, Feb 27 AFP - Opponents of Burma's junta and human 
rights groups expressed concern today for Karen refugees who have 
been refused sanctuary in Thailand after fleeing a Burmese military 
offensive.
	   "Thai authorities permitted women and children to cross the 
border into Thailand but forced the men to stay in Burma," said a 
statement received here from from the opposition National Council 
of the Union of Burma (NCUB).
	   Border sources reported that although forces of the State Law 
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), as the junta is known, had 
advanced through the rebel Karen National Union's (KNU) Fourth 
Brigade area in southern Burma and were at the Thai frontier, Karen 
men and boys were still being pushed back.
	   Boys as young as 11 years old were being sent back over the 
border from a temporary sheltering point for Karen refugees who had 
fled from the KNU base at Minthamee and other villages, one source 
at the border said.
	   He said that about 1,000 Karens were believed to be sheltering 
near the adjacent Thai border checkpoint at Ban Pu Nam Rawn, where 
the Thai military had rounded up all Karen menfolk 13 years or 
older to send them back into Burma.
	   The women were refusing to move from this site in Kanchanaburi 
province without the men, although fighting was very close by, the 
source said.
	   He said there was an exchange of fire between Thai border 
rangers and SLORC forces close to the checkpoint last night in 
which two Thais were injured.
	   Thai authorities were not immediately available for comment.
	   The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said 
in a statement received here that it was "gravely concerned" for 
the safety of thousands of refugees fleeing the SLORC offensive 
against the KNU -- the last major ethnic insurgency yet to sign a 
ceasefire with the junta.
	   Refugees who were not allowed to seek refuge in Thailand or were 
sent back across the border "are at risk of ill-treatment, being 
taken as porters, or possible unlawful killing by the Burmese 
army," it said.
	   Amnesty said that some 500 men among a group of Karen people 
seeking refuge in Thailand were turned back by the Thai military on 
Tuesday and that another 230 men who had made it across the border 
were sent back the following day.
	   A district official in Kanchanaburi province said that 1,000 
Karens who had fled the fighting in the Fourth Brigade area had 
been trucked to a safe area in the Thai province of Ratchaburi to 
the south.
	   Border sources said that Thai authorities were seeking to move 
the refugees at Ban Phu Nam Rawn to Ratchaburi, but that the Karens 
were against leaving their men behind.
	   Eleven international human rights organisations, including 
Amnesty, issued a statement received here condeming the SLORC 
offensive against the KNU and calling on the Thai government to 
grant temporary asylum to all Karen refugees.
	   "The return of any non-combatants, be they men, women or 
children is a violation of customary international law and must 
cease immediately," said the statement.
	   It commended Thai efforts to establish a single camp to house 
15,000 Karens after recent fighting opposite Umphang district in 
Tak province further to the north.
	   Some 90,000 Karens have found refuge in Thailand from Burmese 
military rule, living in border camps.
	   Most of these refugees are supporters of the KNU, which has been 
battling Rangoon governments for more political autonomy for the 
Karens since Burmese independence in 1948.
	   AFP  ts

	ASIA: BURMESE STAGE ABORTIVE RAID ON CAMP
BURMA KAREN (PU NAM RAWN, Thailand)
   Burmese troops have crossed into Thailand to raid a makeshift 
refugee camp sheltering some 2,300 people fleeing a massive 
military offensive inside Burma against ethnic Karen rebels.
	   The troops were repelled by Thai defence forces.
	   But international concern rose over Thailand forcing thousands 
of other desperate refugees back into Burma and the war zone.
	   The raiding party crossed the frontier this morning and was 
advancing toward the camp at an abandoned tin mine at Pu Nam Rawn, 
an hour's drive west of Kanchanaburi, 110 kilometres west of 
Bangkok.
	   Witnesses said the Burmese confronted about 20 Thai self-defence 
volunteers who yelled they were on Thai territory.
	   The Burmese opened fire with small arms and mortars and forced 
the volunteers to retreat, then the Burmese also pulled back.
	   Regular Thai troops later took positions in the camp.
	   AP RTV hu/gm