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AMNESTY INT. REFOULEMENT UPDATE



EXTERNAL                          AI Index: ASA 03/03/97
 
                                                    
12 March 1997
 
Further information on EXTRA 26/97 (ASA 03/02/97, 
26 February 1997) - Fear for safety / Fear of refoulement
 
 
THAILAND       Thousands of refugees from Myanmar
 
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the Royal Thai
Government has continued to forcibly return Karen refugees
back to Myanmar, in spite of widespread international
protests. The organization fears that the Thai authorities may
repatriate all Karen refugees once fighting between the Karen
National Union (KNU, the last major ethnic minority armed
insurgency group) and the Burmese army has stopped. If such a
Thai Government policy change is implemented, some 100,000
Karen refugees would be pushed across the border to face
serious human rights violations at the hands of the Burmese
army. For the last nine years Amnesty International has
documented a clear and persistent pattern of torture,
ill-treatment, and extrajudicial killings of Karen civilians
by the Burmese military. 
 
In the past the Thai Government has allowed refugees from
Myanmar to seek asylum inside Thai territory; however, recent
reports indicate that there may be a shift in official Thai
policy. Amnesty International appeals to the Royal Thai
Government to allow all refugees to remain in Thailand until
such time as they will no longer be at risk of human rights
violations in Myanmar. A halt in armed conflict does not in
any way guarantee that the Burmese army will stop ill-treating
or killing Karen civilians. In ceasefire areas the army
continues to seize civilians for forced portering and other
labour duties and to forcibly relocate them under threat of
death. 
 
On 25/6 February around 900 mostly women and children Karen
refugees who had sought refuge at Ban Pu Nam Rawn were
forcibly repatriated to an area around Htaw Ma Pyo and Paw Ma
Pwu villages five kilometres inside Myanmar. The repatriation
was widely criticized by human rights and refugee
organizations, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United States Government. In
response to this widespread criticism, General Chetta
Thanajaro, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, ordered
an immediate halt to All movements of Karen refugees. At the
same time, some Thai military sources are reported to have
denied that any refugees had been involuntarily repatriated.
 
On 9 and 10 March, some 3,300 recently-arrived Karen refugees
in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, were returned to Myanmar
by the Thai army.  It is unclear whether this repatriation was
voluntary, and Amnesty International is seeking further
information about it.  While the current situation on the
Thai-Myanmar border remains unclear, reports indicate that
thousands of displaced Karen civilians are still gathering at
unsafe locations inside Myanmar close to areas of armed
conflict between the KNU and the Burmese army. 
 
Amnesty International is also concerned that those refugees
who remain in Thailand are at risk of cross-border attacks by
the Burmese army and by a breakaway Karen armed group, the
Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA). On 28 January DKBA
troops crossed into Thailand and burned down Wangka and Don Ma
Piang, two refugee camps, leaving some 10,000 people homeless.
Since that time the DKBA has threatened to attack other camps
unless refugees agree to return to Myanmar. On 11 March
refugees from Don Pa Kiang Camp were relocated to join other
homeless refugees at the site of Wangka Camp, where they are
clearly still at risk of further attacks. In light of this
development, Amnesty International urges the Thai authorities
to provide adequate protection and security for these refugees
and others seeking safety along the Thai-Myanmar border. 
  
FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/ telexes/
faxes/express/ airmail letters in English or in your own
language:
- noting that the Royal Thai Government is bound by the
internationally-recognized principle of non-refoulement, which
prohibits states from returning refugees against their will to
countries where they risk serious human rights violations;
- noting that the Thai authorities have already provided
safety and protection to tens of thousands of Burmese refugees
fleeing conflict and human rights violations;
- asking the Thai authorities to provide safe and secure
locations to all refugees from Myanmar, and to allow such
refugees to remain in Thailand until they are no longer at
risk of human rights violations when they return.  Noting that
a halt in the current fighting in Myanmar will not in any
way mean that this risk will be diminished. 
 
APPEALS TO:
 
1.  General Chaowalit Yongchaiyut
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Government House
Nakhorn Pathom Road
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Telegrams: Prime Minister, Bangkok, Thailand
Faxes: + 66 2 280 1443; 282 5131; 281 2536
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister
 
2.  Sanoh Thienthong
Minister of Interior
Ministry of Interior
Asdang Road
Bangkok, Thailand
Telegrams: Interior Minister, Bangkok, Thailand
Faxes: + 66 2 223 8851
Salutation: Dear Minister
 
3. General Chetta Thanajaro,
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army 
Army Headquarters
Thanon Sanam Chai
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Telegrams: Commander-in-Chief, Royal Thai Army, Bangkok
Salutation: Dear General
 
COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Thailand accredited
to your country.
 
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after
15 April 1997.