Forced repatriation of refugees att

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Subject:  Forced repatriation of refugees attacked 

South China Morning Post

Friday  July 4  1997

Thailand 
Forced repatriation of refugees attacked 



ASSOCIATED PRESS in Bangkok 
An international human rights group has protested against the Government's 
forced repatriation of nearly 400 ethnic Mon refugees to Burma.

"Return of refugees to a territory where they face persecution constitutes . . 
 . a breach of customary international law," Sidney Jones, executive director 
of Human Rights Watch/Asia, wrote in an open letter to Prime Minister General 
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh seen in Bangkok yesterday.

The group said nearly 400 ethnic Mon civilians were forced back to Burma on 
June 6 and handed directly to officials of the military regime.

Thousands of Mon fled Burma in the early 1990s as the military swept through 
their homelands on the country's southeastern peninsula to secure the area for 
development projects such as the US$1.2 billion (HK$9.28 billion) gas pipeline 
owned by Total of France and Unocal of the United States.

Refugees told of summary executions, torture and rape at the hands of the 
Burmese solders, and of being forced to work for no pay on infrastructure 
associated with the pipeline project.

The oil companies deny any complicity in forced labour or human rights abuses 
committed by the Burmese Army, which is their partner in the project and 
provides security for it.

A Mon political party reached a cease-fire with the Burmese regime in 1995, 
but splinter groups are still resisting and many refugees are reluctant to 
return to areas controlled by the Army because of its record of atrocities.

Ms Jones cited a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 
which had a representative present during the repatriation. It said a "number 
of standards which should apply in any voluntary repatriation were not met".

She said there was evidence at least 30 families did not want to return, but 
were forced to.

A spokesman for General Chavalit was not immediately available for comment.

Thai Army commanders forcibly repatriated Karen refugee men, women and 
children into the path of a Burmese military offensive earlier this year.

The Prime Minister has been striving to improve relations with Burma's junta 
so Thai businessmen.

Thai police have also been cracking down on and harassing Burmese 
pro-democracy exiles in Thailand since General Chavalit took office.

The junta's abysmal human rights record has made it a pariah to many Western 
governments.



?British's number two fashion retailer, Burton Group plc, is to stop buying 
merchandise from Burma in response to pressure from customers.