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BKK POST: February 3, 1998: REFUGEE
- Subject: BKK POST: February 3, 1998: REFUGEE
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 10:25:00
BKK POST: February 3, 1998: REFUGEES
Army relocates
260 Karens
Safety factors cited in move to new
camp
Supamart Kasem
Tak
Some 260 Karen refugees were transferred from one camp to
another in Tha Song Yang yesterday under the province's plan to
move some 6,700 refugees from the border area for safety and
environmental reasons.
About 150 soldiers, border patrol police and district officials led
by Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force Commander Col
Chatchapat Yamngarmriab and Tha Song Yang district chief
Veera Phothisook arrived in Sho Klo Camp early yesterday
morning in 15 trucks, to take the first group of all refugees there
to Zone A of Mae La Camp.
Mr Veera said provincial authorities and the Third Army agreed
last year to transfer 6,700 refugees from 1,030 families from Sho
Klo Camp to Mae La Camp, to ensure safety for these refugees
and to conserve forests in the area.
Sho Klo Camp was set up in August 1986 to house Burmese
war refugees from Mae Ta Wah Camp, Ban Mae Song, Huay
Ma Nok and Mae Salit. It is only about a kilometre from the
border so it is easy for foreign troops to attack it.
Under the plan, Thai officials and staff of many
non-governmental organisations will move about 40 households
of the refugees per trip and the transfer operation is expected to
be completed within one month.
According to the Tha Song Yang district chief, concerned
officials cannot transfer all refugees from Sho Klo Camp to Mae
La Camp at one time as there are inadequate vehicles and every
refugee must have a medical check-up before being sent to the
new shelter.
The number of refugees at Mae La Camp will increase from
25,000 to more than 30,000 when the transfer of refugees from
Sho Klo Camp is completed.
The district will hand over a plot in the Tha Song Yang National
Forest Reserve on which Sho Klo Camp was set up to the
Forestry Department for a project to revitalise the forest, he
added.
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