Bangkok Post News (13/10/98)

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

NEWS HEADLINES:

1):NO PLAN YET TO APPROVE REQUEST FOR LOG IMPORTS

2):REFUGEES HAVEN'T BEEN WELL TREATED

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1):NO PLAN YET TO APPROVE REQUEST FOR LOG IMPORTS

   <italic>Mae Hong Son

</italic>

The provincial authorities have no plan yet to approve the request for
imports of Burmese logs by four logging firms, said Samrerng
Poonyopakorn, the govenor.

He said that as far as he new,  the companies - Thai Korean Veterans,
Welfare, B&F, SA Pharmaceutical, and Phol Phana -have entered into a deal
with their Burmese counterparts to have 120,000 cubic metres of logs
transported over the border.

But they will need import clearance from relevant agencies such as the
Customs Department on top of the permission from the province.

Mr Sanrerng added that the procedure might not be as trouble-free as the
companies thought.

He explained that the imported logs must be stamped with the Forestry
Department's seal of approval to avoid being mixed up with local timber,
much of which is found to have been illegally included in the imports.

The province must be notified when the logs are to be brought into the
country or whether they are properly taxed.


2):REFUGEES HAVEN'T BEEN WELL TREATED


I appreciated your news item on the recent  Human Rights Watch report
criticising both the UNHCR and the Thai government for their failure to
afford protection to refugees fleeing persecution by the military
dictator ship in Burma.

If the UNHCR in Bangkok finds anything "regrettable", it ought to be the
lamentably poor job it has done in recognising and protecting the
refugees, and not the report. Improvement on its part is long overdue.
Citing possible future developments is hardly an adequate way of dealing
with the well-documented criticism.

As for government foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Kobsak, he is wrong in
saying there has been no forced repatriation of Burmese refugees. There
has been and continues to be, especially on the part of the 9th army
division.

May I point out to Mr Kobsak that several thousand Mon refugees along
were forced back over the border, and subsequently came under attack by
the Burmese army? These forced repatriations were part of the official
Thai government policy wherein it sought to cooperate closely with the
Burmese military dictatorship in pressing the Mon to allow the Unocal
Total gas pipeline to pass through their territory to Thailand.

The list of force repatriations could go on and on. The simple fact of
the matter is that refugees from Burma have not been protected in
Thailand and the UNHCR has chosen willingly to cooperate in this matter.
Read the report from Human Rights Watch.


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