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Reuters- Thailand clamps down on My



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Subject: Reuters- Thailand clamps down on Myanmar exiles after siege 

Thailand clamps down on Myanmar exiles after siege
06:23 a.m. Oct 06, 1999 Eastern
By Sutin Wannabovorn

BANGKOK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Thailand on Wednesday announced an immediate
crackdown on the movement of Myanmar exiles after last week's siege of the
Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.

Thailand, a haven for dissidents campaigning against military rule in
neighbouring Myanmar, said it would restrict the movement of exiles in Thai
camps, monitor the movement of other exiles and try to stop them engaging in
political activities.

On Friday, five armed dissidents stormed the Myanmar embassy and held 89
diplomats, officials and members of the public hostage for 25 hours before
they were allowed to flee to the Myanmar border in a helicopter. The
hostages were freed unharmed.

Thailand's National Security Council, announcing the new measures, also said
on Wednesday it would seek, with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), to speed up the relocation of Myanmar refugees to third countries.

LAX SECURITY

Council secretary-general Kachatpai Buruspat told a news conference that
holes in Thailand's security net had allowed the siege to occur.

``There were flaws in the intelligence and security measures, which resulted
in the unwanted incident last Friday,'' he said.

``From now on the security agencies will impose stricter rules and measures
on Myanmar dissidents, pending the UNHCR process, to find a third country
for their resettlement,'' he said.

The measures were announced after Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai chaired
a meeting of the security council on Wednesday to find ways of preventing
such incidents, officials said.

Two of the five men who burst into the Myanmar embassy with assault rifles
and grenades are suspected by Thai police to be former residents of a
UNHCR-assisted camp at Maneeloy, in Thailand's Ratchaburi province, near
Bangkok.

Thai authorities will immediately impose stricter rules on Myanmar
dissidents living in Thailand, in particular on more than 800 Myanmar
dissidents in Maneeloy and about 2,000 exiles who live in Bangkok under the
care of the UNHCR.

``We will talk with the UNHCR about speedily finding a third country for
them. For the time being, we will have to monitor their movements closely,''
Kachatpai said.

Thousands of Myanmar students, politicians and pro-democracy protesters fled
to Thailand from Myanmar in 1988 after the military bloodily put down an
uprising by opposition forces.

BANGKOK MECCA FOR EXILES

Many of the exiles now live in Bangkok, which has become a Mecca for Myanmar
opposition groups.

Anti-Yangon groups have long used Bangkok as a springboard for protests
against the Myanmar government and have staged political campaigns freely in
recent years.

A Bangkok-based UNHCR official said resettlement of Myanmar exiles would
continue but gave no details.

``In accordance with established practice, we will continue the recruitment
of those refugees to third countries for resettlement,'' an UNHCR spokesman
told Reuters.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front, which represents many exiled
students, reacted cautiously to the new Thai rules, saying it supported
voluntary resettlement but would continue peaceful protests against the
Myanmar government.

``Instead of imposing stricter rules on us, the NSC (security council)
should extend more cooperation with us in order to prevent unwanted
incidents,'' a spokesman for the front, Naing Aung, told Reuters.