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Exiled Burmese face immigration cur (r)



Subject: Re: Exiled Burmese face immigration curbs

Thai government should know that long term peace and
stablity is up to the Burmese regime. As soon as the
regime stops state violence and repression and
transfers power to the elected persons, Thailand will
have less responsibility on the refugees problem. To
do so, putting more pressures on the Burmese regime by
Thailand is another quicker way to change in Burma.  

Thai should again ask why 100,000 refugees are bing in
Thailand?   


--- "S.Wansai" <m.win@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>       The Nation - October 7, 1999
> 
>       Headlines 
> 
> 
>       Exiled Burmese face immigration curbs
> 
>       THE Thai government will impose stricter
> immigration controls over the movement of exiled
> Burmese students in Thailand and send those who are
> eligible to third countries as soon as possible in
> the aftermath of the Burmese Embassy siege in which
> five gunmen took 89 people hostage last Friday. 
> 
>       Meanwhile, a government source said that a
> two-hour meeting of the national anti-international
> terrorism committee yesterday agreed that a similar
> incident could happen in the future, since there are
> many other political groups in Thailand which have
> been watching the Thai government's handling of the
> siege. 
> 
>       In what is seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the
> hostage crisis, the National Security Council (NSC)
> also threatened to revoke its long-standing policy
> of leniency in not sending exiled Burmese students
> back home. 
> 
>       The NSC and Interior Ministry have informed
> the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
> (UNHCR) of the moves and urged them to help speed up
> the resettlement process of the Burmese students. 
> 
>       Khachadpai Burusapatana, NSC chief, said the
> UNHCR has agreed to cooperate and will first help
> check the exact number of Burmese students in
> Bangkok and along the Thai-Burmese border. 
> 
>       Khachadpai said 811 Burmese students are
> waiting at the Interior Ministry-controlled Maneeloy
> camp in Ratchaburi province to be sent to third
> countries. About 2,000 students are in Bangkok under
> the supervision of UNHCR. 
> 
>       A significant number could disguise themselves
> among the 100,000 Burmese refugees sheltered in
> camps along the Thai-Burmese border. 
> 
>       Khachadpai said the next step would be to
> consult with third countries, such as the United
> States, Australia and Canada, on their readiness to
> accept them. 
> 
>       ''It's time to implement the policy [of
> resettlement]. We have been paying lip-service but
> have never taken action, not until trouble landed on
> us,'' he said. 
> 
>       The move was among the measures agreed upon at
> yesterday's meeting of the anti-international
> terrorism committee in response to the siege which
> has embarrassed the whole Thai intelligence network.
> 
> 
>       The 25-hour hostage crisis ended peacefully
> with the gunmen fleeing Bangkok by helicopter on
> Saturday in return for the release of the 89
> hostages. 
> 
>       Two of the gunmen were identified as students
> from the Maneeloy centre while the identities of the
> three others, suspected to be members of Burmese
> ethnic armed rebels, have not been verified yet. 
> 
>       The captors claimed to be members of the
> anti-Rangoon Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, a
> splinter group of the All Burmese Students'
> Democratic Front. 
> 
>       Other measures included more frequent joint
> exercises involving anti-international terrorist
> activities, and improvement of the intelligence
> process and overall immigration control. 
> 
>       A committee will be set up to study several
> guidelines for the implementation of the
> anti-terrorism measures. 
> 
>       Speaking after chairing the meeting, Prime
> Minister Chuan Leekpai said the Friday embassy siege
> had served as a lesson for all parties concerned to
> be more vigilant so that they can prevent similar
> incidents. 
> 
>       ''It could happen again unless we are
> careful,'' Chuan said. 
> 
>       The prime minister pointed out there was a
> great need to improve the efficiency of personnel
> and intelligence units themselves as well as the
> system of coordination. ''Good intelligence is not
> enough,'' he said. 
> 
>       ''Thailand is an open country. Therefore, this
> incident will serve as a lesson for Thai authorities
> to place more stringent immigration control on not
> only students but also on foreign nationals entering
> the country,'' he said. 
> 
>       Chuan said responsible authorities yesterday
> admitted their deficiency in intelligence-gathering
> and coordination for the failure to detect the
> incident before it happened. 
> 
>       Phummaraj Taksathipongse, director of the
> National Intelligence Bureau, the government's
> highest intelligence supervisory agency, yesterday
> said his agency's deficiency partly contributed to
> the failure to prevent the incident. 
> 
>       According to Chuan, security had been
> tightened to cope with a possible Burmese student
> demonstration on Sept 9, the numerically auspicious
> date to follow along the lines of the Aug 8, 1988,
> demonstration when Rangoon cracked down on the
> democracy movement. However, security became lax
> when the date passed with no violent incidents. 
> 
>       The prime minister denied any responsible
> official had been singled out for blame for the
> failure to prevent the incident. 
> 
>       ''The fact that all parties were in the dark
> about the incident is a self- admission of mistake.
> I am satisfied with that,'' Chuan said. 
> 
>       He said he understood that it was hard to keep
> track of the students' movement. ''A large number of
> Thai people and Burmese students in Thailand have
> developed a strong feeling against the Burmese
> government,'' he said. 
> 
>       ''I want to see all the intelligence units sit
> and talk frankly about the incident to find out the
> loopholes in our operation and what to do next to
> improve their coordination,'' he said. 
> 
>       The meeting also concluded that the assailants
> were not linked to any terrorist group, as alleged
> by Rangoon, and that they resorted to violent means
> just to bring the attention back to their struggle
> for democracy in Burma, a government source said. 
> 
>       The source also admitted that the captors
> belonged to a very new group, whose impact was
> difficult to gauge. The so-called Vigorous Burmese
> Student Warriors was reportedly formed on Aug 29. 
> 
>       Khachadpai, meanwhile, said that the NSC would
> round up exiled students inside Thailand, check
> their status, and prosecute those found to have
> entered the country illegally. 
> 
>       He said all students would then be transferred
> to the Maneeloy holding centre near the Thai-Burma
> border, and the UNHCR would be asked to quickly
> transfer them to a third country. 
> 
>       Veerachai Naewboonian, deputy permanent
> secretary of Interior Ministry, said students who
> were not accepted by a third country would be given
> temporary shelter in Thailand. 
> 
>       Veerachai said Thailand had already moved to
> ensure students were confined to the Maneeloy
> centre. 
> 
>       ''Authorities will step up rules and
> regulations at the Maneeloy holding centre,''
> Veerachai said. 
> 
>       Despite the crackdown on exiled students,
> Bangkok denied claims by Rangoon that refugee camps
> inside Thailand were being used as terrorist bases. 
> 
>       ''On this issue Thailand has a clear-cut
> policy that we will not allow any groups of
> terrorists to operate against neighbouring countries
> from inside our country,'' Khachadpai said. 
> 
>       He said Thailand's policy of sheltering
> 100,000 refugees along the Thai-Burmese border would
> remain unchanged, but all illegal Burmese workers
> would be repatriated. 
> 
>       ''We have extended permission for 80,000 to
> 90,000 Burmese workers, but those who are not
> granted an extension will be prosecuted for
> violating immigration laws,'' he said. 
> 
>       Police chief Pol Gen Pracha Promnok said that
> the 
=== message truncated ===


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