ST-Myanmar illegals 'trapped' in Th

[tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: ST-Myanmar illegals 'trapped' in Thai jungles 

The Straits Times
NOV 10 1999

Myanmar illegals 'trapped' in Thai jungles

They fear being raped or killed by junta forces if they go home
They know they will be rounded up in Thailand's towns and villages
By JAMES EAST
IN BANGKOK

HUNDREDS of illegal Myanmar immigrants are hiding in Buddhist temples and
bolt holes along the Thai-Myanmar border in a desperate attempt to avoid
forced deportation to their homeland.

The impoverished labourers have nowhere to turn.

They fear they will be raped or shot by Myanmar forces if they go home, but
they know they will be rounded up by immigration officers if they return to
Thailand's towns and villages.

Since late last week, more than 4,000 men, women and children -- mostly from
the Karen tribe -- have been seized by Thai police and sent forcibly across
the northern border.

More than 2,000 have fled back across the Moei River into northern Tak
province, the focus of deportation efforts.

Border sources say 12,000 people are now either hiding in the jungle or have
been deported to Myanmar.

Thai immigration police, strengthened by officers from Bangkok, hold those
seized in the border town of Mae Sot, then truck them south and put them on
boats.

Officers have been unable to eject illegals at official checkpoints.

These have been closed by the Myanmar government, which refuses to talk to
the Thai authorities.

Soldiers have threatened to shoot anyone crossing the border, forcing the
Thais to dump their human cargo in remote jungle spots, controlled by the
Yangon-backed DKBA -- a force of armed Karen Buddhists -- or on river
islets.

A border-assistance worker said: "A woman who has just come back from
Myanmar said women were being raped on the Myanmar side.

"The Mae Sot Chamber of Commerce has also told us of nine people who drowned
crossing the river back into Thailand. Some have only been getting across by
clinging to floating bamboo."

She said the situation at the border was grim.

"Generally the people have little or no food, whether they are in detention
or in hiding.

"Mae Sot is like a ghost town and all the garment factories are closed,"
said the worker.

Two migrant workers were shot in Tak after Thai farmers were thought to have
mistaken them for thieves.

Thailand's mass circulation Thai Rath newspaper quoted illegal teenage
worker Sanda Win as saying that, following one round-up, she had been dumped
with 1,000 others on an islet.

During the night, 10 soldiers forced them off at gunpoint.

Some of the women were raped. She later fled back into Thailand.

The immigrants are the unfortunate victims of the worst downturn in
Thai-Myanmar relations in years, following last month's siege of the Myanmar
Embassy in Bangkok.

Yangon's military government was angry at Thailand's kid-gloves treatment of
the kidnappers, who were flown to freedom on the border after holding staff
and visa applicants hostage for 25 hours.

The angry junta closed its borders to Thai traders, forcing Thailand to
respond by limiting the number of illegal Myanmar workers in Thailand to
106,000.

There are now more than one million Myanmar people, either in 14 border
camps or working illegally.

They are blamed for taking jobs badly needed by an estimated two million
jobless Thais, but factory owners and business groups are now begging the
Thai government to halt the repatriations.

Factory chiefs have been holding rallies to persuade the government to
soften its stand.

However, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart has vowed to continue with
the expulsions, saying Thailand could no longer be burdened with looking
after so many migrants.

He has ordered provincial governors to get tough and to ensure the illegal
immigrants do not return.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is monitoring closely what
is going on through its office in Mae Sot, as are the various aid agencies
that work with refugees along the border.

Trying to expel migrants for good is not easy.

Returnees have little problem getting back across the porous border, factory
owners pay little regard to immigration laws and are either hiding staff or
arranging pick-up points for expelled workers.

In addition, many police officers are open to bribes to overlook such
workers.

Immigration police estimate that 40 to 60 per cent of those they expel
return.