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Intl. Criticism of Cambodian Deport



Subject: Intl. Criticism of Cambodian Deportations May Help Burmese


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CRITICISM OF THAI GOVT'S CAMBODIAN ACTIONS MAY HELP BURMESE REFUGEES

News Analysis by BurmaNet
March 29, 1994

The expulsion this week of 25,000 Cambodian refugees from Thailand may give
some respite to the 75,000 Burmese in refugees camps threatened with a
similar action.  The expulsion, a move seen by many as a violation of
international law as well as an attempt to aid the Khmer Rouge, came over the
strong objections of the Cambodian government and is again stirring up strong
international and domestic criticism of the Thai PM Chuan Leekpai's
government.

The expulsion followed an influx of refugees escaping fighting in western
Cambodia as the Royal Cambodian Army captured the Khmer Rouge headquarters at
Pailin.  In addition to being the Khmer Rouge capital, Pailin sits atop rich
gem mines and is surrounded by some of the little remaining uncut forest in
Cambodia.  The sale of gems and timber to Thai businessmen, facilitated by
commissions to the Thai officers who control that stretch of the border, have
long been the major source of Khmer Rouge funding, despite some efforts by
the Thai government to squelch the trade.  Among the documents captured at
Pailin were photographs of high ranking Khmer Rouge officers exchanging
after-dinner toasts with out of uniform officers from the Royal Thai army.  

The disclosure of these photos is an embarrassment to the administration of
PM Chuan Leekpai and the Royal Thai Army which, only last week, responded
with strong criticism to the American ambassador for voicing suspicions that
Thai officers army were aiding the Khmer Rouge in exchange for business
concessions in Khmer Rouge held areas.

Following the capture of Pailin, 25,000-30,000 people, mostly Khmer Rouge
fighters and their family members fled over the nearby border into Thailand. 
Late last week, the Cambodian government officially requested that the
refugees be repatriated to under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees.  Under international law, this would have entailed giving the
refugees a choice of whether to return to Khmer Rouge or government
controlled areas.  Cambodian officials favored this both for humanitarian
reasons and because of their suspicions that if given a chance, many Khmer
Rouge soldiers would defect if their families were in safe areas.

The Royal Thai Army's response to the request was to immediately deport all
of the refugees to Khmer Rouge controlled areas, angering both Cambodian
officials and the UNHCR as well as lending credence to claims that the Thai
army is aiding the Khmer Rouge.  Cambodia is now threatening to cancel some
contracts with Thai businessmen and the UNHCR has lodged a strong protest
with the Thai government.  The Thai government's moves are also drawing fire
from some elements of the domestic press, including a scathing editorial in
the Nation, a leading English-language daily.

Meanwhile, PM Chuan Leekpai and the National Security Council are defending
their actions.  Chuan claimed that the refugees were not actually refugees. 
Instead, they were merely persons "displaced" by the fighting in Cambodia, an
interesting semantic distinction given that by definition, a refugee is
someone displaced by fighting or persecution.  He also claimed that in
contrast to earlier waves of Khmers who fled over the border, these people
were not long-term refugees.  This assertion was made true when the Thai army
trucked them back over the border within days of their arrival.

The upshot of all this activity on Thailand's eastern border and the
resulting international condemnation will likely mean at least a temporary
respite for Burmese refugees threatened with repatriation along Thailand
western border.  Some six thousand Mon-Burmese refugees from Loh Loe camp are
finishing up a move to the Burmese side of the border at Hlackani, an hours
walk from a Burmese army camp.

The Burmese refugees have been coming under increasing pressure to leave
Thailand as the Thai government and the Burmese State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) move closer to an agreement on constructing a
natural gas pipeline between the two countries.  Thai officials have been
putting heavy pressure on ethnic Mon insurgents to sign a cease-fire with
SLORC in order to make the area safe enough to begin construction.  The
pressure, in addition to arresting Mons illegally in Thailand, has also
included a threat to deport the tens of thousands of Mons in camps in
Thailand and then sealing the border behind them.

With international attention at least temporarily fixed on the Thai
government's treatment of refugees, strong-arming the Mon refugees into
moving their camps into Burma becomes less likely, at least in the near
future.  Because of the public-relations bath the Chuan Leekpai government is
currently taking over the handling of Cambodian refugees, Thai officials are
likely to be skittish about attracting still more unfavorable press.  Whether
this respite will outlast the next dry season, when the roads become passable
and camps are usually forced to move, remains to be seen.

--Strider