CPPSM Newsletter

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Newsletter
Committee for Publicity of People's Struggle in Monland
August, 1994  (Vol. 2, No. 2)
 
 
SLORC TROOPS' ATTACK ON THE REFUGEE CAMP
 
Halockhani,  Mon refugee camp situated on the Burma side of the 
Thai-Burma border, was attacked by local troops of the ruling Burmese 
military regime State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on 
21st July 1994. Having known about the arrival of the SLORC troops, 
the 6000 refugees in the camp were extremely frightened and all helter-
skelter fled to the Thai side of the border and gathered nearby a local 
checkpoint of the Thai Border Patrol Police. These 6000 Mon refugees, 
including 120 pregnant women and more than 3000 children have 
already abandoned the Halockhani camp in fear of further attacks of 
SLORC troops and now been stranded in the rain with no secure 
shelter so far.
 
By about 8 a.m. of the day, the over 100 SLORC troops came in to and 
occupied the westernmost section the refugee camp called Kwan 
Saryar (formerly known as Bleh Dunpaik) which gathers some 120 
refugee households and is about 2 kilo meters distant from main 
Halockhani, and grabbed the refugees present to seize. About 40 men 
were seized. Then, some 50 of the SLORC troops attempted to move on 
towards the main Halocktani camp at about noon, making a human 
shield by forcing the 40 hostages to go ahead of their troops. On their 
way to the main Halockhani camp, the SLORC troops were attacked by 
the Mon security guard of the refugee camp. An exchange of gun fire 
took place for about 15 minutes. 3 of the SLORC troops were wounded 
and 18 of the hostages escaped during the fighting. Having 
encountered by the attack of the Mon soldiers, the SLORC troops were 
not able to reach the main Halockhani camp. And the SLORC troops 
retreated back to Kwan Saryar and burnt down it. 105 out of the 120 
refugee houses of Kwan Saryar were devastated as a result. 
 
The SLORC troops departed the refugee camp at about 2 p.m. taking 
away a total of about 20 men from the refugee camp as hostages-16 
camp-dwellers plus some 3-4 members of the deported population at 
the time sojourning in the refugee camp. The Halockhani Mon refugee 
camp is a place where captured illegal Burmese immigrants are normally 
deported by Thai immigration authorities. There were some 200 
deportees remaining in the Halockhani camp when it was attacked by 
the SLORC troops on 21st July. Some 3 or 4 members of this deported 
population were reportedly also seized and taken away by the SLORC 
IB 62nd alongside the 16 camp-dwelling refugees. The SLORC troops 
tied up some 10 of the remaining hostages after many others had 
escaped, according to some witnesses. A week later, all the 16 
hostages were reportedly released by the SLORC IB 62nd after 
interrogation. Out of the 16 hostages, only some 5 of the hostages 
have arrived back to their families on the Thai border so far and the 
fate of the rest hostages are still not known yet. The SLORC IB 62nd 
reportedly used torture during the interrogation process. One of the 
released hostages has got some scars on his thighs which, he claims, 
was caused by the "cigarette burns" during the interrogation. 
 
The regular SLORC IB 62nd was previously based in Three Pagodas 
Pass and in the process of exchanging position with the regular 
SLORC IB 61st on the 21st of July. The 200 or so troops of the regular 
IB 61st arrived at Three Pagodas Pass on 19th July with about 200 
civilian porters conscripted from many villages in Ye township of Mon 
State, according to a 49-year-old Burmese Indian man who was one of 
those 200 porters and has escaped recently. On the arrival of the IB 
61st to Three Pagodas Pass, the over 100 troops of the IB 62nd raided 
and burnt down the Halockhani refugee camp on 21st July on their 
return to Ye township. 
 
It is still not clear whether the local IB 62nd raided and burnt down this 
Mon refugee camp on the orders of their generals or on their own. 2 
soldiers from the SLORC IB 62nd were killed in a brief armed clash with 
some Mon security guard while they attempted to enter the refugee 
camp on the 20th of June-one of them was dead on the spot and the 
other was seriously wounded and reportedly died in their encampment 
at Three Pagodas Pass one or two days later. The armed clash took 
place on the outskirts of Kwan Saryar. The commander of the SLORC 
IB 62nd had been infuriated by the death of their two soldiers and as 
such might order his troops to raid and burn down the refugee camp as 
a revenge for the death of their two soldiers. The SLORC troops were 
also in need of more porters at the time, according to an escaped 
porter. According to a well-informed civilian source in Three Pagodas 
Pass, the commander of the SLORC IB 62nd had been expressing that a 
true result of the NMSP-SLORC cease-fire negotiation would be known 
after the third round of talks. The latest and third round of the NMSP-
SLORC cease-fire talks took place in Moulmein, the capital of Mon 
State, from June 26 to July 2 and ended in a deadlock. Thus, it is also 
logical to believe that the commander of the SLORC s IB 62nd, by 
violently abusing the 6000 Mon refugees in the Halockhani camp, just 
tried to make known what he had meant a true result of the Mon cease-
fire talks with the SLORC. According to a Mon National Liberation 
Army (MNLA) intelligence source, they knew in advance about a 
possible attack to the refugee camp of the SLORC troops through a 
radio intercept by the morning of the 21st July and that made them able 
to have prevented the SLORC troops from entering the main 
Halockhani camp. Many Mon observers believe this violent attack of 
the SLORC troops as one of SLORC's attempts to give more pressure 
to NMSP for a cease fire as well as to warn NMSP of the sorts of pains 
and hardships its Mon people must be risking if its current cease-fire 
negotiation fails. Whatever it has been, the SLORC s Army have by 
themselves made very clear to international community the kinds of 
their traditional atrocities towards innocent ethnic civilian populations. 
Since the SLORC troops dare to commit such a heinous crime within 
the eye reach of the outside world community, one can in turn easily 
guess how atrocious and trigger-happy the SLORC troops must have 
been in what they themselves call the "Black Areas" which literally 
means "free fire zones" 
 
 
Humanitarian Support for the 6000 Mon Refugees
 
In fear of further attacks of SLORC troops, the 6000 Mon refugees dare 
not go back and live in Burma soil. They are currently staying at the 
Thai side of S i the border and urgently busy with constructing new 
makeshift shelters to survive the monsoon season. The Mon National 
Relief Committee (MNRC), the Burma Border Consortium (BBC) and 
the Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) have been taking care of these 
refugees. The Mon National Relief Committee (MNRC) and the Burma 
Border Consortium (BBC) have also appealed to the Thai government 
to allow these 6000 Mon refugees to settle and take refuge in the Thai 
territory until it is safe for them to return to Burma. 
 
Two representatives from the Bangkok-based branch office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees visitted to the troubled spot on 28th 
July to inspect the situation of the 6000 Mon refugees. Following this 
visit of its two representatives, the UNHCR agrees that it is no longer 
safe for the 6000 Mon refugees to return to and stay in the Halockhani 
camp, which is in Burma side of the border. The UNHCR office has also 
officially appealed to the Thai government to allow the refugees to take 
refuge in the Thai territory. 
 
A representative group of the Association of the Mons in Thailand, 
together with the Mon refugees, staged a demonstration at their 
present makeshift shelter on the Thai side of the border on 30th July, 
demanding the Thai government to allow the 6000 Mon refugees to 
take refuge in the Thai territory until it is safe for them to return to 
Burma. 
 
The two independent English-language newspapers in Thailand, The 
Bangkok Post and The Nation, have respectively given much publicity 
on the developments of the situation of the 6000 Mon refugees since 
the Halockhani refugee camp was attacked by the SLORC troops on 
21st July. 
 
 
The Refugees Denied Refuge by Thailand
 
The present policy of the Thai government, however, does not allow 
the refugees to settle and take refuge in the Thai soil. The Thai 
National Security Council (NSC)'s deputy chief has recently stated that 
Thailand is not in a position to accept any refugees and that the Mon 
refugees must go back home. The top NSC official also says that 
Thailand does not recognise these Mon people as "refugees" but 
regards them as "illegal immigrants". Thailand is not a party to the 1951 
Convention in Relation to the Status of Refugees. On the other hand, 
Thailand has actively pursued a policy of Constructive Engagement in 
dealing with the ruling Burmese military regime State Law and Order 
Restoration (SLORC). 
 
The local Thai authorities gave the 10th of August as a deadline for 
the 6000 Mon refugees to leave from the Thai territory. Since the 
SLORC troops were still moving around at the time, the refugees 
refused to return to their old Halockhani camp and out-stayed the 10th 
August deadline at their present makeshift shelter on the Thai side of 
the border. Now, the local Thai authorities have blocked off any 
transportation to the present makeshift shelter of the 6000 Mon 
refugees to isolate them from any humanitarian aids from outside, 
saying that this blockade of transportation will be lifted only when the 
6000 Mon refugees have returned to their former Halockhani camp at 
the Burmese side of the border. 
 
Until the time they were repatriated to Halockhani, these refugees had 
appealed to the Thai authorities to allow them to take refuge in Thai 
soil until the time it was safe for them to return to Burma. The refugees 
also had repeatedly expressed to the Thai authorities that it was unsafe 
for them to live in the Burma soil; they would be subject to any attack 
of SLORC troops any time since the Halockhani site was within only 
one hour s distance from the local SLORC outpost based in Three 
Pagodas Pass; and they were really unwilling to go and live there. The 
Thai authorities, however, did not consider these grave concerns of 
the refugees and insisted that they must go and live in Halockhani by 
saying that Halockhani was situated right on the-border and would not 
be attacked by SLORC troops. The UNHCR office at that time also 
supported the repatriation of the Mon refugees, likewise saying that it 
was safe for the refugees to live in Halockhani. 
 
The 6000 refugees are still having to live in squalid conditions-no 
sanitary toilets, no secure shelters in the current heavy torrential rains, 
in short of pure water and fuel for cooking, being in the mosquito 
infested zone, and so forth. Many more refugees have got sick due to 
tiredness and hopelessness following the violent forced destruction of 
their homes by the SLORC troops: Currently, more than 600 refugees 
are in hospital taking medical treatment. The immediate closure of the 
school has further deprived the 600 school children of the refugee 
camp of their opportunity to education, on the other hand. Worst of 
all, these refugees still cannot set their mind at rest even being in the 
Thai soil, because they are now again being forced by the local Thai 
authorities to get out of the Thai soil quickly. 
 
Certain local Thai authorities have accused the Mon leaders and Mon 
National Relief Committee of having too much exaggerated seriousness 
of the Mon refugee situation, following the story's massive media 
coverage in Thailand. According to MNRC, the local Thai governor 
intercepted several faxed letters to MNRC from its international 
contacts and showed them to the MNRC members on 26th July. MNRC 
office and members have also been urged to leave Sangkhlaburi and 
stay in the Halockhani camp. 
 
The majority of these 6000 Mon refugees had stayed at Loh Loe, their 
former home in Sangkhlaburi District of Thailand, until it was forcibly 
removed by Thai authorities in February of this year. A total of about 
8000 Mon refugees then stayed in the Loh Loe refugee camp. Out of 
the 8000 refugees, the majority were forcibly repatriated to Halockhani 
by Thai authorities, whereas the rest were removed to Pa Yaw, another 
Mon refugee camp situated in the Thai soil near the Thai-Burma border 
line. 
 
Over the recent years, many of Mon refugee camps and villages have 
been subjected to forcible relocation and repatriation by Thai 
authorities. In June 1991, Day Bung, a Mon refugee camp with 
population of some 2500, was forcibly relocated under heavy monsoon 
rain. In March 1992, Ban Mai, a settled Mon village with the population 
of some 1000, was forcibly vacated from the site. In April 1992, three 
other Mon refugee camps, namely Krone Kung, Panung Htaw and 
Baleh Hnook which were with a total population of some 5000, were 
simultaneously forcibly relocated to Loh Loe. In April 1993, 
Halockhani, a Mon village with a population some 500, was forcibly 
driven out of Thai territory ( the new settlement of this village was still 
known as Halockhani though in Burma soil). In February 1994, Loh Loe 
I Mon refugee camp, which was with a population of about 8000, was 
forcibly vacated from the site: Out of these 8,000 refugees, 6000 were 
repatriated to Halockhani village and the rest 2000 were removed to Pa 
Yaw, another Mon refugee camp which is situated near the Thai-Burma 
border line. 
 
Thailand has been pressing the New Mon State Party to enter into a 
cease- l fire deal with the SLORC regime, whereas over 12,000 Mon 
refugees seeking shelters on the Thai border have at the same time 
been suffering repeated forced relocation and repatriation by Thai 
authorities. These two issues -forcing NMSP to cease firing with the 
SLORC regime and forcing out the Mon refugees from Thai soil --are 
no coincidence. It is common sense in the Mon community both in 
Burma and Thailand that Thailand has used the Mon refugees to serve 
its plans to exploit the natural resources, particularly natural gas, in 
their homeland in Burma by collaborating with and supporting the 
ruthless SLORC regime: Thailand wants the New Mon State Party to 
stop firing with the SLORC regime, because NMSP stands as a threat 
to the security of the gas pipeline as it strongly holds much of the gas 
pipeline area; and as a means of forcing NMSP for this purpose, the 
Mon refugees are forced out from the Thai soil. 
 
Thailand has been actively pursuing the so-called policy of 
Constructive Engagement along side other member countries of the 
regional intergovernmental grouping Association of South East Asian 
Nations (ASEAN) in dealing with the Burmese military regime State 
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Because Thailand has 
widely been involved in exporting and importing natural resources 
from Burma, such as hard wood, fish, oil and gas, etc. in co-operation 
with the SLORC regime. To maintain and increase its economic deals in 
Burma, Thailand needs favour of the SLORC regime. That is why 
Thailand has brought the SLORC representative to the annual ASEAN 
ministerial meeting in Bangkok in spite of the overwhelming domestic 
and international opposition. 
 
Ironically, the SLORC Army themselves proved their ruthlessness and 
atrocity by violently attacking the 6000 Mon refugees in Halockhani at 
the very time the SLORC Foreign Minister was sitting i n the ASEAN 
meeting and while Thailand was trying hard to protect the SLORC 
regime from international condemnation for its infamous human rights 
records. Despite all these blatant human rights violations of the 
SLORC Army, Thailand has still remained completely uncritical about 
the SLORC troops but instead has seriously attempted to push the 
6000 Mon refugees back to the Burma soil again. 
 
 
SLORC's LOCAL MILITARY CONSCRIPT HUNDREDS OF 
CIVILIANS IN MON STATE FOR FRONT-LINE PORTERING 
LABOUR
 
The Burmese Army's local regular Infantry Battalion 61st based in Ye 
township of Mon State seized hundreds of civilians in many villages in 
Ye township in the beginning of July this year to serve as porters and 
a human shield for its troops on their march from Ye township to the 
Thai-Burma border Three Pagodas Pass on 10th July. On the 19th of 
July, about 300 troops of the IB 61st left from Ye township to Three 
Pagodas Pass to replace the SLORC's IB 62nd based therein, taking 
along more than 200 forced civilian porters. 
 
A 49-year-old Burmese Indian man from Ye town was one of the forced 
portering labour taken along by the SLORC's regular IB 61st to Three 
Pagodas Pass and managed to escape on the way. According to a 
recent interview with this man, a total of more than 200 civilian men 
from many villages Ye township were at random seized by the local 
SLORC IB 61st during the first week of July for portering labour, 
included himself. 
 
During the interview, the interviewee described how he was 
conscripted as a porter this way: "Some soldiers of IB 61st came to my 
house in Ye on 1st July in the middle of the night along with some of 
the town headmen, pretending responsibility of the town headmen to 
check any unregistered guests staying overnight in my house. As I 
thought it as usual and I opened the door of my house for them to 
come in. Then the soldiers suddenly grabbed me and took me to their 
encampment. When I reached their encampment, I met with many other 
civilian men like me detained there. I was told by the soldiers that I 
must serve as a porter along with their troops to Three Pagodas Pass." 
 
The practice of checking unregistered guests has traditionally been in 
place in Burma under military dictatorship. the rule of the SLORC 
military dictatorship. It is common place in all parts of Burma. In any 
village or town, when the people receive guests in their houses, they 
are required to in advance inform the local SLORC administrators about 
their guests. The names, addresses, jobs, etc. of the guests must at the 
same time be provided to the local SLORC administrators. If any 
unregistered guest is found staying overnight in one's house, both the 
host family and the guest are subject to fine or short-term 
imprisonment. And the local SLORC administrators conduct surprise 
checks, especially at the night time, in any houses which they suspect 
of having any unregistered guests. 
 
The interviewee continue telling his experience as a porter along with 
the SLORC troops: "I had to serve as a porter along side other 200 or 
so conscripted civilians for 300 400 troops of the Infantry Battalion 
61st from Lamine village (of Ye township) to Three Pagodas Pass. It 
took 9 days for us to arrive at Three Pagodas Pass. We left Lamine 
village on the 10th of July and reached Three Pagodas Pass on the 
19th of July. I was given to carry ammunition and a round iron bar ( the 
base of 81 rocket launcher) alternatively. We had to walk through 
many mountains and streams. We porters were all extremely tired after 
several hours' walk with heavy loads on shoulders and back.. We 
porters were not provided with adequate food. About half a 
condensed milk tin of rice plus little amount of fishpaste and salt for a 
porter for a meal. Those porters who could not carry the given loads 
were beaten and kicked by the soldiers. Many of the porters got sick 
on the way but were not provided with any medicine by the troops." 
 
The interviewee also expressed his concerns about the fate of other 
porters. He, however, did not know if any other porters managed to 
escape or were released by the SLORC troops. He did not either know 
how many of the porters were sick or dead on the way. Nai Par, A 60-
year-old Mon man from Kort Doot village of Ye township, was also 
one of the porters and died in hospital shortly after arriving at Three 
Pagodas Pass due to serious sickness following the forced portering 
duty along with the SLORC IB No. 61st troops, according to his friends 
from Kort Doot village. And According to some travellers from Burma 
who have recently come to the Thai border by the Three-Pagodas-Pass 
route, they came across some 4-5 dead men on their way whom, they 
thought, must have served as portering labour for the SLORC's IB 61st 
and or IB 62nd. 
 
The interviewee again described how he managed to escape the forced 
portering labour of the SLORC troops: "We porters were detained for 
two days in the SLORC outpost at Chaungzon (river) which is about 
20-25 kilometers distant from Three Pagodas Pass. And on early 
morning of 19th July we porters were given to proceed to Three 
Pagodas Pass along with them (the SLORC troops). l was then so weak 
and had to go with a walking stick. On the way we met a stream after 
climbing a hill. As the stream was poorly bridged by few bamboos, the 
bridge did not afford much weight. Then I was so lucky that the soldier 
ahead of me took back the round iron bar from me and instructed me to 
follow only when he had passed the bridge. Having crossed the 
stream, I was distant enough from the soldier and the road was 
conveniently crooked enough for me too to ran away to escape. 
Suddenly, I ran out of the road into the forest and hid for about an 
hour. In this way, all the troops passed and I escaped the forced 
portering labour." The interviewee also expressed that he dare not 
return to his family in Burma in fear of any persecution by the SLORC 
troops. 
 
The regular SLORC IB 61st and the regular SLORC IB 62nd were at the 
time exchanging position-the IB 61st coming to Three Pagodas Pass 
and the IB 62nd returning to Ye township Both of the SLORC infantry 
battalions seized local civilians for portering labour. The SLORC IB 
61st arrived at Three Pagodas Pass in the evening of 19th July and the 
SLORC IB 62nd left from Three Pagodas Pass late in the evening of 
20th July. And the SLORC IB 62nd attacked the Halockhani Mon 
refugee camp on the 21st July's morning on their return to Ye 
township. According to reliable sources in Three Pagodas Pass the 
porters taken from Ye township by the SLORC IB 61st were again used 
by the SLORC IB 62nd for portering labour to Ye township. These 
porters from Ye township were combined with some 50 civilian men, 
who had been conscripted by the SLORC IB 62nd itself. Nai Thar Nge, 
a 33-year-old Mon man from the nearby Halockhani Mon refugee 
camp, was one of the civilian locals conscripted for portering labour by 
the SLORC IB 62nd and managed to escape recently. 
 
During a recent interview, Nai Thar Nge said that he was seized by 
some soldiers from the SLORC IB 62nd in the evening of 18th July and 
detained in the IB 62nd's rice store in Three Pagodas Pass together 
with other 37 local conscripts like him. The SLORC soldiers grabbed 
and seized him while he was having dinner. He tried to run away when 
he saw the SLORC soldiers rushing towards him. But he did not 
manage and was beaten by the soldiers as they were infuriated by his 
escape attempt. On 20th July, along side other 200 conscripts Nai Thar 
Nge was used as a porter by the SLORC IB 62nd to Ye township. 
When the IB 62nd troops left Three Pagodas Pass to return to Ye 
township, Nai Thar Nge was given to carry a sack of rice. On the way, 
he attempted to run away for the second time. It was unsuccessful 
again and a SLORC soldier beat him with his Carbine rifle and made him 
carry the rice sack again. After carrying the rice sack for many hours 
along with the SLORC troops, Nai Thar Nge managed to escape. 
 
The Burmese military regime State Law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC) has increasingly violated basic human rights and 
fundamental freedoms of the people of Burma since it took power in 
September 19&8. It has systematically deprived the people under its 
full control of their freedom on the one hand and has consistently 
committed flagrant human rights violations against rural ethnic 
populations in the processes of its military offensives against the 
armed ethnic opposition groups on the other. The Burmese people 
under the rule of the SLORC regime have been suffering a complete 
lack of freedom-no freedom of speech, assembly, association, travel 
and so on. The so-called practice of "checking unregistered guests" is 
a means of restricting freedom of travel of the Burmese people by the 
SLORC regime. The SLORC Army has even in turn used this "checking 
of unregistered guests" as a way to seize people for portering labour. 
Millions of civilian ethnic populations in rural areas of Burma have on 
the other hand been subject to gross human rights violations of the 
SLORC Army- arbitrary arrests, killings, torture, rapes, forced 
relocation, forced labour, looting, extortion and so forth being the 
order of the day. 
 
 
Ye-Tavoy Death Railway
 
The 110-miles-long Ye-Tavoy railway, which had been under 
construction at the expense of the local civilian populations in Mon 
State and Tenasserim Division since November of 1993, was brought 
to a standstill by the ruling State law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC) in June of this year due to the advancing rainy season. The 
SLORC officials from the Southeastern Military Command in Moulmein 
told to a Mon representative in a private conversation during last 
round of the Mon-SLORC cease-fire talks that the construction of this 
railway would be started again in coming dry season and that the 
people would be paid for their labour. 
 
120,000 to 150,000 local civilian people are estimated to have been 
subjected to unpaid forced labour on the construction of this railway 
during the period from November of 1993 to June of this y ear. The 
people had to bring their own food and tools to work for the railway 
construction. Thousands of the forced workers suffered sickness and 
hundreds of them died because of the inhuman w or in conditions. 8 
people from Lamine village, 6 from Kort Doot village, and 4 or 5 from 
l\lorkanin village in Ye township respectively died for the rail a~ 
construction, according to a recent interview with some people from 
these villages. "I don't think that there is any single village without 
having suffered a death for the railway construction so far.", said one 
of the interviewees. Hundreds Thousands of local Mon, 1~ en and 
Tavoyan people fled to the Thai border during the railway 
construction period last dry season to escape the unpaid forced 
labour. Coming dry season is another hard time for the entire local 
populations, as the construction of the Ye-Tavoy railway will continue. 
 
 
MON REFUGEE SHOT BY A LOCAL THAI BORDER PATROL 
POLICE WHO ATTEMPTED TO RAPE TWO KAREN GIRLS 
 
On 13th August at about 9 p.m., a local Thai border patrol police, as he 
was drunk, opened fire and shot indiscriminately nearby the present 
makeshift shelter of the 6000 Mon refugees who fled a recent attack of 
Burmese troops. As a consequence, a 28-year-old Mon man Nai Kyi 
Aung was shot in the chest and got a fatal wound. The Thai policeman 
is said to g have been infuriated by his unsuccessful rape at- | tempts 
on two | Karen girls in the ~ refugee camp I shortly before, I which is 
believed to have led him to the intentional shooting. 
 
According to local Mon refugee sources, the Thai policeman in 
question, accompanied by another Thai policeman, came in to the 
abandoned Halockhani camp over the border in the Burmese soil and 
attempted to rape the two Karen girls, Ma San aged 20 and Ma Khin Yi 
aged 17, who were deported by Thai immigration authorities in the 
earlier week and at the time staying therein. Nai Kyi Aung (the victim 
of the shooting), Ma Hla Aye (another girl aged 18), Ma Moe (another 
girl aged 20) and Saw Soe Soe (another man aged 26) are said to be 
together with Ma San and Ma Khin Yi (the two rape victims) during the 
rape attempts by the two Thai police. According to the two rape 
victims and the three witnesses, one of the Thai police opened his 
pant's zip and grabbed Ma San to rape, while the other aimed his gun 
at them. Ma San consistently refused to co-operate with the police. 
They blew off the light for the two policemen to loose sight. But the 
policemen continued to rape, looking for the girls by their torch light. 
Ma San managed to escape -and the police attempted to rape Ma in Yi 
again Nai Kyi Aung and ] Saw Soe Soe ran to inform to a headman of 
the refugee camp, while Ma Hla Aye called the people nearby for help. 
Eventually, the rape attempts of the two Thai police were unsuccessful 
as many refugees in the camp came to prevent them.
 
The two Thai policemen are said to be from the nearby checkpoint of 
the Border Patrol Police. Nai Kyi Aung with the serious bullet wound is 
still hospitalized at the Kwai River Christian Hospital in Sangkhlaburi 
District. Both the Mon refugees and the Mon National Relief 
Committee have, however, been reluctant to reveal this information to 
the press in fear of more pressure from the local Thai BPP in pushing 
back the 6000 Mon refugees currently seeking a makeshift shelter at 
the Thai side of the border as their Halockhani camp over the border 
has been attacked by Burmese troops recently.
 
 
MORE BURMESE WORK-SEEKERS IN THAILAND DEPORTED TO 
THAI-BURMA BORDER
 
During the recent months, an increased number of Burmese people 
illegally working in Thailand have been deported to Thai-Burma border 
after having been detained in the Thai jails following a tougher 
measure taken by Thai authorities in dealing with hundreds of 
thousands of illegal Burmese immigrants in the country. More than 
5000 Burmese people have been deported to the Thai-Burma border in 
Kanchanaburi Province alone since June of this year. These deportees 
have suffered helplessness and hopelessness both Thailand and in 
Burma after their deportation. 
 
Thai authorities have taken a tougher measure in dealing with illegal 
Burmese work-seekers in the country. According to deportees, Thai 
police have more seriously chased the Burmese work-seekers and more 
frequently raided the worksites where they were illegally employed: 
The Thai police have even used trained dogs in chasing them, 
according to those who have recently been deported. Now illegal 
Burmese workseekers have found it increasingly difficult and even 
impossible to continue to stay and work in Thailand under these 
circumstances, according to deportees. 
 
Formerly, majority of those deported Burmese managed to re-enter 
Thailand by means of giving bribes to local Thai police and having 
their co-operation in return. The rest minority, however, could not 
afford the bribes and returned to their homes in Burma. Now the Thai 
Interior Ministry has reportedly directly deployed a large number of 
new police with a special assignment to control the illegal Burmese 
immigrants in the country adding up to the existing police force. And 
these new Thai police have tried hard to control illegal Burmese 
immigrants by increasing arrests in the country on the one hand and 
toughly preventing them from entering the country on the other. This 
has made the local Thai police no longer easy to help transport any 
illegal Burmese into the country. As a result, tens of thousands of 
deported Burmese have been left completely hopeless after 
deportation-still no economic and social guarantee in Burma to return, 
no way to re enter Thailand under its present tough policy, and no 
safety and security in the deportation places on the Thai-Burma border 
to set feet on, too. 
 
A total of about 5000 illegal Burmese people have been deported to the 
Thai-Burma border at Halockhani Mon refugee camp since June of this 
year. Normally, a majority of people deported at the Halockhani refugee 
camp were ethnic Mon and the rest included ethnic Karen, Shan, 
Tavoyan, Burman and Burmese Indian combined. The local Mon 
National Relief Committee (MNRC) and the foreign humanitarian aid 
NGO Burma Border Consortium (BBC) have well received the 
deportees and provided them with food and shelter on equal status 
with the refugees in the camp, while the French medical mission 
Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) have likewise provided medical care 
for them. The Halockhani Mon refugee camp has therefore been a 
secure place for deportees. This Halockhani Mon refugee camp was 
attacked and burnt down by local troops of the ruling Burmese military 
regime State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on 21st July 
this year, making all the 6000 refugees of the camp flee into the Thai 
side of the nearby border for refuge. When this Mon refugee camp was 
attacked by the SLORC troops on the 21st July, some 200 deportees 
were remaining in the camp and risking the same hardships along side 
those Mon refugees in the camp. 
 
Following the SLORC troops' attack on the Halockhani Mon refugee 
camp on 21st July, the Thai immigration authorities immediately 
changed the place of deportation to an isolated Karen area. Some 1000 
captured illegal Burmese immigrants were reported to this new 
deportation and left stranded without any humanitarian help until 9th 
of August. On the 9th August, about 500 illegal Burmese immigrants 
were again deported to the new makeshift shelter of the 6000 Mon 
refugees from Halockhani. And this makeshift settlement of the Mon 
refugees has now become the deportation place. MNRC, BBC and 
MSF have continued their humanitarian support for the deportees as 
before. 
 
The majority of those deported at the Halockhani Mon refugee camp 
normally left the camp not long after their deportations and returned to 
their families in Mon State, Karen State or Tenasserim Division in 
Burma as it was too difficult for them to re-enter Thailand. Still, many of 
the deportees were determined to re-enter Thailand despite all the 
prevailing difficulties. And only those from distant parts of Burma, 
especially the Shan, remained in the refugee camp in a longer period as 
they could not afford transportation costs to return home. 
 
Most of the deportees have been detained in the Immigration 
Detention Center (IDC) in Bangkok, the jails in Samut Sakhon, 
Pathomthani, Kanchanaburi, or Thongphaphom. Arrests of illegal 
Burmese work-seekers have been increased by Thai authorities and the 
immigration detention centers in Thailand have been overcrowded with 
illegal Burmese citizens now. And the conditions in the detention 
centers are appalling, according to deportees: Detainees have been 
suffering no sufficient food, water, space and etc. plus the law of the 
jungle inside the jails because of the Thai jail authorities' total 
negligence. 
 
Besides, the illegal Burmese people have suffered both verbal and 
physical abuses of the Thai jail authorities during their detention. 
According to a Mon woman who was detained in the Pathomthani jail 
and recently deported to Halockhani, those illegal Burmese, both men 
and women, have been forced by the Thai jail authorities to work 
without payment during their detention: Men were given to make 
furniture and women were given to make plastic flowers. And those of 
the Burmese detainees who could not work to the satisfaction of the 
Thai jail authorities were beaten and kicked. 
 
The majority of those Burmese deported to the Mon area on the Thai-
Burma border are from Mon State, Karen State, or Tenasserim Division 
who entered Thailand by way of Kanchanaburi. And the rest are from 
other parts of Burma who entered Thailand by way of Mae Sot, Mae 
Sai, Mae Hong Son, Ranong, or other areas. According to those 
Burmese who have been detained in the Immigration Detention Center 
(IDC) of Bangkok, those Burmese detainees who entered. by way of 
Kanchanaburi Province are normally transferred to the Kanchanaburi 
jail right on the expiry of their due detention terms and soon released 
on the Thai-Burma border and accordingly need not normally suffer 
over-term detention. However, those Burmese who entered Thailand 
by way of Mae Sot, Mae Sai, Mae Hong Son, Ranong, etc. are normally 
subject to over-term detention, because Thai jail authorities have 
normally intentionally delayed their release as the way to these 
provinces are further from Bangkok and the transportation is more 
expensive. 
 
Under these circumstances, those Burmese people who came into 
Thailand by way of these provinces are necessarily kept on in 
detention for 3 to 9 months after the expiry of their due detention 
terms, according to deportees. Because of this, many of those Burmese 
detained in IDC in Bangkok normally intentionally say that they came 
by way of Kanchanaburi Province when asked by Thai jail authorities 
though they in actual fact came by other ways, in order to avoid over-
detention in the Bangkok IDC. This is why relatively a larger number of 
captured illegal Burmese have been deported to the Thai-Burma border 
in Kanchanaburi Province. 
 
Since the present Burmese military regime State Law and Order 
Restoration Council (SLORC), seized power in a bloody coup d'etat in 
September 1988, the people of Burma have been suffering a complete 
lack of freedom, grave human rights violations of the Burmese Army 
and a deteriorating economic crisis. Many millions of Burmese people 
throughout the country have been subjected to unpaid forced labour 
by the ruling SLORC regime in several infrastructural projects. 
Moreover, civilian ethnic populations in far rural areas of the country 
have continuously suffered several types of gross human rights 
violations of the SLORC Army such as arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial 
killings, torture, rapes, forced labour, forced relocation, looting, 
extortion and so forth in the processes of its military offensive 
operations against the armed ethnic opposition groups. At the same 
time, unemployment is widespread and the cost of living is ever 
escalating in the country. An ordinary Burmese family needs to strive 
hard to earn a meagre hand-to-mouth under the prevailing 
circumstances. 
 
As a result, hundreds of thousands of multi-racial Burmese people 
have fled the country to escape the human rights abuses of the 
Burmese Army as well as the chronic economic crisis. Hundreds of 
thousands of Burmese peoples are estimated to have sought new 
shelters on the neighbouring Thailand, Bangladesh, India and China. 
Presently some 72,000 Burmese ethnic peoples are seeking refuge on 
the Thai border, whereas hundreds of thousands have illegally entered 
Thailand to seek for jobs. Thailand, however, has persistently refused 
to accept these Burmese refugees to take refuge in Thailand. Instead 
Thailand regards these Burmese refugees as illegal immigrants and take 
a tough measure in dealing with them. The 72,000 Burmese ethnic 
refugees on the Thai border, included 12,000 Mon refugees, have 
repeatedly been subjected to forced relocation or repatriation by Thai 
authorities, while those seeking jobs in the country are subject to 
arrest, detention and deportation by Thai authorities. The Thai 
government has lacked humanitarian sympathy on the plight of the 
Burmese peoples under the ruthless SLORC military dictatorship and 
as such been turning a blind eye on the man-made pains and 
sufferings of the Burmese refugees seeking shelter on its soil. Over 
30,000 Burmese women have reportedly been subjected to sexual 
slavery in Thailand since Thailand does not provide any humanitarian 
protection for these Burmese refugee women. Thailand is not only not 
a party to the 1951 Convention in Relation to the Status of Refugees 
but has actively pursued the so-called "Constructive Engagement" 
policy in dealing with the ruling Burmese military regime State Law and 
Order Restoration Council (SLORC).