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Burmese troops enter Thailand to ra



Subject: Burmese troops enter Thailand to raid ethnic refugee camp.


	Burmese troops enter Thailand to raid ethnic refugee camp
	*********************************************************


            February 27, 1997
            1.49 p.m. EST (1849 GMT)


            PU NAM RAWN, Thailand (AP) --
            Burmese soldiers crossed into
            Thailand on Thursday, trying to raid
            a makeshift refugee camp housing
            thousands of ethnic Karens, but Thai
            troops halted the operation. 

            About 2,300 refugees had taken
            shelter at an abandoned tin mine at
            Pu Nam Rawn, an hour's drive west
            of Kanchanaburi, 70 miles west of
            Bangkok. 

            The Burmese troops ran into a group
            of Thai self-defense volunteers and
            opened fire before retreating. Regular
            Thai troops later took positions to
            protect the refugee camp. 

            In the past week, the border opposite
            Kanchanaburi has been transformed
            into the southern front of Burma's
            offensive to stamp out the Karen
            National Union, which has battled the
            Rangoon government for more
            autonomy since 1949. 

            The Burmese army is using an
            estimated 100,000 troops to crush
            2,500 Karen rebels and allies along
            the rugged border. Private aid groups
            say 40 Karen fighters have been
            killed in the past week and 200 Burmese soldiers were wounded 
	    or killed. 

            Some 15,000 Karens have been allowed into Thailand since 
	    Burma's latest
            offensive began Feb 11. They have joined about 90,000 Karen 
	    and other
            refugees who have lived in Thai camps for years. 

            But in recent days, Thailand has reversed its decades-old 
	    practice of giving
            refuge to the Karens. Border relief groups and Thai media 
	    report that as many
            as 5,000 refugees have been turned back toward Burma. 

            "We are deeply concerned by the reports, which we have 
	    confirmed,'' said a
            U.S. Embassy spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

            Television footage showed Karen refugees -- mostly women, 
	    children and the
            elderly -- being trucked to the border Wednesday and handed 
	    over to Burmese
            officials. 

            Thai military officials do not want
            Karen guerrillas to operate from their
            soil and claim to have received
            guarantees from the Burmese for the
            safety of returning refugees. The
            rebels say the Thais are working with
            the Burmese to wipe them out. 

            The refugees fear both the fighting
            and the Burmese policy of pacifying
            their region by forcibly relocating
            villages. Human rights groups accuse
            the army of random execution, rape
            and slave labor. 

            The U.S. Embassy spokesman said
            sending the refugees back "runs
            counter to Thailand's traditional
            policy of providing safe haven to
            those fleeing persecution.'' A dozen
            prominent international human rights
            groups also urged Thailand to
            reconsider. 

            Washington considers Burma's
            military regime one of the worst
            violators of human rights in Asia. It
            has demanded that the ruling junta
            negotiate a political settlement with
            Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's 
	    pro-democracy leader. 

            The rebels believe Thailand, which long used Burma's 
	    rebellious ethnic groups
            as a buffer against Burma, now wants to profit from a more 
	    stable border. 

            A $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline owned by the Burmese 
	    government and
            French and U.S. oil companies is being built through Karen 
	    territory to sell gas
            to Thailand. The rebels vow to destroy it. 

            Thai companies also are bidding to develop a deep water 
	    seaport at Tavoy,
            240 miles southeast of Rangoon, and build roads to it through 
	    Karen territory. 


	    [FoxNews, 27 Feb 1997].

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