STATEMENT OF THE KAREN REFUGEE COMM (r)

[caroline@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Statement of the Karen Refugee Committee

KAREN REFUGEE COMMITTEE

Statement Regarding Request For Pennision To Permission To Have UNHCR
Assistance And Continued Refuge

March 19, 1997

There are now 92,000 Karen refugees camped along Thailand's western border
with Burma.  We, the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), would like to express
our gratitude to the Royal Thai Government for kindly permitting these
refugees to take refuge in the border areas of Thailand, and the
international NGOs to assist them with the basic needs.  The refugees had
been staying in the border areas for years without much incident until 1995
when the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army troops (DKBA), and in some cases
combined forces of DKBA and the Burma Army, or State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) troops started attacks on the refugee camps.
Particularly in the month of January this year, two large camps rather close
to the border were burnt down by the DKBA and SLORC troops, making more than
16,000 refugees homeless.

The Burma Army, or the SLORC troops now occupy territories close to or
adjoining the Thai border from Mae Hong Son Province in the north, down to
Prachuab Khirikhan in the South.  Starting from the last month, a major
offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) by the SLORC in the
Tenessarim Division and the southern part of the Karen State has forced many
Karen villagers to cross the border into Thailand.  Many refugees,
especially the newe ones are settled in areas directly adjacent to the SLORC
troops on the other side of the border-line: as such they are left very
vulnerable to attacks.  Allegations of forced repatriation (refoulment) of
thousands of refugees by the Thai troops, particularly in Kanchanaburi
Province, has caused a great concern among us and the international
community.  Pushing back the defenseless Karen's into the hands of the SLORC
troops would surely mean slave labor, severe torture and death.

The situation being as such we, the KRC like to request the Royal Thai
Government to permit the United Nations High Commissiioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) to perform its mandated role in protection of refugee rights and
security, and to continue to extend refuge, as before, to the Karen
civillians who have been forced to seek refuge in the border area of Thailand.