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LATEST UPDATE ON KARENS




                            Burma-Karen,sched-lead : Karen refugees fear
Thailand
                            to push them into hands of Burma's army

                            (ADDS reports from Thai-Burma border)

                            BANGKOK, March 25 (AFP) - Around 5,000 ethnic
Karen refugees
                            are living in fear that the Thai army will force
them to go home to
                            the war zone they fled ahead of a Burmese
offensive, border
                            sources said Tuesday.

                            Some 2,500 Karen -- including some 800 pushed
back across the
                            border earlier this month -- were given refuge
Saturday as troops
                            overran Htaw Ma Pyo Hta, where they had been
sheltering on the
                            Burmese side of the border. 

                            Food and medical assistance have been arranged
at Huay Sut in
                            Ratchaburi province, a few kilometers (miles)
from the border.

                            But senior Thai army officers were reported to
have put strong
                            pressure on refugees to return, telling them
after meetings with
                            Burmese officers that Burma's army had promised
to treat them
                            well.

                            Another 2,500 refugees at Pho Maung in
Kanchanaburi province to
                            the north of Huay Sut have been told the Thai
army will return this
                            week to see whether they will go back to
Burmese-government
                            controlled areas.

                            "The refugees are very afraid. They are sending
us an SOS every
                            day. Our fear is that they will be sent back," a
border source said.

                            Thai officers from the ninth army, which is
responsible for the
                            area, told refugees the Burmese junta, known as
the State Law
                            and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), had
promised to welcome
                            them.

                            "The SLORC asked you to come back. They promised
not to ill
                            treat you so why don't you go back?" army
officers were reported
                            to have asked the refugees at Huay Sut.

                            Refugees were said to be thrown into a panic by
the Thai army's
                            final question: "If we don't let you stay here,
what will you do?"

                            Thailand came under criticism from the United
Nations, Western
                            governments and human rights organizations when
the ninth army
                            denied refuge to men and boys, and forced some
800 women
                            and children back into the Htaw Ma Pyo Tha area.

                            Thai army officers, however, told the refugees
at Huay Sut and
                            Pho Maung that some Karen had already gone back
and had been
                            treated well -- that they should go home, plant
rice and vegetables
                            and take care of themselves.

                            But border sources said every resident of the
area who had come
                            into contact with Burmese troops indicated it
was not safe for
                            them to return, and that homes and crops had
been destroyed.

                            "There have been widespread reports of forced
portering and
                            villagers having to act as human minesweepers.
SLORC troops
                            have looted most civilians' valuables, rice and
livestock, and have
                            committed numerous killings and rapes," a border
source said.

                            The Karen Refugee Committee issued a statement
last week
                            thanking Thailand for granting refuge to more
than 92,000 Karen
                            in camps along the border, and asking that the
United Nations be
                            allowed to monitor the refugees.

                            The Thai government has confirmed that
"displaced" Karen will be
                            allowed to stay in the country temporarily but
an analyst noted this
                            could be interpreted in many ways.

                            "As soon as the fighting dies down they may try
to push them
                            back, without regard for the atrocities being
committed" in the
                            area, he said.

                            A recent UN report estimated that one million
Burmese nationals
                            have been forcibly relocated and essentially
detained in relocation
                            sites, hundreds of thousands of them in the
context of brutal
                            military campaigns against ethnic minorities
like the Karen.

                            The Brussels-based International Confederation
of Free Trade
                            Unions estimates that 800,000 Burmese are
nvolved in forced
                            labor, accounting for 10 percent of the
countries output.

                            Analysts noted that the Thai government appeared
anxious to
                            remove refugees from Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi
as joint
                            investment projects with the Burmese junta are
planned in the
                            area.

                            tlf/tw