Three Burmese exiled MPs seized whi

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September 16, 1997

BANGKOK POST
THAILAND-BURMA 
Three Burmese exiled MPs seized while seeking sanctuary 
Raid on 'government' office nets thirteen 
AFP
Thai authorities have detained three ministers of the Burmese 
government-in-exile who have sought sanctuary in Thailand from the Rangoon 
military regime, a Burmese dissident student said yesterday.
The three ministers of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma 
(NCGUB) were all MPs elected in Burma's last general elections in 1990, said 
the student who requested anonymity.
Thai authorities raided the NCGUB's Bangkok office early yesterday and picked 
up 13 people, who were taken to an immigration detention centre, said the 
student from the dissident All Burma Students' Democratic Front.
Two women and one child were later released, but the rest, including the three 
ministers, were then taken to the northern border town of Mae Sot in Tak.
It was unclear whether the detainees would be deported to Burma and why the 
Thai authorities had raided the NCGUB office, which had been open for over 
five years, the student said.
Immigration authorities and police were not immediately available for comment.
The detained MPs were named as Teddy Buri, NCGUB minister for Asia-Pacific 
affairs, San Aung, minister of health, and U Thein Oo, the minister of 
justice.
One American man, called Michael Deer, who was believed to have connections 
with Burmese exiled opposition groups, was also taken to the immmigration 
detention centre in Bangkok, the student said.
The NCGUB was set up by MPs who fled oppression in Burma after the sweeping 
election victory in 1990 of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.