Karen illegals pushed back to Burma (r)

[nyeinchan@xxxxxxxx]

Bangkok Post (19 November 1997)


Karen illegals pushed back to Burma
Supamart Kasem 
Umphang, Tak

More than 2,000 Karens were sent back to Burma in an operation said to
have caused the deaths of a baby and a 45-year-old man yesterday.

The Karen Refugee Committee has called on the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees to act against Thai officials over the deaths
of the two Karens.

Authorities treated 2,500 Karens in Ban Lae Tongku, Ban Kui Lortor and
Ban Tee Jorchee, Umphang, as illegal immigrants, not refugees, said the
commander of the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force.

As they had entered the country illegally and there was no fighting in
Burma, they must return, said Col Chatchaput Yaemngarmriab.

Col Chatchaput denied officials had forced the Karens to return by firing
shots to threaten them.

Sources said a first batch of 1,500 Karens living in Ban Lae Tongku were
sent back early yesterday and another group of 600-700 Karens crossed to
Burma in the afternoon.

About 500 remain at Ban Tee Jorchee and they would be repatriated soon,
said a source.
 
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Please note that any refugee can enter Thailand legally and it treats all
unhumanly.
The people of Burma are fleeing from the various kinds of oppression by
the ever-name-changing military junta and since Thailand's military top
brasses are close to the Burmese military, Thailand doesn't want to allow
the existance of the refugees on the border.  Thailand has been doing
those kind of shits whenever it has chance and when it thinks that people
forget.