NEWS FROM NOBO REFUGEE CAMP(ENGLISH

[padauk@xxxxxxxxxx]

      Attack by Thai Soldiers on Refugees in Tak Province
                                                       January 14, 1998
It is said that on the 12th of January, 1998, at about 10:10 p.m. (Thai
Time), some Thai soldiers from the security guard unit fired upon, at close
range with M16 automatic rifles, a group of refugees who were attempting to
get out of the camp boundary, in  Noe Poe refugee camp, in Tak Province. As
a result of the shooting, one refugee, Saw Rue, aged 27, from Ward No. 2,
of the camp was seriously wounded in the thigh. 
Noe Poe refugee camp is situated near the Thai-Burma border, in Umphang
township, in the north western part of Thailand. Most of the refugees in
the camp are simple Karen farmers who have fled from Dooplaya district of
the Karen State, due to human rights violations and atrocities perpetrated
by soldiers of the Burmese military dictatorship, which launched a major
military offensive against the Karen rebels in February, last year. 
Starting from the early days of the camp, A strong barbed wire fence has
been set up around the total perimeter and the Thai military unit
responsible for the security of the camp is said to have imposed strict
restrictions on the camp population. 
On January 6, the Thai troops put under arrest and subjected to hard labor
refugees from Ward No.11, including 28 Muslims, who went out to work in the
farms of nearby villages. When the refugees are made to contribute
voluntary labor and work on  the camp of the Thai soldiers, they reportedly
are kept under heavy guard and treated like criminals, not unlike the
practice employed the Burmese soldiers. 

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