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BKK POST: February 3, 1998: REFUGEE



BKK POST: February 3, 1998: REFUGEES

              Army relocates
              260 Karens

              Safety factors cited in move to new
              camp

              Supamart Kasem 
              Tak

              Some 260 Karen refugees were transferred from one camp to
              another in Tha Song Yang yesterday under the province's plan to
              move some 6,700 refugees from the border area for safety and
              environmental reasons.

              About 150 soldiers, border patrol police and district officials led
              by Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force Commander Col
              Chatchapat Yamngarmriab and Tha Song Yang district chief
              Veera Phothisook arrived in Sho Klo Camp early yesterday
              morning in 15 trucks, to take the first group of all refugees there
              to Zone A of Mae La Camp.

              Mr Veera said provincial authorities and the Third Army agreed
              last year to transfer 6,700 refugees from 1,030 families from Sho
              Klo Camp to Mae La Camp, to ensure safety for these refugees
              and to conserve forests in the area.

              Sho Klo Camp was set up in August 1986 to house Burmese
              war refugees from Mae Ta Wah Camp, Ban Mae Song, Huay
              Ma Nok and Mae Salit. It is only about a kilometre from the
              border so it is easy for foreign troops to attack it.

              Under the plan, Thai officials and staff of many
              non-governmental organisations will move about 40 households
              of the refugees per trip and the transfer operation is expected to
              be completed within one month.

              According to the Tha Song Yang district chief, concerned
              officials cannot transfer all refugees from Sho Klo Camp to Mae
              La Camp at one time as there are inadequate vehicles and every
              refugee must have a medical check-up before being sent to the
              new shelter.

              The number of refugees at Mae La Camp will increase from
              25,000 to more than 30,000 when the transfer of refugees from
              Sho Klo Camp is completed.

              The district will hand over a plot in the Tha Song Yang National
              Forest Reserve on which Sho Klo Camp was set up to the
              Forestry Department for a project to revitalise the forest, he
              added.




                                     




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Last Modified: Tue, Feb 3, 1998