THE NATION: 980327: caught in the c

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Editorial & Opinion 

      caught in the crossfire

      If the attacks on the Karen refugee camps
      were a diabolical attempt by the military
      junta to force these people to return to
      Burma, it is definitely not working, writes
      Aung Zaw. 

      A Karen man from Huay Kaloke refugee
      camp whose house was the first set ablaze
      by rebel troops from Burma recalled,
      ''When I looked out there [rice field], I saw
      some people coming toward my house. I
      suddenly realise they were enemies so I
      screamed and ran. Then they started
      shooting.'' 

      Around 1 am on March 11 the
      Rangoon-backed Karen guerrillas known
      as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
      (DKBA) began pounding the camp with
      mortar shells before they moved in.
      Approximately 200 troops attacked the
      refugees, armed with M-79 machine guns. 

      They left the camp in ashes. Two refugees,
      including a pregnant woman, were killed
      and about 33 injured. A Christian church
      and the hospital were burnt to the ground. 

      ''They took all our money,'' cried a
      40-year-old Karen woman. Although the
      amount was only Bt120 it was her family's
      total savings. Her daughter was hit by
      shrapnel and was in a serious condition at
      the hospital. 

      ''Water, water,'' the young girl whimpered. 

      ''Do you think she will live?'' her mother
      asked a reporter. 

      Refugees in the camp charged that the
      Burmese army was behind the attack. The
      Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) and the
      Karen National Union (KNU) also claimed
      that the government troops were involved in
      the assault. 

      ''The aim of the attack is to force us to
      return to Burma,'' said deputy camp leader
      Hla Wai. 

      ''We don't feel safe here. But we are not
      moving. We cannot forgive such a
      murderous attack on unarmed people,''
      said a Karen man. The attackers burned
      down 90 per cent of the houses. A total of
      1,300 shelters in the camp were razed to
      the ground and over 8,000 people made
      homeless. This is not the first time the
      camp was attacked. It was raided last year,
      although no-one was killed then. 

      The assault on the refugees has drawn
      international outrage. The United States,
      Burma's most vocal critic, condemned the
      attack and called on Rangoon to halt the
      ''campaign of terror and violence''. 

      In Rangoon, the ruling junta spokesman
      rejected the accusation. A senior Rangoon
      official was reported to say that the US was
      speaking prematurely and did not have all
      the facts. 

      The United Nations High Commission for
      Human Rights office in Bangkok sent a
      team to investigate the attack. It also issued
      a statement saying it was ''deeply
      distressed'' by the incident and urged the
      Thai government to take measures to
      guarantee the security of refugees near the
      Burmese border. 

      The Foreign Ministry submitted a protest
      letter to Burma. Human rights groups
      accused the 3rd Region Army of doing
      nothing to stop the attacks. A US aid group
      and the KRC have both slammed the 3rd
      Army for alleged inaction during the attack
      despite having at least two hours' warning. 

      The Washington-based US Committee for
      Refugees said Thai troops were believed
      to have ''done nothing to intervene''. 

      Refugees at Huay Kaloke said Thai guards
      at the camp had learned than the attack
      was imminent but did nothing. However,
      Army officials said they had done
      everything they could. Saw Htoo Htoo and
      other Karen women in the camp said there
      was no resistance from the Thai troops. 

      ''I think Thai guards knew they [DKBA] were
      coming,'' Saw Htoo Htoo said. 

      In fact, border raids are nothing new. The
      DKBA and Rangoon troops have
      repeatedly entered Thai territory and
      carried out several cross-border raids.
      Refugees live in fear of these attacks.
      Despite previous attacks little has been
      done to protect them. 

      ''The motive of these raids is a long-term
      strategy of the Burmese army to terrorise
      the refugees into returning to Burma and to
      force the armed KNU to enter into a
      ceasefire agreement,'' said an NGO worker
      in Mae Sot. The KNU has held a series of
      ceasefire talks with the Rangoon junta but
      has failed to reach an agreement. 

      A foreign observer in Mae Sot commented,
      ''I don't see the people going back. I don't
      quite understand this strategy and I don't
      think that will encourage them to go back.'' 

      A few days after the attack, National
      Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General
      Gen Boonsak Kamheangridirong
      conceded that Thailand had not done
      enough to stop the raids. 

      ''We accept that we were inactive,''
      Boonsak said after he visited Huay Kaloke
      camp in the company of a number of
      Western diplomats. 

      Ironically, two days after his admission, the
      rebels launched a new attack on Maw Kei
      camp. In the past two weeks, they had
      attacked three times. The other two camps
      attacked were Mae Hla and Mawkier. The
      attackers threatened they would be back. In
      Mawkier, about 50 houses were burned
      down and 14 people injured. A-week-old
      child and her mother were hit by shrapnel
      and are in a serious conditions in Mae Sot
      hospital. 

      Refugees in the camps are frustrated and
      desperate. 

      ''We don't know who to trust and depend
      on. It seems no one is siding with us,'' said
      one. 

      Meanwhile the Army has issued a warning
      that it would pursue errant Karen guerrillas
      who intrude into Thai territory. But few
      people take this seriously. In Rangoon, a
      powerful general asked his Thai
      counterpart to take action against the
      DKBA, denying that the Burmese troops
      were involved in the recent raids and
      killings. 

      Nevertheless, the Rangoon generals are
      eager to cut a deal with the KNU. But so far
      progress has not been very good. Instead,
      there have been exchanges not only of
      angry words but also bullets. A KNU official
      said Rangoon should stop killing Karen
      refugees and burning their camps if they
      were really serious about peace talks. 

      ''As long as they do this, I don't see why we
      should make peace. Burmese are not
      sincere about peace,'' he said. 

      Back in the camp, a Karen man who has
      lived there for 12 years said, ''The problem
      is that no one is talking about us. We are
      completely being left out of the picture.'' 

      He paused, then gazing at the ashes where
      his house once stood, he said, ''We are
      high-class refugees.'' 

      When asked to elaborate, he explained, ''I
      mean we are refugees, but on top of that
      we are robbed, killed and terrorised. 

      ''I want the two sides to agree on a peaceful
      settlement,'' the 40-year-old mother said in
      a low voice while holding her daughter's
      hand. ''I'm not a politician, but I don't know
      when we will see real peace.'' 

      At the hospital, Chit San Maung, a
      12-year-old Karen boy, pleaded with the
      nurses to amputate his leg which was hit by
      bullets. 

      ''It is very painful and I can't stand it
      anymore,'' he cried. 

      ''I want to go back [to Burma],'' he said, ''I
      want revenge.'' 

      He then asked his visitors to buy toys for
      him. When asked what kind of toys he
      would like, he answered, ''guns''. 

      Burma, it appears, is still not ready for
      peace.