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BKK Post,April 25, 1998. BORDER
- Subject: BKK Post,April 25, 1998. BORDER
- From: burma@xxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 25 Apr 1998 22:59:00
April 25, 1998. BORDER
Thai soldiers captured by DKBA 'dead'
Deputy defence chief confirms report
Tak
Deputy Defence Minister Wattanachai Wuthisiri has confirmed earlier
reports that two Thai soldiers captured by pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army guerrillas had been killed.
Gen Wattanachai said many intelligence sources reported the two were
already dead although it remained unclear whether the DKBA killed them.
He added the army would further check with all available sources to
verify the reports.
Sergeant Aree Hoonyon and Private Mana Sumaporn, both of the Fourth
Infantry Regiment Task Force, went missing after a border clash with
DKBA guerrillas in Pob Phra district on March 22.
A search failed to find them. Burmese authorities denied knowledge of
their whereabouts.
Col Catchapat Yamngarmriab, the task force chief who had earlier said
the two were held captive by the DKBA, said after their deaths were
officially confirmed that the army would consider giving assistance to
their families since they were killed while on duty.
Gen Wattanachai said the government had decided to allow the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to supervise Karen refugee camps
in Tak and Mae Hong Son.
The Foreign Ministry would determine what role the UNHCR should play, he
said.
Financial aid from the agency is needed since instability in Burma is
likely to keep displaced Karens in Thai camps for a long time.
Tak, however, was having problems relocating some 60,000 refugees since
there was no place large enough to accommodate them.
Some public land earmarked for a new camp was found to have been
encroached on by local villagers.
The encroachers would have to be moved out and permission sought from
state agencies concerned before the land could be developed into a camp
site.
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