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Rebels win, Workers lose (r)



Hi Pil...

Can you put another way to fill up Burmese students
teachers from US for the schools? I can help you on
this situation. Just let me know.

Nyi Nyi Lwin

--- Indiana <bina@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Just a note of reality, here amid all the euphoria
> about getting the world's attention on Burma by a
> show of physical force in our host's capital city.
> 
> By some estimates, there are one million
> undocumented Burmese workers in Thailand, about half
> of whom work in Bangkok.  For those of you who dont
> know, these undocumented workers are habitually
> ripped off by their company owners, abused by their
> foremen, and harassed by the Thai police.  Without
> state papers, they have no legal rights at all. 
> Their children are often born on the construction
> work sites, and later they play in the dirt and the
> junk piles while their parents mix cement, bend
> re-bar, and carry bricks, for half the wages of a
> Thai laborer.  The only reason these people are in
> Bangkok, far from their towns and villages in Burma,
> is simply because it is even worse for them at home.
> 
> I had spent about six months working with a group of
> Burmese students to set up a primary school for
> these kids at a construction site in Bangkok.  We
> researched the situation, wrote a project proposal
> and prepared a budget which included books, paper,
> and lunch for the kids.  We sent it out to friends
> and organizations who we thought might be interested
> in funding the school.  We finally heard that it was
> going to be approved last week, just before the
> embassy story hit the headlines.
> 
> The students who were going to run this school all
> live at the Maneeloy "safe camp".  But now it looks
> like easy movement to and from the camp is over (see
> story that follows).  If they cannot leave the camp
> for Bangkok, there will be no school for the
> workers' children.  And from the sounds the Thai
> government is making, life is going to get even
> harder for the workers themselves.
> 
> I know that everyone wants to go back to Burma.  I
> know that the continued presence of the junta there
> is a disgrace to human society.  I know how
> frustrated everyone is with the lack of movement in
> the international community.  I was also glad to see
> something "real" happen, although I know that
> violence is never elegant, nor can it be a solid
> foundation on which to build anything long-lasting.
> 
> But with no collective planning, no coordinated
> follow-up, no long-range strategy to use this
> "aberration" to press our demands home to the
> international community, it is the weakest people,
> as usual, who will bear the brunt of the hostile
> fall-out that violence always breeds.  I know in a
> very personal way what a loss of this school means
> to the children, their parents, and to the entire
> illegal worker population of Bangkok.
> 
> If the embassy attack gets them all back home to a
> peaceful Burma tomorrow, I will be cheering along
> with the rest.  But if it only makes conditions
> worse for them here in Bangkok, then it is they who
> will be paying the long-term cost for the Vigorous
> Burmese Student Warriors moment of glory.  
> 
> 
> >SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS
> >October 6, 1999
> >
> >Thailand wants Myanmar students out of country
> after hostage crisis
> >
> >     BANGKOK, Oct 6 (AFP) - Thailand said Wednesday
> it planned to round up
> >exiled Myanmar students and send them to a third
> country, after five
> >student gunmen took almost 40 people hostage at
> Yangon's embassy here.  In
> >the wake of the 25-hour hostage crisis, which ended
> with the gunmen fleeing
> >Bangkok by helicopter Saturday, Thai authorities
> met to discuss ways to
> >prevent more international terrorism on Thai soil.
> The National Security
> >Council (NSC) said it would round up exiled
> students inside Thailand, check
> >their status, and prosecute those found to have
> entered the country
> >illegally. All students would then be transferred
> to the Maneeloy holding
> >centre near the Thai-Myanmar Border, and the United
> Nations High
> >Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would be asked to
> quickly transfer them
> >to a third country.
> >
> >     "We will consult with the UNHCR to send an
> estimated 2,800 Myanmar
> >students to another country," Khachadpai
> Burusapatana, NSC
> >secretary-general told reporters after the meeting
> top security agencies.
> >
> >     The UNHCR said it had not been informed of the
> move yet but would
> >continue to apply long-standing policies on
> resettlement.
> >     "In accordance with established practice we
> will continue to promote
> >resettlement of those refugees who qualify for
> third country resettlement,"
> >a UNHCR spokesman said.
> >
> >     Interior ministry spokesman Veerachai
> Naewboonian said students who
> >were not accepted by a third country would be
> repatriated to
> >Myanmar.  Veerachai said Thailand had already moved
> to ensure students were
> >confined to the Maneeloy holding centre in
> Ratchburi province.
> >
> >     "Authorities will step up rules and
> regulations at the Maneeloy holding
> >centre," Veerachai said.
> >     Despite the crackdown on exiled students,
> Bangkok denied claims by
> >Yangon that refugee camps inside Thailand were
> being used as terrorist
> >bases.
> >     "On this issue Thailand has a clear cut policy
> that we will not allow
> >any groups of terrorists to operate against
> neigbouring countries from
> >inside our country," Khachadpai said.
> >
> >     He said Thailand's policy of sheltering
> 100,000 refugees along the
> >Thai-Myanmar border would remain unchanged, but all
> illegal Myanmar workers
> >would be repatriated.
> >
> >     "We have extended permission for 80,000 to
> 90,000 Myanmar workers, but
> >those who are not granted an extension will be
> prosecuted for violating
> >immigration laws," he said. In addition, Prime
> Minister Chuan Leekpai has
> >instructed police to tighten security at 65
> embassies and 10 consulates in
> >Bangkok. Thai Special Branch Police deputy
> commissioner Major General
> >Yothin Matthayanun said his agency would focus on
> improving security for
> >diplomatic missions of neighbouring countries and
> nations embroiled in
> >political disputes, such as Indonesia.
> 
> 


=====

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