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The Nation - Halt violence at Manee



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: The Nation - Halt violence at Maneeloy, warns Surin

The Nation - Oct 27, 1999.
Politics
Halt violence at Maneeloy, warns Surin

FOREIGN Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday warned Burmese students at the
Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi province against engaging in violence,
saying they should focus instead on going to a third country and not being a
burden on Thai society, a senior ministry official said yesterday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai quoted Surin as saying the
students should behave more appropriately and not take advantage of Thai
hospitality.

The minister said Thai authorities had not been very strict with the
students' activities.

He urged the students to concentrate on their education and think about the
possibility of returning to their homeland some day.

The comments follow a clash on Sunday night involving 100 Burmese students
and Mon exiles at the Maneeloy centre, run by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Police detained four more students, bringing the total number of those
arrested to nine, Pol Maj Sophon Sangprathum in Ratchaburi said yesterday.

They were looking for four Mon students who they said had fled the camp to
avoid arrest.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry urged Burma to take good care of 29 Thais
arrested in Burma, some 200 metres from the Thai border.

Don said Veerasak Futrakul, Foreign Ministry director-general of the East
Asia Affairs Department, had asked Nyan Lynn, a minister at the Burmese
Embassy in Thailand, to convey the message to Rangoon.

The Thais were arrested last Friday and charged with illegally entering the
country. They were asked to pay a fine of US$1,000.

Don said the Foreign Ministry is seeking their release. More than 30 people
were rounded up 75 km from the Andaman Club and 70 km from Victoria Point,
or Kawthuang.

According to Pol Col Somphong Khonkaen, commander of the 41st Border Police
Regiment, the arrest of the Thais was linked to a conflict of interest
inside Burma.

He said the arrests were aimed at curbing illegal gambling in nearby areas
so that gamblers would return to the Koh Song casino, an authorised venue.

The Nation