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Urgent Action on Behalf of ABYMU Mo



Subject: Urgent Action on Behalf of ABYMU Monks

Buddhist Relief Mission 
"Supporting the Buddha Sasana Worldwide" 
2128 Missouri Ave. 
Flint, MI 48506
USA 
Tel: (810) 341 - 6960
Fax: (810) 341- 6989 
e-mail:brelief@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


No Haven on the Border  ? "The Case of the Border Case Ruse"

	Two Burmese Buddhist monks may find their lives in jeopardy because the
UNHCR has denied their appeals from "border case" classification.  
	Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara applied for "Person of
Concern" status because they have clear cause to fear for their lives if
returned to Burma.  They also have good reason to fear the consequences of
returning to the border.  Although these monks have provided abundant
evidence of the dangers they fled, the UNHCR apparently fails to recognize
the extremely insecure conditions in Mawker Karen Refugee Camp and the
threats these monks would face if returned to the border. 

BACKGROUND

	Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda has been in robes for twenty-seven years with sixteen
rainy seasons as a bhikkhu. His home monastery in Mandalay is well-known
for Pariyatti studies, and before leaving Burma, he had received a degree
as Teacher of Dhamma (Dhammachariya). 
	His well-founded fear of persecution begins from the fact that he was
arrested in August 1988 and detained and tortured without trial for more
than a year and a half in Burma. In 1990, when thousands of monks met in
Mandalay in order to institute a boycott of the ruling military junta, an
overturning of the bowl, the junta responded with brutal violence, and
monks were shot dead. Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda realized that he was again
liable to be arrested, tortured, imprisoned, and perhaps executed.  He
chose to flee to the Thai/Burma border at the end of 1990. 
	At the beginning of 1991, Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda joined the All Burma Young
Monks' Union, headquartered at that time in Manerplaw, and he has been an
active member since, serving in various capacities. 
	
	Ven. U Teikha Sara is 33 years old with fourteen Wasa.  He formerly
resided at the Pyidaw Aye Monastery of Thaton in Mon State.   Ven. U
Theikha Sara took part in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising as a member of
Sangha Samaggi (Sangha Union).  Realizing he would be arrested if he
remained, he came out from Burma after the coup d'etat of the SLORC in
September 1988.   
	Ven. U Theikha Sara joined the All Burma Young Monks' Union as soon as he
arrived at the border and was assigned the position of Office Administrator
in Charge of ABYMU Headquarters in Manerplaw from October 1988 until
January 1995.

	In Jan 1995, the All Burma Young Monks' Union evacuated from the Liberated
Area's capital city of Manerplaw as it fell to a devastating attack by the
Burmese military.  Like other dissident groups, the ABYMU relocated to
Sakhanthit and established a new headquarters there.  After the fall of the
liberated area of Sakhanthit in 1997, ABYMU assigned both Ven. U Theikha
Sara and Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda to move to Mawker Refugee Camp where a small
ABYMU monastery was built.
	For Buddhist monks on the border, the crucial factor from the fall of
Manerplaw onwards until the present day is the threat posed by the
so-called Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a breakaway faction from the
Christian-dominated Karen National Union.  The DKBA is armed and
manipulated by the Burmese military junta but in some ways they are even
more dangerous than the ordinary Burmese army.  As ethnic Karen, DKBA
forces are able to cross the border with impunity in Karen inhabited areas.
 They have often entered Thai territory to carry out raids, kidnapings, and
even executions of refugees.   On several occasions they have attacked and
burned entire refugee camps, unhindered by Thai border patrols or Thai police. 
	Problems and divisions within the KNU are nothing new. The DKBA split is a
recent example, but since 1988 there have been numerous incidents of
friction between Burmese students, as non-Karen and as Buddhist, and the
KNU, as a Christian-led, ethnic force.   Of course, the KNU has had plenty
of reason to hate and to fear the DKBA.  They have also tended to distrust
the monks of ABYMU in their area, suspecting them, as non-Karen and as
Buddhists, of perhaps being DKBA sympathizers or even spies.  
	During this period, the Burmese junta was promoting its so-called "border
development program" which included building monasteries in every village
on their side of the border, even if the villagers were Christian.  Because
no monks wanted to stay in these junta-built monasteries, the junta ordered
the DKBA to recruit monks from the refugee camps.  Thus the DKBO tried to
force the ABYMU monks in Mawker Refugee Camp to cross the border. 
	When the ABYMU monks refused to comply with the orders, it seems that the
DKBA,  in raiding the camp on  March 23, 1997, retaliated by burning the
ABYMU monastery to the ground.  Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara
were fortunate to escape alive. 
	One month later, on April 24, 1997, two other ABYMU monks, Ven. Agga and
Ven Zatila, were abducted by the DKBA while they were traveling along the
Thai-Burma border? terrible evidence that the border region was not safe.
	It was clearly impossible for Ven. U Pinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara
to stay any longer on the border, given the threat posed by the DKBA to
their very lives. Realizing this, they made their way to Bangkok as swiftly
as possible to apply for "Person of Concern" status with the UNHCR.
During that year, they tried to stay in a Thai monastery, but Thailand's
monastic regulations did not permit that, even for well-practicing senior
monks.  
	Interestingly enough, while there still is a monastery in Mawker Camp, its
residents are ordinary Karen monks, not monks of the All Burma Young Monks'
Union. Being especially targeted by the DKBA made it too dangerous for any
ABYMU monk to remain.
	Since they left the border, Ven. U Pyinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara
have been supported by Burmese students, mainly those who knew them on the
border and who have themselves already been recognized as "Persons of
Concern" and admitted to the "Safe Area".  These students have pledged to
protect these two monks from any attempt to return them to the border.
	
UNHCR and the Border Case Appeal

It seems that the UNHCR negative decision was based on several pieces of
misinformation:

	 	In spite of the ample documentation provided by the monks, the
Administration Officer in charge of Mawker Camp, the Administration Office,
Thai Army officers, Thai Police, and Camp Security guards have told UNHCR
that the facts in the monks' biographies were not true.
	 	Thai Camp Security forces also claim that there were no problems between
ABYMU and KNU.
	 	It seems that a Thai official of the Special Battalion (Second in charge
of Camp Security) told UNHCR that ABYMU monks can stay in Mawker camp, but
in reality, this is clearly impossible.  He also mistakenly told UNHCR that
there were former members of ABYMU in Noh Pho and Mae La refugee camps, but
the monks there are ethnic Karen, and have never been affiliated with ABYMU.

	This misinformation can be understood once we realize that Mawker Camp
authorities are members of the Karen Refugee Committee, under the direct
control of the Karen National Union.  The leadership of both the KRC and
the KNU are overwhelmingly Christian, with Seventh Day Adventists in the
highest posts and Baptists right below them.  
	The rise of the DKBA and the Buddhist/Christian split is actually the
result of years of favoritism and discrimination by these leaders.  These
problems have never been faced up to. Ignorant of, or at least refusing to
see the real situation, the camp authorities deny that the monks have ever
had any problems with the KNU.  Since Thai camp security forces and Karen
security guards work closely together, it is not surprising that they give
the same response.  Furthermore, Karen interpreters (most of whom are
KNU/KRC members) cannot be expected to adequately convey the plight of the
ABYMU monks. 
	UNHCR claims that the monks left Mawker Camp with the aim of getting
resettlement in a third country. It is obvious that the two monks left the
border because it wasn't safe to stay in Mawker camp or anywhere else along
the border.  They attempted to stay in a Thai monastery, but, because of
Thai regulations that every monk must have a Thai identity card, that
wasn't possible either.
	UNHCR claims that the monks would be safe in Mawker Camp since Ven. Agga
and Ven Zatila were not kidnaped in the camp.  The fact that the monastery
was burned is proof that the camp is not safe.  That the two monks were
kidnaped on the road near the border indicates that the entire area is unsafe.
	UNHCR office in Mae Sot has said that it would like the ABYMU monks to
stay in Mawker Camp, but Mae Sot is an extremely unstable and dangerous
place, especially now with massive deportations going on.  The tiny UNHCR
office there in Mae Sot has apparently done nothing to protect bonafide
asylum seekers from being deported back to Burma.  Obviously they cannot
guarantee the monks' safety.   The suggestion of UNHCR that the monks
return to the refugee camp on a trial basis, implies the recognition that
it may be a dangerous situation.  Unfortunately, that dangerous situation
could prove fatal.  Should something happen, there is no guarantee that a
message could be sent to Mae Sot in time to prevent a disaster.  These are
life and death issues, in a very harsh and unforgiving situation. 
	UNHCR cites the presence on the border of ABYMU's Chairman, Ven. U Khe Ma
Sara, as evidence there is no problem.  The junta's New Light of Myanmar
mentioned the chairman of ABYMU's, Ven U Khe Ma Sara's, interview with the
BBC, yet the UNHCR has not heard that he is in danger on the border.
Apparently UNHCR needs to see a criminal act before they will recognize
there is a problem (and then wouldn't it be too late!)   UNHCR's claim that
 Ven. U Khe Ma Sara has had in no problems on the border is simply not
true.  Ven. U Khe Ma Sara himself has submitted a letter of appeal for Ven.
U Pinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara to be recognized as Persons of
Concern.   Furthermore, Ven. U Khe Ma Sara is not staying in the Mae Sot
area at all.  He has concluded that Tak is too dangerous for ABYMU monks to
travel in.  He himself is in a more secure place, but acknowledges that he
is always in danger even with the help of many able people. 	
	We urge the UNHCR to reconsider the whole category of "border case"
especially as they attempt to apply it to these two ABYMU monks, Ven. Ven.
U Pyinnya Nanda and Ven. U Teikha Sara.     
	With DKBA and junta forces increasingly active with their dry-season
offensive, these monks can find no safety on the border.
	With the Thai National Security Council seeking dialogue with UNHCR
(Thailand) for the express purpose of facilitating the repatriation of
100,000 refugees to Burma, now is not the time for these monks to be
returned to the border.
	With Thailand cracking down on all undocumented, "illegal" Burmese in the
country and sending them, en masse, back to Burma, now is not the time for
these monks to be returned to the border.
	With Thailand's Foreign Minister, Surin Pitsuwan, having just visited the
junta to get them to please open that border, now is not the time for these
monks to be returned to the border. 
	Please feel free to refer to use any of this information to write a
letter, from you, and where possible from your organization, urging the
UNHCR to reconsider its classification of Ven. Pyinnya Nanda and Ven. U
Teikha Sara as "border cases."  Please encourage that they be recognized as
"Person of Concern," so that their well-founded fears of persecution be
acknowledged and their lives and safety be properly protected.

Please write letters of appeal to:

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
United Nations Bldg. 3 fl., Rajadamnern Rd.
Bangkok, Thailand 10200
Tel:  +662- 288-1234
Fax: +662- 280-0555
E-mail:  <thaba@xxxxxxxx>

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