Joint statement on deportation of B

[maungt@xxxxxxxxxx]

Reply-To: "Maung Maung Than" <@one.net.au>
Subject: Joint statement on deportation of Burmese Workers in Thailand

Critical situation on Thai â?? Burma border
100,000 Burmese face deportation back to Burma
Burmese Military promise to shoot them
The Burmese Military Dictatorship reacted savagely to the occupation of the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok by five armed Burmese democracy activists on
October 1-2, 1999. They immediately closed the border with Thailand to
punish Thai business interests for what had happened. They promised to shoot
any Burmese refugees who came back into Burma.
The Thai government then cracked down on the Burmese refugee community and
on the student political groups. In early November, about 60,000 Burmese
workers and their families were herded back across the border river at Mae
Sot into the arms of the Burmese military. Around 1,500 jumped into the
river and many are now living on islands mid-stream. There are reports of
shootings, detention, torture and rape at the hands of the Burmese military.
The Burmese Military Dictatorship re-opened the border in late November.
There are about one million Burmese living and working in Thailand, who are
under threat During November, the Thai military and police rounded up
100,000 Burmese people working in factories and farms in the Thai border
area, to send them back to Burma. Another 100,000 Burmese refugees in camps
are under threat of deportation to Burma. Many thousands are now on the run,
or hiding in paddy fields around Mae Sot.
The Thai military also surrounded the Maneeloy Burmese Student Centre, and
announced that 2,700 student activists, recognised as political refugees,
will be forcefully expelled to third countries. Over 50 Burmese political
prisoners are still in indefinite detention in Thailand and their fate is
uncertain. This information comes from the Red Dawn Youth Workers
Organisation in Mae Sot. The Burmese military at the border have a list of
60 members of Red Dawn. They face death if they are deported to Burma.
Despite the huge proportions of this human rights crisis, there has been
virtually no media reporting or protests by governments or the United
Nations. The Australian trade union and progressive movement can help change
this situation.
You can help
ï?· Photocopy or reproduce the letter provided and send it urgently to the
addresses proposed.
ï?· Indicate your willingness to contribute to an advertisement in The
Australian in mid-January.
In solidarity,
Maung Maung Than, Free Burma Action Committee, Sydney 0411 337 816
Rick Fowler, Construction Mining Forestry and Energy Union
Peter Jennings, APHEDA (02 9264 9343)
Peter Murphy, SEARCH Foundation (02 9211 4164)   December 16, 1999
Suggested protest letter
Send to:
Her Excellency Mrs Laxanachantorn Laohphan His Excellency U Saw Tun
Royal Thai Embassy     Embassy of the Union of Burma
111 Empire Circuit     22 Arkana St
YARRALUMLA ACT 2600    YARRALUMLA ACT 2600
Fax: 02 6273 1518     Fax: 02 6273 4357
Hon Alexander Downer    Mr Kofi Annan
Minister for Foreign Affairs    Secretary General
Parliament House     United Nations, S-378
CANBERRA ACT 2600    New York NY 10017, USA
Fax: 02 6273 4112     0015 1 212 963 7055
STOP MASS DEPORTATIONS FROM THAI-BURMA BORDER
Dear
I / The _______ union represents _______ members in the ________ industry
across Australia.
I protest in the strongest terms at the reports of mass deportation back to
Burma of Burmese workers and their families who have been living for decades
in the Mae Sot region of the Thai-Burma border. Since the Burmese military
have promised to shoot returnees, this new policy by the Thai government
amounts to a death sentence for up to one million peaceful Burmese people.
Already up to 60,000 have been sent back to Burma in November and large
scale roundups continued in December, 1999.
I also protest at the detention of 1,000 Burmese student activists at
Maneeloy Burmese Student Centre, and up to 1,700 in Bangkok, prior to their
deportation to third countries. These students are recognised as refugees by
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but their rights are being denied to
please the Burmese military dictatorship.
I further protest at the list of 60 members of the Red Dawn Youth Workers
Organisation in Mae Sot being given to the Burmese military at the border.
This group is a legal workers organisation, working to protect a huge number
of people thrown into chaos by the policies of the Burmese and Thai
governments.
(to Burmese regime)
I call on the Burmese regime to immediately recognise and implement the
results of the 1990 election, and hold a meaningful dialogue with the
Committee Representing Peoplesâ?? Parliament for a transition to genuine
democracy in Burma.
(to Thai Government)
I call on your government to immediately halt the deportation policy and to
respect the human rights of the one million Burmese workers living in
Thailand, and to recognise their basic rights as workers to organise trade
unions and to engage in collective bargaining; and to respect the human
rights of the 3,000 Burmese students and 100,000 Burmese refugees at the
border camps.
(to Alexander Downer and the Thai government and the UN)
This crisis has its roots in the military dictatorship in Burma, which has
suppressed the democratic uprising of 1988 and the elected parliament of
1990. I call on your government to cease recognition of the dictatorship and
to recognise the Committee Representing Peoples Parliament led by Daw Aung
Sang Suu Kyi, as the legitimate representative of the people of Burma.
Yours sincerely