KAO WAO: BREAKING NEWS
DEMONSTRATION AT
MANELOY CAMP
(Special report from
Maneeloy,
About (300) refugees from the
to protest the Thai government’s
move to close the refugee camp. Fearing
for their safety, the refugees and
asylum seekers at Maneeloy camp staged
the peaceful demonstration to voice
their demands to the Thai government and
UNHCR, as stated by Nai Aung Win, chairman of the Overseas
Mon National
Students Organization (OMNSO), who was interviewed on the
day of the
protest.
The demonstrators which included members of Burmese Students
Association,
Mon and Karen refugees have appealed 3 points: 1) to extend
the period of
the
political refugees and; 3) to urge
the respective Thai authorities to
consult with the leaders of the
Burmese Students Association (BSA). Until
now, neither officials from the
UNHCR or Thai authorities have met the
demonstrators to discuss these
urgent needs.
“This is a very serious matter, and we will continuously
demonstrate to gain
our demands. We also ask the
international communities, our fellow students
and activists, and refugees who
have resettled in the third countries to be
aware of our situation and join
with us to demand our rights from their
respective countries,” Nai Aung Win
added.
The safe area for Burmese students in Ratchaburi province
will be closed
soon on December 15 and there is
much concern and fear the refugees will
have nowhere to go. Asylum seekers
not eligible to resettle in a third
country will be relocated by the
Interior Ministry and the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees to a temporary shelter
for displaced persons.
There are about 300 refugees from
camp.
The plans to move them to a new camp either in Ratchaburi's Suan Phung
district or Kanchanaburi's Sangkhla Buri district has caused
great stress
among the refugees. The Maneeloy
centre was set up in 1993 to accommodate
students from
the 300 refugees at Maneeloy camp
about 180 have been accepted to enter into
third countries, while others are
recognized by the UNHCR office as Border
Cases and others have been rejected as legitimate
refugees. As to their
fate on what will happen, these
people now worry they will be deported back
to