Displaced Shan asked to move out

Displaced Shan asked to move out

THAILAND: Thailand has asked an ethnic Shan rebel group from Myanmar to move a settlement of civilians -- including more than 200 orphans -- from disputed border territory to deeper inside Myanmar, a senior Thai army officer said on Sunday.

The Shan say the move would increase the exposure of the civilians to military attacks by the Myanmar pro-government forces, especially shelling that has become more frequent in recent months.

The orphans are housed at Doi Tailaeng, next to the northern Thai province of Mae Hong Son, a sprawling camp that also includes armed guerrilla units of the Shan State Army, or SSA. It is one of the few ethnic rebel groups that has continued an armed struggle against the military government, with more than a dozen others having signed cease-fires.

The Shan are Myanmar's largest ethnic minority, which like others has been striving for autonomy from the central government for decades.

On Saturday, six Shan civilian organizations loosely affiliated with the SSA released an open letter to the Thai government, calling on it to "reconsider the order to push back over 400 Shan refugees, mostly women and children."

The Shan letter said that on May 18, Thai Third Army Deputy Commander Maj. Gen. Manas Paorik ordered them relocated deeper inside Myanmar by the end of this month.

Maj. Gen. Thanongsak Apirakyothin, who oversees security in Thailand's northwestern border provinces, confirmed on Sunday that the army had asked 400-500 Shan people, most of them women, to move out from what is considered Thai territory.

"We have asked them to move back, but there is no use of force to push them back," said Thanongsak, who declined to say whether a deadline had been set. He described the people living in the disputed territory as mostly family members of Shan guerrillas who have been living on the disputed land for about four years. -- AP