Thailand deports Karen refugees to Myanmar

Thailand deports Karen refugees to Myanmar

BANGKOK (Agencies): The Thai Army has deported 600 Karen women and children to "a safe spot" in Myanmar while forcing hundreds of Karen men back across the border to face capture by Myanmar troops, government and relief sources said yesterday.

On Wednesday, the Thai military trucked some 600 Karen civilians from their refugee camps in Sai Yok, Kanchanaburi province, 100 kilometers south to a border pass in Suan Pueng, Ratchburi province, where the women and children were deported to Myanmar.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said that Thai authorities had on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 refused entry to 730 Karen men, but allowed in women, children and the disabled.

"The remaining 600 women and children were put on trucks and taken to Amphur Suan Pung located further south in Ratchaburi province, opposite the safe corridor area, from where it is believed they may be forcibly repatriated...," Amnesty said.

Thailand had also told hundreds of other Karen refugees in camps in Sangklaburi province, north of Kanchanaburi, to return to Myanmar or agree to be taken to the safe corridor, it said.

"These people had requested to return to Myanmar at a safe point, so we were complying with their wishes," said a source at the Interior Ministry's operations center for refugees, who denied that the refugees were forcefully repatriated.

Relief workers questioned the "voluntary" nature of the repatriation, pointing out that the women had been separated from their menfolk who were forced back into Myanmar on Wednesday, and that there were no "safe points" on the Thai-Myanmar border.

"Safe means the Myanmar troops are an eight-hour walk away as opposed to a two-hour walk," said one relief worker.

The sudden crackdown on two Karen refugee camps - Pha Nam Ron and Bong Ti of Sai Yok district, Kanchanaburi province, about 200 west of Bangkok - appeared to be the handiwork of Thailand's 9th Army Division, which controls the area.

"It looks as if the 9th Division has taken the operation in its own hands, and is acting heavy-handedly," said a relief worker. The army called a meeting with border relief organizations Thursday to explain the situation.

Sai Yok is where a gas pipeline from Myanmar's offshore natural gas reserves will enter Thailand, fueling the country's energy needs and providing much-needed revenues for Myanmar's junta - the state Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).

The deportations follow a meeting earlier this week between Myanmar Army Chief Gen. Maung Aye and his Thai counterpart General Chetta Thanajaro at which the Karen issue was discussed.