DATE=4/4/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=THAI-BURMA FIGHTING (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260922
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Fighting has again flared between Burmese
government troops and ethnic rebels along the Thai-Burmese
border. As VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the
fighting has sent another stream of refugees into Thailand.
TEXT: Thai authorities say Burmese troops have attacked
ethnic Karen villages in recent days, sending panicked
Karen fleeing to refuge in Thailand.
Thai border police say more than four-thousand Karen have
crossed over since fighting erupted four days ago in the
Burmese village of Mae La Pohta, located only 300 meters
inside Burma. Officials say elements of the rebel Karen
National Union, or K-N-U, retreated in the face of the
attack by a joint force of Burmese soldiers and loyalist
Karen militia. The attackers are reported to have burned
the village.
Many of the new refugees are in poor shape, suffering from
diarrhea and other ailments. Although they are being cared
for by non-governmental aid organizations, they lack
shelter, clean water, and sanitary facilities. However,
Thai authorities have so far refrained from moving them to
established camps further away from the immediate border
area. Officials say they hope to repatriate the new
refugees once the fighting recedes.
Thailand is host to more than 100-thousand Burmese
refugees, the majority of whom are Karen. Most of Burma's
ethnic insurgent groups have signed peace accords with the
military government in Rangoon. The K-N-U is the last
major holdout, refusing to surrender or strike a deal with
the government.
The thousands of Karen on Thai soil have proved to be a
political headache for the government of Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai. There is considerable anti-Karen sentiment
among Thais. The sentiment was exacerbated when armed
Karen rebels took over the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last
year and occupied a hospital in Ratchaburi province in
January.
Fleeing to Thailand is not a guarantee of safety. The pro-
Rangoon militia, known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army, have frequently crossed the border to attack refugee
camps and intimidate refugees into returning to Burma.
(SIGNED)
NEB/GPT/FC
04-Apr-2000 06:09 AM EDT (04-Apr-2000 1009 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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