Refugees Can Stay, Thais Say Burmese Military Targets Autonomy-Seeking Karen Rebels

Under intense international pressure, Thailand has abandoned a plan to send thousands of ethnic Karen rebels back to Burma, newspapers reported Saturday.

More than 2,300 ethnic Karen refugees huddled in a makeshift camp just inside Thailand on Saturday, terrified of new attacks by the Burmese army just a few miles away. Burmese troops tried to raid the camp in the Kanchanaburi province last week but were repelled by Thai security forces.

The newspaper reports said Army Commander Gen. Chetta Thanajaro will not proceed with his earlier plan to repatriate the refugees in the next two weeks.

The Thai army said the Karens would be moved to a safer place farther south beginning Monday.

The refugees are among 15,000 members of the Karen National Union who in the past weeks have fled a Burmese offensive. The rebels have been seeking greater autonomy from Burma’s government for nearly five decades.

In the past, Thailand has had an open-door policy toward the refugees and some 90,000 are in Thai camps. But last week, Thailand forcibly repatriated an estimated 5,000 refugees, drawing harsh protests from the United States, the United Nations and other humanitarian groups.

Refugees at Pu Nam Rawn were concerned about 330 boys and young men forced back across the border.

The Thai army insisted that only civilians who volunteered to return had been sent back to Burmese zones away from fighting.

“I would like to assure our brothers and sisters along the border, along with you journalists, that we are following the policies according to human rights and will confidently defend the Thai people,” Maj. Gen. Pongthep Thetpratheep said Friday.

Burma has employed some 100,000 troops to crush the Karen fighters, who have been forced to abandon several camps, putting Burma’s military government in control of the 1,500-mile border for the first time.