05feb10 ncgub: news on migrants & refugees- 5 feb, 2010 (english & burmese)

8/14/2019 05Feb10 NCGUB: News on Migrants & Refugees- 5 Feb, 2010 (English & Burmese)

1/28

*************************************************************

NCGUB: News on Migrants & Refugees- 5 February, 2010 (English & Burmese)

************************************************************* HEADLINES************************************************************* NEWS ON MIGRANTSPolice suspected of killing nine migrantsThai Police Suicide Linked to Karen Killing

NEWS ON REFUGEESForced Repatriation of Karen Refugees to StartThai army threatens to push Karen refugees back to MyanmarThailand Must Not Repatriate Karen Refugees

US Legislators Urge Thai PM to Halt Karen Refugee RepatriationDoor now ajar for Burmese refugeesThailand suspends Karen refugee returnOfficials interviewing Myanmar asylum-seekersThai security agencies raid Karen Information CentrePolice Warn Karen Journalists in Mae SotThai police raid Karen houses

*************************************************************

U U U U

U U U U

----

KNKNKNKN

************************************************************NEWS ON MIGRANTS*************************************************************Police suspected of killing nine migrants

Thursday, 04 February 2010 14:10 Usa Pichai


2/28

Bangkok (Mizzima) - A police officer from Phop Phra district is suspected of killingnine migrant workers, whose bodies were found last week in Thailand, after hedemanded money and they tried to flee.

Pol Lt Gen Surasri Sunthornsaratun, the commander of Police Region 6 said at a press

conference in Maesot District, Tak Province that a perpetrator team led by Pol. Sen.Sgt. Maj Somchai Pinkaew, of Pob Phra district were suspected of the crime.

However, Pol. Sen. Sgt. Maj Somchai already died from committed suicide onJanuary 30, after he confessed his crime to commander and colleagues.

Investigations reveal that Somchai together with five others two Yunnanese andthree ethnic Lisu were behind the killing, Pol Lt Gen Surasri, said according to areport in the Thai news website Manager on Thursday.

The bodies of the murdered Karen workers were found in two different locations intwo districts of Tak province bordering Karen State in Burma. The first four bodieswere found last Wednesday. The bodies of the first two - a man and a woman werefound in a cane field in Phop Phra district. Two others - again a man and a womanwere found in Mae Sot district. Two more bodies of women were found on Sunday ina roadside grave in Phop Phra, while three more bodies of two women and a manwere found on Tuesday on the roadside in Phop Phra.

Post mortem reports reveal all nine were shot dead with .22 and.38-calibre gunsbelonging to Pol. Sen. Sgt. Maj Somchai, according to Pol Lt Gen Surasri.

He said the suspects asked for money from the workers but the workers ranaway. They were caught and killed. However, there is another report that suggests thesuspects wanted to ask for ransom from their relatives.

Surapong Kongjanteuk, from the Human Rights Committee of Thai Lawyers Counciltold Mizzima that his committee has sent a lawyers team to the area toinvestigate and provide legal support.

Such crime has occurred before in a nearby area when six migrant workers werekilled because ransom was not paid. The case is still in the appeal court after a trialcourt sentenced a village headman to death, he said.

Relatives of the nine murdered workers, who travelled from Bangkok to identify thebodies in Tak, said most of the dead were from Karen state in Burma, across theborder from Tak. The husband of a victim told a reporter of a television channel thathe sent 8,000 baht [242 USD] to his wife for travelling to Thailand. His wife wasamong those killed.

http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3483-police-suspected-of-killing-nine-migrants.html

************************************************************* Thai Police Suicide Linked to Karen KillingBy SAW YAN NAING Thursday, February 4, 2010


3/28

Pol Sen Sgt Maj Somchai Pinkaew, a police officer at Phop Phra district police stationwho admitted to being involved in the killing of nine Karen job-seekers, committedsuicide on Jan. 30, a police official said at a press conference in Tak Province onWednesday.

The nine Karen job seekers were shot to death last week by a group of gunmen inPhop Phra District in Thailand's Tak Province.

A village headman in Phop Phra told The Irrawaddy that the policeman hangedhimself to escape action against him after he was linked to the killing of Karenmigrant job-seekers.

We heard that he was involved in the killing, he said.

Police have issued arrest warrants for another five people who are suspected of involvement in the killing, according to the Bangkok Post .

Provincial Police Bureau 6 chief Surasi Sunthornsarathoon told the Bangkok Post onThursday that the officer had admitted to killing the Burmese workers while in thecompany of five hilltribe men. The five hilltribe men were former Haw Chinesesoldiers and an ethnic Lisu named Sai, Yozu, Laota, Epu, Zotu and Fofang, the reportsaid.

Pingkaew and his five accomplices had allegedly tried to extort money from theillegal migrant workers, who ran away when they saw the group approaching,Sunthornsarathoon said.

One local source in Phop Phra told The Irrawaddy that the gunmen demanded 1,000baht (US $33) from each member of the group, but they killed nine of the migrantswhen they had difficulty raising the money.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17741

************************************************************* NEWS ON REFUGEES************************************************************* Forced Repatriation of Karen Refugees to StartBy SIMON ROUGHNEEN Thursday, February 4, 2010

Thai authorities will start deporting 3,000 Karen refugees living in Tha Song Yangcamp back to Burma on Friday.

Karen Women's Organization (KWO) spokesperson Blooming Night Zan said that 35families comprised of 165 people will be the first to be repatriated, speaking at a pressconference in Bangkok on Thursday.

This is despite pleas from the refugees and from more than 70 Thai and Thai-basedBurmese NGOs that the group be allowed to stay in Thailand.


4/28

The refugees fled fighting in Burma between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army(DKBA) and the Karen National Union (KNU) in June 2009, and now fear for theirsafety if they return to their homes in a heavily mined area still occupied by theDKBA. The DKBA is an ally of the Burmese army.

All 3,000 refugees are to be sent back to Burma by Feb. 15, according to SurapongKongchantuk, the vice-chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee on Ethnic Minorities,the Stateless, Migrant Workers and Displaced Persons of the Lawyers Council of Thailand.

Surapong said that repatriation should be suspended until landmines are cleared fromthe refugees' region of origin, and until the refugees are willing to go back voluntarily.

UNHCR spokesperson Kitty McKinsey told The Irrawaddy: We met the Thaiauthorities on Jan. 28 to discuss this issue, and we reached an agreement with themthat no forced repatriation would take place. She said that the UNCHR expects theThai authorities to honour that agreement.

Blooming Night Zan said that this is the second time the Thai military has sought tosend the refugees back to Burma, despite the fact that landmines are a real dangerand there is no indication that these are clear.

Five refugees from the area have either been killed or injured by landmines whenslipping back into Burma to see to livestock left behind when fleeing. One woman,eight months pregnant, had her foot blown apart on Jan. 18, according to a recentKWO statement.

UNCHR spokesperson McKinsey told The Irrawaddy that officials talk to therefugees all the time, and they are very nervous about going back home. "All refugeereturns to Myanmar [Burma] must be voluntary. In our interviews with the refugees,none expressed any desire to return home."

Some of the refugees were already displaced from their homes in Burma, prior tofleeing to Thailand. About 1,200 came from Ler Per Her IDP camp, just inside KarenState, on the Thailand-Burma border. Christian Solidarity Worldwide says it hasvisited this camp many times in the past and that its sources say that it is now riddledwith landmines and under the control of the DKBA.

In an open letter to the Thai prime minister, the chairperson of the National SecurityCouncil, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, thesignatories, numbering more than 70 NGOs, urged the Thai authorities to suspendany action to push the refugees back, pending genuine participatory and openinvestigation led by authorities and the UNHCR.

The letter stated that the Thai military insists that safeguards have been put in placeto ensure safety of returned refugees in compliance with international standards.When asked by The Irrawaddy what specific safeguards were discussed, Friends of Burma representatives at Friday's press conference said that the Thai military had not

outlined the safeguards in any detail.


5/28

Surapong said that the Thai military told representatives lobbying for the refugees thatit would assist in landmine clearance in the affected region, if it was granted access bythe relevant bodies inside Burma.

The letter will be given to the Thai premier on Friday. However, Surapong told The

Irrawaddy that this issue is more to do with the army than the government. He said,In principle, the government can decide what to do with this case, but in reality, itseems the army has more power.

Thai army chief Gen Anupong will be in the US until Feb. 15, which is the deadlinefor all the Karen refugees to be returned to Thailand.

Asked by The Irrawaddy if international intervention could make any difference onthis issue, Surapong said that he at least hopes that Thais living in the US could raisethis issue as soon as possible.

The Burmese military has a long history of scorched earth campaigns in ethnicminority regions, part of its 4 cuts strategy to defeat ethnic minority armies such asthe KNU. The Burmese army has also cleared villages and farmlands to facilitatenatural resource extraction and transportation. A Harvard University study last yearsaid that the scale of destruction and displacement ranked alongside that carried out inSudan's Darfur region. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was scheduled to ruleon Thursday on whether the Sudanese regime carried out a genocide in that region.

Benedict Rogers, the East Asia Team Leader at CSW, in a press statement issued onWednesday said: There is a severe risk that if they return, the Karen refugees will besubjected to severe human rights violations, including forced labour and rape bysoldiers of the Burma Army. This is an urgent situation which requires immediateinternational attention.

Thailand could find itself again in the international spotlight, if the repatriation goesahead. This latest episode follows the recent deportation of around 4,000 Hmongrefugees back to Laos, despite international pleas for the Hmong to be allowed to stayin Thailand.

Thailand has sent 100 tons of rice to Haiti, to help feed the 2-3 million affected by thedisaster there.

It is only right that Thailand is sending relief to Haiti after the earthquake there, butthere are refugees in Thailand who have nothing, who need help as well, Surapongsaid.

Thailand hosts more than 150,000 Burmese refugees, mainly in camps along thenorthern Thai border with Burma. An estimated 2 to 3 million more Burmese work inThailand, mostly illegally.

Zoya Phan, International Coordinator fot the Burma Campaign UK, said: Over thepast 25 years Thailand has earned the respect of the international community bygiving shelter to refugees fleeing abuses in Burma. If refugees are now forced to


6/28

return it will not only be morally unacceptable, it will also damage the reputation of Thailand in the eyes of the world.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17743&page=2

************************************************************* Thai army threatens to push Karen refugees back to MyanmarFeb 4, 2010, 9:08 GMT

Bangkok - Thai civil society and human rights groups on Thursday urged thegovernment to prevent the army from forcing 1,700 refugees from the Karen ethnicminority back into neighbouring Myanmar in an area known to be strewn withlandmines.

The army has threatened on Friday to start repatriating the refugees who have beenliving in temporary camps in the Tha Song Yang district on the Thai-Myanmar bordersince June after fleeing fighting in Myanmar.

The army wants all the refugees off Thai soil by February 15.

The Karen are an ethnic minority people indigenous to eastern Myanmar. Rebels inthe Karen National Union have been fighting Myanmar's central governments forautonomy for Karen State since 1949, making it one of the world's oldest insurgencies.

'As representatives from civil society, academics, students, activists, NGOs, artistsand the Thai public, we are very concerned about the potential impact and grave

consequences of such repatriation done in haste,' said a letter written to Thai PrimeMinster Abhisit Vejjajiva and signed by 35 Thai organizations.

The protest letter noted that the area where the Karen are to be forced back is knownto be peppered with landmines that have killed or maimed five Karen refugees inrecent months.

'These people were fleeing fighting in their country and are willing to go back as soonas it is peaceful there,' said Surpoong Kongchantuk, vice chairman of the LawyersCouncil of Thailand, one of the signatories to the protest letter.

Surapong said that if the Thai prime minster did not prevent the pushback, which hesaid would violate international law, it would demonstrate he has no control over theThai military.

Thailand recently faced criticism for another repatriation. On December 28, thegovernment forcibly sent back 4,500 ethnic Hmong who had been living in detentioncentres in north-eastern Thailand for more than four years to communist Laos, itneighbour to the north.

Hmong hill-tribes were recruited as a guerrilla force by the US military in its so-called'secret war' against communism in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s. The US lost, and theHmong were persecuted and hunted down after Laos went communist in 1975.


7/28

About 100,000 fled to neighbouring Thailand, from which they sought resettlement inthe US and other Western countries.

Read more:http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1530911.php/Thai-

army-threatens-to-push-Karen-refugees-back-to-Myanmar#ixzz0eYr59oNt

************************************************************* Thailand Must Not Repatriate Karen RefugeesEDITORIAL, Thursday, February 4, 2010

Tomorrow Thailand will start its repatriation of more than 3,000 Karen refugees whoare staying in Tha Song Yang in Tak Province. The refugees, including many womenand children, entered the country last June to seek safety after weeks of heavy fightingbetween a joint force of Burmese government troops and their local allies, theDemocratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and their traditional foe, the KarenNational Liberation Army (KNLA), in Karen State.

This is the second largest repatriation of refugees from Thailand ever, and comes justmonths after the Thai government decided to send thousands of ethnic Hmongasylum-seekers back to Laos despite international objections.

These developments are doing nothing to improve Thailand's already tarnishedreputation. According to a survey by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants,Thailand is one of the world's worst places to be a refugee. This scathing assessmentis due in part to reports early last year that the Thai Navy had pushed Rohingya boat

people out into the open sea with little food or water to prevent them from comingashore.

For the Karen, the situation is hardly any better. Under current Thai policy, displacedKaren fleeing from conflict are permitted to stay only temporarily. When the fightingstops, they are expected to go back. According to the Thai authorities, the DKBA andsome KNLA leaders have assured them that hostilities have ceased in the area that the3,000 Karen fled from last year. And so they must return.

However, the refugees themselves are well aware of how precarious any semblance of peace can be in their homeland. This is why they don't want to go back, and why

groups such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the ThailandBurma Border Consortium and the Karen Women's Organization say they should beallowed to stay. They are all urgently appealing to the Thai government not toforcibly push the refugees across the border into a heavily mined conflict zone.

Thailand should also remember that conflict in eastern Burma is about more than justarmed combat. Many of those who fled were seeking to escape forced armyrecruitment and forced labor by the DKBA, carried out partly in order to reinforcetroop levels in preparation for its transformation into a border guard force battalionunder Burmese military command.

The offensives in Karen State last year appeared to be part of an effort by theBurmese regime to force ethnic cease-fire groups to accede to its border force plan or


8/28

face military action. In August, the junta launched an attack against another ethnicarmy in the Kokang region of Shan State. That fighting sent 37,000 refugees fleeingto China. Thailand should also be concerned about the implications of this newoffensive, as many other armed cease-fire groups hold territory bordering Thailand.

Meanwhile, Burmese regime forces are reported to be preparing to take more KNLAterritory in the coming months. Border-based sources say that there has been abuildup of Burmese army battalions in the area the refugees will be repatriated to.This will allow the regime's DKBA allies to control more of the border area and tradewith Thailand once they become a border guard forcea development that could alsoresult in thousands of new refugees seeking shelter in Thailand.

For the refugees who are already here, there is no desire to return to a life of fleeingconflict and massive human rights violations. All they want is to remain in a countrywhere they are safe. To Thailand's credit, it has already sheltered hundreds of thousands of refugees from Burma over the past 25 years. But this is not the time tostart taking a tougher line with refugees. Until Burma is finally free of civil war,Thailand should be prepared to continue helping those who have suffered most in thisdeadly, decades-old conflict.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=17744

************************************************************* US Legislators Urge Thai PM to Halt Karen Refugee RepatriationBy LALIT K JHA Thursday, February 4, 2010

WASHINGTON Twenty nine US congressmen and women, including thechairman of the powerful House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs,have issued an eleventh-hour appeal to Thailand's prime minister to halt plans torepatriate some 3,000 Karen refugees.

The first party of refugees was due to be sent back to Burma on Friday, despiteappeals by human rights groups and non-governmental organizations. The refugeesfled fighting between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the Karen NationalLiberation Army in June 2009.

In their appeal to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the US legislators said: We

urgently request that you halt the repatriation of refugees back to Burmas conflictzone and continue to offer them protection in Thailand.

They also warned the Thai premier: Historically, Thailand has developed areputation as a country that provides refuge to those fleeing serious persecution, butactions like this will undermine and tarnish this reputation.

Among the signatories of the letter are Howard Berman, chairman of the HouseCommittee on Foreign Affairs, Ileane Ros-Lehtinen, ranking member of thecommittee, James P McGovern and Frank Wolf, co-chairmen of the Tom LantosHuman Rights Commission.


9/28

In their letter, the group said: The United States understands the burden placed onThailand and has helped resettle tens of thousands of Burmese refugees from Thailandover the last four years. If forced to return, the refugees would suffer horrific humanrights abuses, they warned.

They will undoubtedly be subject to forced labor, executions, torture and mutilations,forced recruitment as soldiers, including child soldiers, and theft and extortion,making their survival very difficult.

More than half the refugees facing repatriation were women and children, who willlive in fear of rape and sexual violence, the US group said.


************************************************************* Door now ajar for Burmese refugeesTHE ASAHI SHIMBUN2010/02/04

MAE SOT, Thailand--Justice Ministry officials from Tokyo began interviewingasylum-seekers from Myanmar (Burma) on Tuesday about possible resettlement inJapan, a move that many people say is long overdue.

At the Mae La camp near Mae Sot, about 400 kilometers northwest of Bangkok,Japanese officials met with several Burmese families who are seeking refugee status.

Tokyo plans to accept, on a trial basis, 30 Burmese refugees in fiscal 2010, part of 90in total to be accepted by fiscal 2012.

Japan's acceptance of asylum-seekers in what is called a third-country resettlement isthe first such move among Asian nations. However, other developed nations havealready accepted tens of thousands of such refugees in the same way.

Third-country resettlement is often seen as the last resort for refugees who are unableto settle in the country where they first sought refuge. Many face continuedpersecution or other risks if they are repatriated.

Japan has long been criticized for its reluctance to accept refugees, particularly thosewho directly seek asylum upon arrival in Japan. The resettlement program is seen as achance to show a proactive stance.

"The situation is completely different from the past," said one senior Foreign Ministryofficial.

At present, nine refugee camps exist in northwestern Thailand, which bordersMyanmar. Roughly 150,000 people are in the camps, with 50,000 concentrated atMae La.

Given the prolonged stays of many people in the camp, concerns have been raisedabout their living conditions.


10/28

Tokyo officials began studying the possible third country resettlement of Myanmarrefugees in 2007. This was after 15 countries, including several in Europe, along withthe United States and Canada, introduced resettlement programs in 2006.

According to statistics from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, betweenOctober 2007 and the end of September 2008, the United States had resettled 60,192refugees from around the world. Australia took in 11,006 in 2008, and Canada 10,804in the same year.

New Zealand and Britain accepted 741 and 722 refugees, respectively, in 2008.

According to Yoshimi Saita, head of the UNHCR Mae Sot field office, manyBurmese refugees appeared reluctant to accept Tokyo's offer.

Saita said that was "likely because it was the first time."

Many refugees say they have qualms about leaving for a country so far from theirhomeland. Those who were willing to travel a great distance have already gone to theUnited States.

One woman in her late 40s confided, "Being able to live in a camp where there are nosecurity concerns is enough. Besides, I have little education. I don't think I could livein a foreign country."

One camp supervisor said rumors that Japan is "a dangerous country where disasterscaused by earthquakes and volcanoes are frequent" have dampened interest inresettling there.

Some who showed interest in coming to Japan were denied, however, due to Japan'sstrict requirements. Tokyo asked the UNHCR to list only young families withchildren and with no criminal record.

Meanwhile, other concerns remain both for the refugees and for the government.

Justice Ministry officials who visited the camp last November were shocked to learnthat hundreds of refugees had, after receiving documents allowing them to enter the

United States, sold the papers to human traffickers.Such moves have Japanese officials worried.

"While we are only talking about 30 people (in the first phase)," said one official,adding, "We need to be very careful in selecting candidates, as any problems at thestart will have serious implications."

Japan still needs to bolster its programs to help refugees once they are in the country.

The resettled refugees are scheduled to receive just six months of training in Japanese

culture, social systems and language before moving on. Only one group, based inMatsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, apparently has agreed to help refugees to find jobs.


11/28

"There is no clear view of what the refugees will do after their six-month trainingperiod ends," said Hiroaki Ishii, acting secretary-general of the Tokyo-based nonprofitorganization Japan Association for Refugees.

"More serious discussion among local government, nongovernmental organizationsand citizens, incorporating the refugees themselves, is needed," he said.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201002030416.html

************************************************************* Thailand suspends Karen refugee returnFeb 5, 2010 (DVB)

A meeting is underway along the Thai-Burma border after Thailand yesterdaysuspended the forced return of some 3,000 Karen refugees back to Burma.

Aid groups had warned that the refugees, who fled fighting in Burmas eastern Karenstate last June, would be returning to similarly hostile conditions.

But the repatriation, which was due to start at 7 oclock this morning, has beensuspended and now talks are underway between the Thai army and representatives of the refugees in the town of Mae Salit, near to where the refugees had been staying.

Blooming Night, spokesperson for the Karen Womens Organisation (KWO), saidthat there was heavy privacy surrounding the meeting. The UN High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR), which is reportedly in attendance, has not responded torequests for details of the talks.

The Karen National Union (KNU)s Nant Bwa Bwa Phan warned however thatdespite the suspension, we still have to be alert as [Thai authorities] often changetheir mind.

The exact reason for the suspension is not yet clear, although it follows demands fromregional rights groups, as well as members of the international community, that anyrepatriation should be purely voluntary.

Yesterday, 27 US lawmakers wrote to the Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva,warning him that the refugees will suffer horrific human rights abuses upon theirreturn.

They will undoubtedly be subject to forced labor, executions, torture and mutilations,forced recruitment as soldiers, including child soldiers, and theft and extortion,making their survival very difficult, the letter said.

Karen state has hosted a 60-year conflict between the Karen National LiberationArmy (KNLA) and the Burmese junta, and the area remains heavily landmined.

Around 4000 refugees in total fled the fighting last June, during which Burmesetroops captured the strategically important KNLA 7th Brigade headquarters.


12/28

Troops then began shelling the Ler Per Har camp for internally displaced persons,claiming that it was sheltering KNLA soldiers, before taking full control of the camp.As more people fled the area, reports surfaced of widespread forced army recruitmentand extortion among those who remained.

http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=3280

************************************************************* Officials interviewing Myanmar asylum-seekersJuichiro Wakayama / Yomiuri Shimbun General Asian Bureau Chief, (Feb. 4,2010)

MAE SOT, Thailand--Officials from Japan's Justice Ministry on Wednesday beganinterviewing Myanmar asylum-seekers in Mae Sot, northern Thailand, to determine if they are eligible to resettle in Japan.

Three families comprising a total of 14 people, who are living in Mae La refugeecamp near Mae Sot, were interviewed.

This year marks the beginning of the government's third-country resettlementprogram under which it plans to accept some people who are deemed to be refugees.The program gives asylum-seekers a chance to make their case for resettlement inJapan.

Japan is the first nation in Asia to introduce a third-country resettlement program.

For a period of three years until fiscal 2012, the government plans to accept a total of 90 refugees, with the first 30 to arrive in autumn.The government aims to underscorethe point that Japan does not just provide funds but also makes an internationalcontribution on the ground.

According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, though 200families have been found to be suitable for resettlement under the conditions set bythe government, many had no desire to go to Japan. It is believed this is due to littleinformation being available about Japan as compared to European countries and theUnited States.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100204TDY03102.htm

************************************************************* Thai security agencies raid Karen Information CentreThursday, 04 February 2010 19:06 Kyaw Kha

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) A surprise raid was carried out by Thai police and soldierson Thailand border town Mae Sot based Karen Information Centre (KIC) thismorning.

About 20 Mae Sot based armed policemen and soldiers searched the news agencyoffice for over an hour starting 6 a.m. and took photographs.


13/28

There was no one in our office at the time. They entered and ransacked it, KICeditor Nan Phau Ge told Mizzima.

Before raiding and searching the news agency office, Thai security men entered and

searched the residence of Karen National Union (KNU) party leader DavidTharkapaw.

A family member present at the time said, The police searched both upstairs anddownstairs. They found nothing in our house and took photographs. They carriedservice revolvers. The KIC office was closed when they entered. So they forced openan upstairs window and three policemen entered the building, took out KICnewspapers and dropped them outside.

This is the first ever incident of the KIC office being searched and raided on suspicionof keeping drugs and arms, editor Nan Phau Ge said. KIC is a news agencydisseminating news related to Karen region and Karen people.

She also said that personnel in a Thai army truck took photographs of the KIC officeon February 2 at about 9 a.m. from the front. They searched the building with a searchwarrant today.

They came looking for arms and drugs. It was just an excuse, a KNU leader said.

Since the former Thai PM Thaksin assumed power, KNU leader Pado DavidTharkapaws house has been raided and searched thrice, including this time. Thaipolice and army personnel came and searched his house for the second time on 27October last year.

Following the assassination of KNU Secretary General Pado Man Sha in Mae Sot on14 February 2008, the homes of KNU leaders were searched. They were warned notto live inside Thailand.

On 27 October last year, Thai police and army personnel searched for arms and drugsin the homes of five top KNU leaders. They escorted the wife of Col. Nada Mya of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), Nan Hi Lar, to their office but she wasreleased later the same day.

Similarly the raiding team led by Tak Province Chief Col. Nonpathone, comprising of policemen, border guard force and peoples militia accounting for cover 100personnel searched the residences of KNU leaders in Naung Bwa village, Thar SaungYan Township on 4 November last year for illegal arms. But they found nothing.

After the Burmese PM assured his Thai counterpart of not allowing Thai oppositionforces on Burmese soil at the 15 th ASEAN meeting held in Thailand in October lastyear, a series of raid and search operations of KNU leaders homes followed.

http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/3484-thai-security-agencies-raid-karen-

information-centre.html


14/28

************************************************************* Police Warn Karen Journalists in Mae SotBy ALEX ELLGEE Thursday, February 4, 2010

MAE SOT/ThailandThai police raided the office of Karen journalists and the homeof David Takapaw, the vice chairman of the Karen Nation Union (KNU), in Mae Soton Thursday, and issued a warning that they do not want anyone planning attacks onBurmese government forces from Thailand.

About 20 policemen were involved in the early morning raids at David Takapaw'shouse and the Karen Information Centre (KIC), which is run by Karen journalists inMae Sot near the Thai-Burmese border.

Sources told The Irrawaddy that the police first entered the home of the KNU vicechairman, searching the house and taking photographs. David Takapaw, however, wasnot in his home at the time.

The policemen told his daughter that they were searching for drugs and weapons, andthat they didnt want anyone using Thai soil to plan military attacks, the sources said.

The Karen journalists at KIC said they now feel unsafe at their office in Mae Sotwhere members of the pro-Burmese junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)are active.

We dont feel safe anymore. It is very difficult for us working as media on the border.It is very easy for the DKBA and State Peace and Development Council [the Burmese

military government] to come to our office, said Nang Paw Gay, the editor anddirector of the KIC.

However, we will continue our role as journalists. We never oppose Thai law. We just publish the true information for people on the border, she said.

According to Nang Paw Gay, the Thai policemen smashed open a door during the raidand took photographs of all the equipment and hard copies of their newspaper. Staff reported that a USB stick from a laptop has gone missing.

After the raid, Thai intelligence officers arrived at the KIC office and requested an

interview with Nang Paw Gay, the sources said.

Staff said they noticed an army truck parked outside taking photos of the office twodays ago.

The KIC was founded 12 years ago in order to create an independent news outletproviding accurate information to Karen people along the border and inside KarenState via their online news Web site and newspaper.

The KNU is now under growing pressure from the Thai authorities. David Takapawshome was also searched in October. Karen leaders have said they feel unsafe living inMae Sot and some of them stay away from their homes for their own security.


15/28

In February 2008, Mahn Sha, the former general secretary of the KNU, was shot deadby two gunmen in his home in Mae Sot, an assassination most Karen sources said wasordered by Burmese authorities.

Karen sources on the border have reported that DKBA spies are now everywhere in

Mae Sot.


************************************************************* Thai police raid Karen housesFeb 5, 2010 (DVB)

The home of a senior Karen National Union politician and a neighbouring officebelonging a Karen media group in western Thailand were raided by police yesterday.

The editor of the Karen Information Committee (KIC), Nan Paw Ghay, said thatpolice and army had arrived yesterday morning at the house of David Thackabaw,KNU vice president, with a warrant for drugs, human trafficking and weapons sales.

General Thackabaw doesnt live there anymorethe officials took photos of thehouse, she said. It is the second time in four months that his house, in the bordertown of Mae Sot, has been raided.

Analysts in Mae Sot said the warrant was a pretext for heaping pressure on the KNU,after a pledge from the Thai government to Burma that it will not house opposition

groups on its soil.The KIC office next door had it gates locked, so they climbed up to our upstairswindow from General Thackabaws [connecting] balcony. They took data from ouroffice and also took photos of the office.

The KIC raid was similarly deemed a show of force against the KIC for reportingnews on the Thai governments plan to forcibly repatriate some 3000 Karen refugeesback to Burma.

The repatriation was however suspended this morning while talks take place between

the Thai army and representatives of the refugees. The plans had receivedinternational media attention, which may have triggered the suspension.

http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=3281

*************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

U U U U U U U U (((( sa Pichai) |sa Pichai) |sa Pichai) |sa Pichai) |


16/28

( ) U

Somchai Pinkaew U Surasri Sunthornsaratun

'' U U ''

U U

U U U U

U U

U

Surapong Kongjanteuk


17/28

U

''

''

U

U

( )

http://www.mizzimaburmese.com/news/regional/4725-2010-02-04-10-47-31.html

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** U U U U Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:50Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:50Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:50Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:50 U U U U

U U Surasi Sunthornsarathoon

U SomchaiPinkaew U U U

U

U Manager Online

-


18/28

U

http://www.irrawaddy.org/bur/index.php/news/1-news/2542-2010-02-04-09-52-15

*************************************************************

*************************************************************

||||

U

U Karen Refugee Committee - KRC U

-DKBA

U


19/28

U

KWO

KWO

( )

-KN DKBA

KN DKBA

Altsean Burma Debbi Stothard

KN

Altsean Burma


************************************************************* ---- Thursday, 04 February 2010 19:55Thursday, 04 February 2010 19:55Thursday, 04 February 2010 19:55Thursday, 04 February 2010 19:55 U U U U

Friends of Burma ( - )

Friends of Burma


20/28

(KWO) E

Friends of Burma NGO

DKBA

KN KNLA ( )

U

U

DKBA DKBA

DKBA KNLA ( )


21/28

Thanongsak Apirakyothin Thai News Agency


************************************************************* 04 February 201004 February 201004 February 201004 February 2010

,

U U

DKBA (KN ) U

U

, U

( NHCR)


22/28

U

U

,

http://www.voanews.com/burmese/2010-02-04-voa5.cfm

*************************************************************

2010-02-04


23/28


24/28

U E

U

U

U U

- -

(TBBC)

U U U


************************************************************* Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:45Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:45Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:45Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:45


25/28

(KN ) U (KIC)

KIC

E

KN

KN KN (KNLA)

( ) U


*************************************************************

( )

U


26/28

( )

http://www.kicnews.org/?p=1881

************************************************************* KNKNKNKN Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:1Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:1Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:1Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:15555

- KN U (KIC)

( ) U

( ) ( )

( ) (KIC)


27/28

(KIC)

U ( ) memory stick

http://www.yoma3.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=487:knu-&catid=41:2008-09-21-07-44-45&Itemid=124

*************************************************************

||||

( )

Karen Information

Center- KIC

U

U


28/28

KN U


*************************************************************

05feb10 ncgub: news on migrants & refugees- 5 feb, 2010 (english & burmese)

Documents