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Thailand Begins Forcibly Repatriating Karen Refugees

By Burma Partnership  •  February 5, 2010

We have heard that 3 families of Karen refugees have been sent back to Burma today, despite promises from the Thai military that all the refugees would be safe. The families were staying in temporary camps at Nong Bua (also called No Bu) and Mae U Su, in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province, Thailand, with more than 3,000 other refugees who had fled fighting in Burma’s Karen State. Plans remain in place to send all of the remaining Karen refugees in the area.

While Thai authorities have repeatedly claimed that they would not force people to return, only one family out of the more than 3,000 refugees has volunteered to go back. Villagers are extremely fearful of being forcibly returned to an armed conflict area where fighting could break out at anytime. Civilians will also be at great risk from landmines and human rights violations at the hands of the SPDC’s army and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), as well as food shortages. For more information on the situation, please read Burma Campaign UK’s background briefing.

Civil society groups remain extremely concerned about the safety of these refugees. Urgent appeals from the Karen Women’s Organization, Karen National Union, and many other civil society organizations have so far fallen on deaf ears. Friends of Burma have collected signatures from over 75 Thai and Burma organizations on an open letter that will be delivered to Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calling for a stop to the repatriations. Twenty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives have also written an open letter to the Prime Minister.

With the possibility of more refugees being repatriated at any time, the international community must take urgent measures and appeal to the Thai government to halt further repatriations.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will post timely updates.

Tags: Burma Partnership, Karen, Refugees, Weekly Highlights

This post is in: Blog

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