MAE SOT — Almost 5,000 Refugees, who fled the June offensive in eastern Pa’an District in Karen State by the Burmese government forces and their allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), are remaining in Thailand to avoid the continued abuse of villagers in the area.
According to a report released on Tuesday by the Thailand-based Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), “exploitive abuse” remains rampant despite the fighting dramatically lessening.
A major concern for the newly arrived refugees in Tha Song Yang, Thailand, is the continued conscription of porters and soldiers by the government troops and the DKBA.
According to the report, the joint force demands villages provide them with porters for “carrying supplies including rations and ammunition, as well as to walk in front of military columns where they serve as human minesweepers.”
"I dare not go [back to Karen State] because the villagers … are afraid of serving as porters. In the past, I used to serve as an SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] porter. I had to carry rations and ammunition...” one villager was quoted as saying in the report.
Another factor deterring the villagers from returning home is the continued use of landmines by both the joint government-DKBA forces and their foe, the rebel Karen Liberation National Army. Since the fall of Brigade 7, KNLA soldiers “continue to make brief hit-and-run attacks,” placing landmines outside of camps, said the report.
DKBA troops also continue to place landmines around camps and in abandoned villages, creating a labyrinth of unmarked mines, making it very risky for villagers to traverse the area.
“Landmines continue to be one of biggest dangers for returning refugees,” said Saw Poe Shan, the field coordinator for the KHRG. “Both sides are continuing to use them in unmarked places.
If refugees go back to their villages they are running the risk of detonating the mines as they return or work on their farms.”
The treatment of villagers returning to Karen State from Thailand has been a concern for the refugees in Thailand who want to return to their homes.
In July, a villager was called by friends who had remained in Pa’an who warned him not to return because DKBA Commander Bper Gkay had ordered his soldiers to arrest any returning villagers and assume they were in cooperation with the KNLA.
On August 27, a village headman was executed after crossing over the Moei River for one day, apparently confirming DKBA suspicions of villagers who go to Thailand. However, it was reported that he had traveled across the border to borrow money for his bean plantation.
One villager told KHRG how accusations were completely unfounded because the village headman didn’t know or have any connections with the KNLA. He had been appointed by the ruling SPDC and not the village and “always did his work well, because he followed what was ordered by both the SPDC and DKBA.”
“This is one of many cases where the DKBA have severely punished villagers who they suspect of working for the KNLA,” explained Saw Poe Shan. “This is a danger for all the refugees who return from the refugee camps in Thailand.”
KHRG researchers report that 4,862 refugees remain in new arrival sites at Noh Boe, Oo Thu Hta and Mae Tree villages in Thailand's Tha Song Yang District in Tak Province. Of this total, 2,145 refugees are children under 12 years old.
Despite rumors that the Thai authorities would be repatriating the refugees they have since agreed in July that everyone can remain until after rainy season.
The report indicates that the end of rainy season will bring many problems to the refugees if they return to their villages and any discussion of repatriation “should not only include Thai authorities and international aid agencies but, most importantly, the refugees themselves.”
KHRG also claims to have obtained a copy of the minutes of a meeting between DKBA officers which details how the transformation of the proxy militia into a border guard force will entail conscription of an extra 3,000 soldiers to a total of 9,000.
irrawaddy
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