CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY WORLDWIDE For immediate release March 28 2002

Burma: Life without Sanctuary

Over 4,000 people have fled following attacks by the Burmese army on internally displaced settlements in Karen State this month. The attacks have taken place in Papun and Nyaunglebin, two northern districts of the state.

Six light infantry battalions and one regular infantry battalion attacked the area from three directions. They burned 11 villages, destroyed numerous paddy fields and rice barns, looted properties, killed two villagers and planted landmines extensively throughout the area.

The 4,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have now fled deep into the jungle inside Burma. As this new offensive has stopped the planting of new crops and destroyed most of the remaining harvest, they are in desperate need of food and medicines. Many are living in daily fear of attack from the Burmese army. Some have been in hiding from the junta for almost six years.

This is the second offensive this year. Many of the villages under fire had just been rebuilt after they were destroyed by the military between November 2001 and January this year. A total of 30 villages have been torched in the past four months.

During the first wave of attacks, the military looted and burnt 18 villages. In the process six people were killed, three were tortured and 3,000 were left homeless. In one village, the entire population of 703 people was forcibly relocated. Others were forced to act as army porters and human minesweepers.

News of these recent attacks comes at the same time as a decision by the Thai government to repatriate 6,778 refugees, from Mae La camp on the Thai border to Myawidy Welcome Camp inside Burma, at the beginning of April 2002.

The Thai authorities claim that the refugees had entered the camp illegally,

without proper registration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Thailand has been a safe haven for over 120,000 Burmese refugees and close to 400,000 illegal immigrants from Burma. Most of them are from the ethnic minorities, pre-dominantly the Karen, Shan and Karenni.

Last October, the Thai government disregarded the recommendations of the UNHCR and forcibly returned 63 Karen refugees across the border. Within a month, the settlement these refugees took shelter in was raided by the Burmese army. Fifteen Karen villagers were arrested, some were interrogated and others were forced to act as porters in extremely harsh conditions.

International human rights groups denounced the incident as a clear case of refoulement by the Thai authorities.

Mary On, a former Chairman of the Karen Refugee Committee, has been a refugee since 1984. She believes that in seeking better economic relations with Burma, the Thai government will be keen to repatriate all Karen refugees to Burma.

"This should not be allowed to happen until there is a real peace in Burma. If there is genuine peace today, we will go back tonight, we will not wait until tomorrow," she said. "But for the time being there is no security."

Burma's government regularly denounces these refugees as family members of anti-Rangoon insurgent groups and is reluctant to accept them back to Burma. Thus, many refugees believe that the junta will only make an insincere offer of peace.

CSW's Stuart Windsor said, "We are extremely concerned that forced repatriation may lead to persecution of those who return. Thailand has shown tremendous compassion in giving shelter to hundreds of thousands who have fled for their lives across the border. We hope she will continue to show mercy and allow the refugees to remain on Thai soil in accordance with international laws until there is permanent and guaranteed security for them in Burma."

"The already precarious conditions of the 400,000 - 500,000 IDPs trapped in the jungle of Burma are deteriorating by the day. They are constantly hunted down and slaughtered like animals by the junta. One wonders how many more lives have to be sacrificed before the international community will speak out against these injustice?"

For more information, visit reports, photos, local project details and crayon drawings done by children showing the traumatic effects of persecution, please contact Richard Chilvers at Christian Solidarity Worldwide , or visit CSW website at http://www.csw.org.uk.