Thai Senator meets Shan Refugees

Mr Kraisak Choonhaven, Chairman of Senate Affairs Committee, who was on a visit in Maehongson was welcomed by Shan refugees in Nampiangdin, Pang Mapha district on 4 July.

He was accompanied by Maj-Gen Manas Paorik, Deputy Commander of the Third Army. According to S.H.A.N. source, who recently returned from the border, Mawn Hseng, the Shan representative of the 1,819 refugees at Loi Taileng, just across from Nampiangdin, had presented a 5-pointed appeal:

• A refugee camp inside Thai territory
• Protection for refugee
• Education for children
• A health treatment center
• Access to basic needs

The meeting took place a month after 200 refugees in Nampiangdin were removed across the border to Loi Taileng on the orders issued by the Third Army on 19 May.

Loi Teileng, the main base of the Shan State Army 'South', has been under siege by the pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army since March. There were reports of 120-mm shells falling inside the Internally Displaced Persons village during the fierce fighting at took place in April.

Ms Tuenjai Deetes, Senator, Chiangrai, in the meanwhile, has spoken against the ejection of the Shan refugees on humanitarian grounds, according to Phu Jad Karn Online.

Related report: Shan move out, 7 June 2005