Thailand Seeks to Return Myanmar Minorities Who Fled
Bloomberg November 8, 2010 04:00 AM Copyright Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Thai authorities are in talks with Myanmar to return 15,000 ethnic minorities who fled fighting along the border that broke out after the Nov. 7 election, according to Samard Loyfar, governor of Thailand's Tak province.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, one of more than 30 ethnic armies based inside Myanmar, retreated after storming the border crossing of Myawaddy following the country's first vote in 20 years, he said. The thousands who fled Myanmar yesterday took refuge in temporary camps set up by Thailand's military.
"We are coordinating with Myawaddy provincial officials to send the people back to Myanmar," Samard said by phone today. "The DKBA has retreated and the fighting is now over."
Ethnic unrest may complicate Myanmar's attempts to set up its first multiparty parliament since 1962 after a vote criticized for excluding Aung San Suu Kyi and about 2,100 other political prisoners. Rival military factions are vying to control the legislature and nominees for a new president to ensure the ruling generals maintain their grip on power as 22 years of direct army rule comes to an end.
Thai intelligence officers confirmed that the rebel group left the area, and no more gunfire has been heard since a 15- minute clash early this morning, Samard said. Tak, Thailand's fourth-largest province by area, sits adjacent to Myawaddy.
The temporary camps in Thailand filled up last night as more than two-thirds of Myawaddy residents fled, said Khin Ohmar, coordinator of the Burma Partnership, an umbrella organization of civil-society groups. Local residents, migrant workers and Myanmar pro-democracy activists who live in the area brought them food and blankets, she said.
'No Toilets'
"Everyone was sitting on the ground and I'm not sure they had space to lie down and sleep," said Khin Ohmar, who lives on the Thai side of the border in Mae Sot and visited the camps last night. "There were no facilities, no toilets, nothing."
Thailand tightened security along the border and anticipates more attacks until the new government is set up, a process that could take three months, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters yesterday. All those who flee will be treated humanely, he said.
The DKBA brigade is among ethnic armies resisting government efforts to turn them into border guards, as mandated by the 2008 constitution under which the elections were held. About a third of the country's 55 million people are ethnic minorities, who occupy roughly half of total land area, according to the International Crisis Group.
'Preparing for War'
"The ethnic armies are not happy with the election process," Aung Zaw, who helped lead a 1988 student revolt and runs the online magazine The Irrawaddy from his exile base in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. Both the government and the armies "are preparing for war instead of peace," he said.
Several dozen ethnic-based political parties joined yesterday's election, which was condemned by the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., Japan, the Philippines and the United Nations. The elections "were neither free nor fair," President Barack Obama said on Nov. 7.
China, India and Thailand are investing in ports, railways and oil and gas pipelines that give them access to Myanmar's natural resources and trade routes to the Indian Ocean.
Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's biggest construction company, signed an $8.6 billion contract on Nov. 4 with Myanmar to build a deep-water port and industrial park. Earlier this year, China National Petroleum Corp. started building oil and gas pipelines across the country.
Early Results
Early returns showed that the National Democratic Force, the main pro-democracy party created by former Suu Kyi colleagues, may win almost half the 37 seats in the city of Yangon, the country's former capital, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported, citing initial vote tallies. Pro-military parties were set to win the most votes overall, it said.
Suu Kyi, 65, may be released on Nov. 13 and will visit supporters around the country "as soon as possible" if she's freed, Win Tin, a senior member of her party, said on Nov. 7 by phone from Yangon. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, with her latest house arrest starting in 2003.
The military will retain a quarter of the seats in the two houses of parliament, according to the constitution. Elected lawmakers in both houses will be able to nominate a presidential candidate to compete against the contender picked by military- appointed legislators.
The elections were held in "conditions that were insufficiently inclusive, participatory and transparent," the United Nations said in a statement yesterday.
