Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Sat, 5 Sep 1992 02:26:31 PDT
From:         Coban Tun <tun@QUARK.SFSU.EDU>
Subject:      Burma: Urgent Action from IGLHRC

/* Written 11:20 am  Aug 24, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:reg.seasia */
/* ---------- "URGENT ACTION: BURMA" ---------- */
From: News Desk <newsdesk>
Subject: URGENT ACTION: BURMA

/* Written 10:00 pm  Aug 20, 1992 by jbinder in cdp:queerplanet */
/* ---------- "URGENT ACTION: BURMA" ---------- */
URGENT ACTION ALERT
From The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)
540 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA  94114
phone: (415) 255 86 80
fax: (415) 255 86 62
email: jbinder@igc.org

August 18, 1992   Contact: Donna Rae Palmer or Julie Dorf, International Gay &
Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

HIV+ Burmese Women In Thailand
Seek Safe Return Home

On June 9th, 1992, approximately 45 Burmese women were seized from brothels in
Ranong province in Thailand and transferred to various detention centers in
Bangkok where their fate is being negotiated between Thai authorities and
Burmese embassy staff.   Some of the women, including three who were between
the ages of 14 and 21, were found to be HIV+.  Interviews with the young women
revealed that the girls had been lured from their border villages by Thai
nationals and were then forced to live and work as prostitutes in practically
prison-like conditions within Thailand.  Severe human rights violations have
been reported including rapes, torture, beatings, and food deprivation.

Many of the women indicated that they wished to return to their villages and to
be re-united with their families, but fear for their lives at the hand of the
Burmese military regime.  In April, it was reported that 25 HIV+ women
repatriated from Thailand were injected with cyanide by members of the
internationally despised military regime which currently holds state power in
Burma, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).   A variety of
reliable sources from within Thailand and Burma have suggested that this
atrocity was not an isolated incident.

Public attention to the April atrocities led Thai authorities to declare that
they would not repatriate any more HIV+ Burmese citizens.  However, the Bangkok
Post reported on July 31, 1992 that the Burmese Ambassador to Thailand met with
Thailand's Prime Minister's Office officials to discuss the return home of the
Burmese women.  According to the article, Minister Saisuree Chutikul told press
that the Burmese women will be sent home to Burma and that the Burmese
government will look after their safety.

\"Given the recent cyanide injections and the deplorable human rights record of
the SLORC in general,  it is simply not enough to trust in the "assurances" of
this notorious military regime," responded Donna Rae Palmer, Asia Regional
Coordinator of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC), "The Thai government should not repatriate any HIV-positive
individuals without reasonable and responsible assurances that monitoring by
international observers is absolutely ensured".

An August 10, 1992 statement released to Asia Watch further attests to the
precarious situation of Burmese women in the brothels of Ranong.   Interviews
revealed that some Burmese women "who were assumed to have AIDS" were removed
from the area and have since "disappeared".  They quoted as well a Thai
government research report from December 1991 which found that nearly 50% of
200 women from Ranong brothels tested positive for HIV.  Almost 75% of these
women were Burmese nationals.  Finally, they noted that as economic conditions
in Burma continue to deteriorate at the hands of the SLORC, increasing numbers
of Burmese women and children are finding themselves in this dire situation and
impending dilemma regarding their future.


Help Burmese Women Go Home

	Burmese women currently in Thailand wish to return to their villages
and to be re-united with their families but they fear for their lives at the
hand of the Burmese military regime.  An unknown number of women have already
been repatriated to Burma. In April, it was reported that several HIV+ women
repatriated from Thailand were injected with cyanide by members of the
internationally despised military regime which currently holds state power in
Burma (Myanmar), the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
	Given the political situation, the deteriorating economic conditions of
the country since 1988 when the military regime took power, and the human
rights record of the SLORC, the returning women's "safety" is anything but
assured. Furthermore, given that HIV tests are being performed on the Burmese
women in Thailand, most of whom are involuntary participants in the illegal
sex-trade within that country, a request that officials of the government of
Thailand make public to international human rights organizations their policy
on mandatory testing of foreign nationals appears reasonable.  And in
particular, a public explanation of their future plans to ensure that Burmese
nationals found to be HIV+ within Thailand are not repatriated to their home
country without reasonable and responsible assurances that both their lives and
the status of their health will be monitored by international observers is
absolutely essential.
	The SLORC must end its massive build-up of its military and discontinue
its use of this military apparatus against its own citizens, release all
political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, rescind repressive decrees
and negotiate an end to the fighting with the Democratic Alliance of Burma, the
umbrella organization of the minorities, students and Buddhist monks in revolt
against military rule, and it must immediately allow for the long-term presence
of international monitoring agencies and non-governmental organizations to
ensure the safety and well-being of all refugees, and all HIV+ Burmese
citizens, whether they are currently within Burma, or in Thailand awaiting a
highly uncertain future.

In order to ensure the safety and well-being of these women, the International
Lesbian & Gay Human Rights Commission is calling for urgent international
protest directed at the following officials: (write or FAX)

Governor of Ranong
Suchart Thmongkol
Sala Klang
Ranong 85000 THAILAND

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pong Thon Adireksan
Saranromya Palace
Bangkok 10200 THAILAND
FAX 662-224-7095
Telex 84791-IMFODET-TH


Thaung, Ambassador and
Mr. U Ohn Gyaw, Minister of
Foreign Affairs
Embassy of Myanmar
2300 RSS Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
FAX (202) 332-9046

Ministry of the Interior
Asdang Road
Bangkok 10200 THAILAND
FAX 662-224-6191 & 662-223-2215

His Royal Highness
Bhumibol Abuly Adej
The Grand Palace
Na Phran Lan Road
Bangkok 10200 THAILAND

Kyaw Min, Ambassador to the U.N., Myanmar
10 East 77th Street
New York, NY 10021
FAX (210 737-2421

Demand an end to the inhumane treatment of these women by both the Burmese and
Thai governments.  Demand the end to murder, incarceration and torture of
people returning to their homes in Burma. Remind the Thai authorities that they
have gone on record agreeing to not repatriate the Burmese HIV+ people into the
hands of the SLORC.  Demand an end to the exploitation of children and women
and men forced into the sex industry.  Demand HIV prevention programs and
adequate and accessible health care for all, including refugees from Burma.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU