International Kampucheans stream over border as new battle rages

Press, 31 October 1979, Page 8

International Kampucheans stream over border as new battle rages

NZ PA-Reuter Bangkok

Bangkok

About 5000 more Kampucheans have crossed into south-eastern Thailand, apparently fleeing increased fighting across the border, a Thai Supreme Command spokesman has said.

They crossed into the border village of Ban Laem, about 300 km south-east of Bangkok, opposite areas still under the control of Khmer Rouge forces loval to the ousted Prime Minister, Pol Pot.

According to the spokesman. a report received from Ban Laem said the sound of artillery and mortars could be clearly heard yesterday from the small border village. . This indicated that fighting between Vietnamese-led forces of the Phnom Penh administration and the Khmer Rouge was going on around the western Kampuchean gem-mining town of Pailin. about 16km from the border. The Thai authorities were unsure how long the group of 5000 would stay in Thai territory. They might return across the border if the pressure eased, the spokesman said. Military sources at Ban Laem recently estimated that some 14,000 Pol Pot guerrillas were facing the Viet-namese-led side across the border from the two southeastern Thai provinces of Chantaburi and Trat.

The Supreme Command spokesman said Thai soldiers in border areas further north

continued hearing the sound of artillery and mortar from inside Kampuchea.

These areas are north of the eastern border town of Aranyaprathet, and are opposite some sites under control of Khmer Serei groups, opposed to both main sides in the Kampuchean conflict.

He said it seemed the Vietnamese were concentrating their operations in areas opposite Thailand’s Taphraya district, and had their headquarters at Thmor Pork, about 20km from the border.

In Bangkok, a special United Nations refugee mission has given Thailand a million dollars to help meet the needs of Kampucheans who have recently fled to I Thailand. The cheque was handed over when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees mission had i talks with the Prime Minis'ter (General Kriangsak Chamanan) and other senior Thai officials.

They discussed all aspects of ‘‘the new situation created by the arrival of vast numbers of people from Kampuchea,” U.N.H.C.R. officials have said. Estimates of the number of new arrivals vary from

$O,OOO to over 170.000, but the issue is clouded by the (fact that several huge settlements of Kampucheans have sprung up along the ill-de-fined Thai-Kampuchean border in the last few months. In some cases there is debate about whether they are actually in Kampuchea or Thailand.

: At least 30.000 KampitIcheans chose last week to return to their war-ravaged homeland rather than be moved away from the border to a refugee “holding centre” at Sa Kaeo. about 60km from the frontier U.N.H.C.R. officials said the head of the special six-mem-ber mission. Mr Zia Rizvi, had transmitted an assurance by the High Commissioner (Mr Poul Hartling) that Thailand would not carry the refugee burden 'alone.

The Japanese Government has given money to Thailand ito aid Kampuchean refugees. Ambassador Hiroshi Hitomi handed over a cheque for SI.SM as part of Japan’s promised assistance. Common Market Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg will today be asked to give S3SM worth of emergency aid for starving Kampucheans.