ng border committee talks, significant differences remain
with Burma over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic
rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities; Cambodia and
Thailand dispute sections of boundary with missing boundary markers;
Cambodia claims Thai encroachments into Cambodian territory and
obstructing access to Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia
by ICJ decision in 1962; ethnic Karens from Burma flee into Thailand
to escape fighting between Karen rebels and Burmese troops resulting
in Thailand sheltering about 118,000 Burmese refugees in 2004;
Karens also protest Thai support for a Burmese hydroelectric dam
construction on the Salween River near the border; environmentalists
in Burma and Thailand remain concerned about China's construction of
hydroelectric dams upstream on the Nujiang/Salween River in Yunnan
Province

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 118,407 (Burma) (2004)

Illicit drugs:
a minor producer of opium, heroin, and marijuana; illicit transit
point for heroin en route to the international drug market from
Burma and Laos; eradication efforts have reduced the area of
cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring
countries; opium poppy cultivation has been reduced by eradication
efforts; also a drug money-laundering center; minor role in
amphetamine production for regional consumption; increasing
indigenous abuse of methamphetamine

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Togo

Introduction Togo

Background:
French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA,
installed as military ruler in 1967, continued to rule well into the
21st century. Despite the facade of multiparty elections instituted
in the early 1990s, the government continued to be dominated by
President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party
maintained power almost continually since 1967. Togo has come under
fire from international organizations for human rights abuses and is
plagued by political unrest. While most bilateral and multilateral
aid to Togo remains frozen, the European Union initiated a partial
resumption of cooperation and development aid to Togo in late 2004.
Upon his death in February 2005, President EYADEMA was succeeded by
his son Fau