Barisan Revolusi Nasional

The Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani,[1][2] also known by the shorter form Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), meaning "National Revolutionary Front", is an Islamist Patani independence movement in northern Malaysia and Patani, southern Thailand. As of 2017, it is the most powerful rebel group in the region.[3][4]

Patani Malayu National Revolutionary Front
Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani
ขบวนการแนวร่วมปฏิวัติแห่งชาติมลายูปัตตานี
LeaderHassan Taib, Masae Useng, Sapaeng Basoe, Abdullah Munir, Dulloh Waeman (Ustadz Loh), Abroseh Parehruepoh, Abdulkanin Kalupang, Isma-ae Toyalong, Arduenan Mama, Bororting Binbuerheng and Yusuf Rayalong (Ustadz Ismae-ae), among others.
Active regionsPattani region, Thailand
IdeologyPattani separatism (formerly)
Militant Islam
Malay nationalism
Notable attacksSouth Thailand insurgency
Size200,000 (target)
Main area of operation of the BRN.

Originally the BRN was established as a roughly territorial organisation, prioritizing Pattani secessionism. Since 2001, however, the BRN-C (BRN-Coordinasi) has become its most active wing, leading the south Thailand insurgency and imposing extreme religious values on the local society.[5]

The BRN-C, through its "Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani" paramilitary wing, is the main group behind the murder of teachers in the Southern Border Provinces.[6]

History

The BRN was founded on 13 March 1963 by Haji Abdul Karim Hassan. By 1984 three main factions were discernible within the group:[7]

BRN-Koordinasi

The BRN-Coordinate or BRN-C (BRN-Koordinasi) is currently the largest, most active and best organised of the BRN subgroups. Rejecting the Pan-Arab socialist thought that influenced the early BRN, it favours Salafist ideology and is involved in political activism in the mosques and indoctrination at Islamic schools. The main recruiting unit of the BRN-C is the Pemuda (youth) student group and its leaders are mainly Islamic religious teachers, including veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War.[5]

The BRN-Koordinasi is acknowledged as the group currently spearheading the insurgency in southern Thailand and is at the origin of the group known as Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) to which most violent attacks have been attributed in the last decade.[5]

The BRN-C sees no reason for negotiations and is against talks with other insurgent groups. The BRN-C has the vision of becoming a mass-organisation. It has as its immediate aim to make southern Thailand ungovernable, having largely been successful at it.[8]

Structure

The Pejuang Kemerdekaan Patani (Patani Independence Fighters) are the paramilitary wing of the BRN-C. These militant units operate in the rural areas of southern Thailand working along with the BRN-Coordinate leadership in a loosely organised strictly clandestine cell system dependent on hard-line religious leaders for direction.[9][10] They are also behind the attacks on schoolteachers.[11]

Other groups
  • BRN-Congress or BRN-K (BRN-Kongres), led by Rosa Burako, has been pursuing a military struggle but is currently less active.
  • BRN-Ulama. There is little information about this subgroup.[10]

The group's violent separatist insurgency began in 2004, with tactics such as setting two bombs at one location, with the second designed to kill and injure those attending the aftermath of the first. In total, the southern insurgency has killed more than 6,000 people.[12]

Peace talks

In January 2020, the Thai Peace Dialogue Panel, lead by General Wanlop Rugsanaoh, met with BNR representative Anas Abdulrahman in Kuala Lumpur, in what was described as "the first round of official peace dialogue" by BNR official Abdul Aziz Jabal.[13] The two sides reportedly agreed on a framework for further negotiations.[13][14]

Incidents
See also: Runda Kumpulan Kecil

In the past decade, the BRN-C has been involved in numerous arson, bombing, and murder attacks to create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in the three southern provinces of Thailand. Thai military observers believe that the attacks are mostly carried out by its loosely affiliated and clandestine RKK outfit.[15][16]

On 1 May 2013, insurgents attacked a restaurant in the Pattani Region. The perpetrators, armed with machine guns, killed six people including a two-year-old child.[17] The act was an act of revenge, that appeared twelve hours following the action in the three predominantly Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala.[18]

Use of children

In 2013 and 2014, the UN received reports that the BRN and other armed groups had recruited boys and girls from the age of 14;[19][20] children were given military training and assigned as combatants, informants and scouts.[20] No such reports were recorded by the UN in 2015 or 2016.[21][22]

See also

Notes
  1. Currently the use of the black flag of Jihad by BRN-C affiliated groups has largely replaced the former BRN flag.

References
  1. "Free Patani ขออิสรภาพแก่ปาตานี)". Facebook. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  2. Ummah Patani. "Pengistiharan Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (B.R.N.) Ke-4". Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  3. "Repression is feeding the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand". The Economist. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  4. "Thailand's southern insurgency: No end in sight". The Economist. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. "A Breakdown of Southern Thailand's Insurgent Groups. Terrorism Monitor Volume: 4 Issue: 17". The Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  6. "Human Rights Watch - Thailand: Rebels Escalate Killings of Teachers". Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  7. Zachary Abuza (8 September 2006). "A Breakdown of Southern Thailand's Insurgent Groups. Terrorism Monitor Volume: 4 Issue: 17". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  8. Zachary Abuza, The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand, INSS, p. 20
  9. Rohan Gunaratna & Arabinda Acharya , The Terrorist Threat from Thailand: Jihad Or Quest for Justice?
  10. No one is safe - The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics, Human Rights Watch, p. 18
  11. "Thailand: Separatists Targeting Teachers in South". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  12. Who is behind the Thailand bombings?, BBC News, 12 August 2016
  13. Wongcha-um, Panu (21 January 2020). Heinrich, Mark (ed.). "Thai officials resume peace dialogue with main southern insurgents". Reuters.
  14. Nanuam, Wassana (22 January 2020). "Peace talks with BRN launched". The Bangkok Post.
  15. Post Publishing PCL. "Visakha Bucha Day blast kills 5". Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  16. Post Publishing PCL. "State informant shot dead in rebel revenge attack". Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  17. 6 killed in shooting in Thailand's restive south - Toshiba Archived 23 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "Gun attack in Thailand's south leaves six dead". BBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  19. United Nations Secretary-General (2014). "Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict, 2014". www.un.org. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  20. United Nations Secretary-General (2015). "Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict, 2015". www.un.org. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  21. United Nations Secretary-General (2016). "Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict, 2016". www.un.org. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  22. United Nations Secretary-General (2017). "Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict, 2017". www.un.org. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
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