AFP/KNU Dooplaya district
More than 30,000 Myanmar civilians have fled their villages in the eastern state of Karen and are hiding in nearby jungles following air strikes in populated areas in response to the seizure of a government military post by a rebel ethnic army, an official from an NGO said Friday.
Fighting that flared up in March in Karen has driven thousands of ethnic Karen into Thailand, while others cluster near the border. To Myanmar’s west, Bangladesh has beefed up border patrols to stop an influx of Rohingya trying to join fellow members of their ethnic minority in refugee settlements.
May 1, 2021 Share
With Myanmar’s military coup now three months old, there are few corners of the Southeast Asian country that haven’t been affected by its aftermath.
Hundreds of thousands have revolted against the military’s action nationwide, but the armed forces have responded forcefully by detaining thousands and leaving more than 750 dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma.
But in recent weeks, with mass street demonstrations waning, the uprising has entered a new phase in old territory, throughout Myanmar’s ethnic minority-held states.
In Myanmar’s Karen state, officially Kayin state, conflict isn’t new. Like others, the country’s third-largest ethnic group has endured severe conflict for more than seven decades, largely over ethnically based hostilities. Additionally, fighting against Myanmar’s Tatmadaw armed forces has also been a long battle, but today a resurgent military is forcing the Karen to further defen
Apr 30, 2021
MAE SARIANG, Thailand – Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers in Myanmar are poised to cross into Thailand if, as expected, fighting intensifies between the Myanmar army and Karen insurgents, joining those who have already escaped the turmoil that followed a Feb. 1 coup.
Karen rebels and the Myanmar army have clashed near the Thai border in the weeks since Myanmar’s generals ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, displacing villagers on both sides of the border.
“People say the Burmese will come and shoot us, so we fled here,” said Chu Wah, a Karen villager who crossed over to Thailand with his family this week from the Ee Thu Hta displacement camp in Myanmar.
Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers in Myanmar are poised to cross into Thailand on Friday if, as expected, fighting intensifies between the Myanmar army and Karen fighters, joining those who have already escaped the turmoil that followed a February 1 coup.
Karen rebels and the Myanmar army have clashed near the Thai border in the weeks since Myanmar’s generals deposed an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, displacing villagers on both sides of the border.
“People say the Burmese will come and shoot us, so we fled here,” Chu Wah, a Karen villager who crossed over to Thailand with his family this week from the Ee Thu Hta displacement camp in Myanmar, told the Reuters news agency.
The Myanmar military responded with air strikes in several areas near the Thai border.
Thailand s foreign ministry spokesman said 2,267 civilians had crossed into Thailand as of early Friday since the latest round of conflict began. Thailand has reinforced its forces and restricted access to the border.
The inhabitants of two Thai villages close to the border have also been displaced, ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat told a briefing, with 220 people seeking refuge deeper in Thai territory for safety. The situation has escalated so we can t go back, said Warong Tisakul, 33, a Thai villager from Mae Sam Laep, a settlement, now abandoned, opposite the Myanmar army post attacked this week.