4 Min Read
MAE SARIANG, Thailand (Reuters) - Thai authorities on Monday denied forcing back more than 2,000 refugees who had fled air strikes in Myanmar, but a local official said it was government policy for the army to block them at the border and deny access to outside aid groups.
Thousands of people fled Myanmar over the weekend after fighter jets attacked villages near the border held by a force from the Karen ethnic group that had attacked a military post in the wake of a Feb. 1 coup by Myanmar’s army.
Mark Farmaner, head of Burma Campaign UK, told Reuters that thousands of people had been forced to return to the Ee Thu Hta displacement camp on the Myanmar side of the border. Another activist group gave the number as 2,009.
A refugee camp packed with Karen refugees in Thailand.
BANGKOK, THAILAND (BosNewsLife)– Thailand has denied forcing back more than 2,000 mainly Christian refugees fleeing deadly airstrikes in neighboring Myanmar despite video footage suggesting many boarding boats under Thai soldiers’ watch.
Myanmar Army fighter planes launched airstrikes on a predominantly Christian Karen village Saturday, March 27 killing at least three and injuring eight, according to Christian aid workers. Footage seen by BosNewsLife showed a young girl among the thousands of Karen forced to flee from their homes by the military bombardment in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
There was a second bombing raid Sunday, March 28, against villages and a displacement camp in the Mutraw district of the Karen area in Myanmar, said Barnabas Fund, an aid group working in the area. It forced a further 3,000 to flee across the border into Thailand, Barnabas Fund added. Aid workers called the airstrikes “the most severe
Thailand denies forcing back Myanmar refugees blocked at border reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.