Thousands Of Myanmar Refugees Adjoining The Border, Thai PM: We Have Prepared The Area

Refugees on the border of Myanmar and Thailand. (kicnews.org)

JAKARTA - Thai authorities forced more than 2,000 Karen refugees, who had fled air strikes from the Myanmar military regime's air strikes, back across the border into Myanmar on Monday, activists said.

During last weekend's bombings, at least 10,000 people took refuge in the forests of Karen State, while 3,000 others had crossed into Thailand.

David Eubank of the Free Burma Rangers aid group said 2,009 people had been forced to return to the Ee Thu Hta refugee camp in Karen on Monday afternoon.

"Thailand's callous and illegal actions must stop now," Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher in Thailand for Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter, launching Myanmar Now.

More than 3,000 people from the villages of Maenuhtar, Kho Kay, and Ei Thu Hta started leaving their homes around noon on Sunday after the Myanmar military launched air strikes in the area.

Then on Sunday evening, junta planes bombed the village of Daypuno, which is in territory controlled by the National Union's Karen Brigade 5. Several houses were burnt down and a villager was injured in the attack.

"Fighter jets carried out three attacks on the village between 11:40 am and 03:30 am," a Karen villager from near the Thai border told Myanmar Now.

"It's still not clear how many houses were burned down. There were no fatalities, only one injured. That's all we know because there has been no further contact with them," he continued.

Myanmar refugees. (Source: karen.kicnews.org)

On Saturday the junta armed forces launched an air strike against the KNU 5th Brigade headquarters in Mutraw district, using two fighter jets. Three civilians were killed and eight others injured in the attack, the KNU said.

The air strikes began after troops from Brigade 5 stormed Myanmar military base Thee Mu Hta on Saturday morning, capturing at least eight soldiers. The military launched two air strikes that day - one at 8 p.m. and another at 11:30 p.m., a KNU official said.

"Day Pu No, the villagers are having a nightmare. The military carried out three air raids on the village last night and early in the morning," the Karen Women's Organization website said, launching The Irrawaddy.

Houses on Day Pu No were flattened in the air strikes, according to photos of villagers. More than 3,000 riverside villagers crossed the Salween River into Thailand on Sunday.

Papun is one of the ancestral lands of the Karen people and is home to the Salween Peace Park, a sanctuary for globally threatened wildlife, plants and trees.

Separately, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha said his government was preparing a potential wave of refugees from Myanmar.

"We don't want an exodus to our territory, but we will also pay attention to human rights," Prayuth told reporters when asked about weekend violence in Myanmar during anti-coup demonstrations.

"How many refugees are expected? We have prepared the area, but how many, we do not talk about it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand said the refugees were not pushed back. They are in a safe place on the outskirts of the border in Mae Sariang and Sop Moei Districts.

"Thai authorities will continue to look after those on the Thai side, while assessing the developing situation and needs on the ground," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a statement, also saying reports that Karen refugees had been pushed back were inaccurate.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news surrounding the Myanmar military coup by tapping on this link.