AP :
Fighting between Myanmar government forces and ethnic guerrillas has sent about 4,200 villagers fleeing across the border into Thailand over the past week, a Thai army officer said Wednesday.
That number includes more than 2,500 who fled into Thailand on Friday from territory held by the ethic Karen minority. A similar wave took place in April, when several thousand villagers from Myanmar’s eastern state of Karen fled following airstrikes by the Myanmar government.
Usually when such incidents occur, the
villagers are allowed to stay in Thailand for a few days and then are returned to Myanmar.
The Karen are one of several ethnic minorities that have been battling for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. Fighting between the two sides is intermittent, but increased after the military seized power in February from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Kongcheep Tantravanich said a total of 4,216 villagers crossed the Moei River into Thailand from Dec. 16 to Dec. 21 because of skirmishes between the Myanmar government and ethnic Karen forces. Of that number, 861 have returned and 3,355 are being sheltered in Mae Sot district in the western border province of Tak, he said.
