93 Myanmar refugees return home from Thai camps

BANGKOK: Ninety-three refugees from Myanmar who have been living in camps in Thailand have gone home, the second such return since 2016, the United Nations refugee agency yesterday, raising hopes for the eventual closure of some of Asia’s oldest refugee camps.

About 100,000 refugees from Myanmar, most of them ethnic minority Karen people, have been living in nine camps in Thailand along the Myanmar border, many since the Myanmar army began sustained offensives against Karen guerillas in the early 1980s.

The Myanmar government and the autonomy-seeking guerillas have agreed to peace, raising hopes that the refugees will go home, although occasional skirmishes in eastern Myanmar have been reported in recent months.

The refugees left on Monday from five camps, then split into two groups and crossed into Myanmar’s Karen and Kayah states, the UN refugee agency said in a statement.

“They were received by Myanmar authorities and assisted at two reception centres,” the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

“Refugees in Thailand have been expressing interest in returning home and have begun making plans for their future beyond the camps in Thailand in the hope that peace and stability will prevail in their places of origin in southeastern Myanmar.”

The first voluntary repatriation of 68 Myanmar refugees from the camps began in 2016. At the time, UNHCR called it a “milestone”.