IN THE WORLD TODAY

PM denies forcing back villagers

THAILAND’S prime minister has denied that his country’s security forces have sent villagers who fled military air strikes back to Myanmar and said his government is ready to shelter anyone who is escaping fighting.

His comments came a day after humanitarian groups said the Thai military had begun sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of air strikes by Myanmar’s military.

“There is no influx of refugees yet. We asked those who crossed to Thailand if they have any problem in their area. When they say no problem, we just asked them to return to their land first. We asked, we did not use any force,” prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

“We won’t push them back,” he said. “If they are having fighting, how can we do so? But if they don’t have any fighting at the moment, can they go back first?”

The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people to seek safety in Thailand, were another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on protests against its February 1 coup. At least 510 protesters have been killed since the coup, according to Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which says the true toll is likely much higher.

It says 2574 people have been detained.

Protests continued yesterday despite the deaths of more than 100 people on Saturday alone.

The coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi reversed the country’s progress towards democracy since her National League for Democracy party won elections in 2015 after five decades of military rule.