Thailand denies forcing refugees back to face Myanmar air strikes

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 Chanocha 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 2,574 people have been detained.

Protests continued on Tuesday 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.

The violence by the Myanmar military – on the border and in cities around the country –raised the question of whether the international community would respond more forcefully than it has so far to the coup.

The UK called for a closed meeting of the UN Security Council today.