Bombings send thousands across border to Thailand
MAE SAKOEP, Thailand — Thai soldiers began sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled a series of air strikes by the military in neighboring Myanmar, people familiar with the matter said Monday. The insecurity on the border added a new dimension to an already volatile crisis set off by a coup in Myanmar.
The weekend strikes, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on protests against its Feb. 1 takeover. On Saturday, more than 100 people were killed in and around demonstrations throughout the country — the bloodiest single day since the takeover.
The violence by the military — both on the border and in cities around the country — raised the question of whether the international community would respond more forcefully than it has thus far to a coup that ousted the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
In response to reports of people fleeing the air strikes, Thailand’s prime minister had said earlier Monday that the country didn’t want “mass migration” but that it would also take human rights issues into consideration.
But later in the day, three people with knowledge of the matter said Thai soldiers had begun to force people to return to Myanmar. All three spoke on condition of anonymity. A spokesman for Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, said claims that some Karen were being forced to return to Myanmar were “inaccurate.”
Myanmar aircraft carried out three strikes overnight Sunday, according to Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian relief agency that delivers medical and other assistance to villagers. Earlier strikes sent about 2,500 people into northern Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, according to the agency.