Air raids run off Burma civilians
Karen minority seen as targets;Thais deny forcing them back
MAE SAM LAEP, Thailand — Violence in eastern Burma, including air raids that drove thousands of members of the Karen ethnic minority to seek shelter across the border in Thailand, deepened Tuesday with new air attacks by the military that seized power from an elected government last month.
Thailand’s prime minister denied that his country’s security forces had forced villagers back to Burma who had fled from military airstrikes over the weekend, saying they returned home on their own accord.
But the situation in eastern Burma appeared to be getting more dangerous.
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats and their families to leave Burma, expecting the protests to continue. The U.S. earlier suspended a trade deal and imposed sanctions on junta leaders as well as restricted business with military holding companies.
The department said in a brief statement it would require nonessential U.S. government employees and their dependents to depart the country in an upgrade of its previous instructions from Feb. 14 that had allowed them to leave voluntarily. The department also reiterated an earlier warning for Americans not to travel to Burma.
“The Burmese military has detained and deposed elected government officials,” the statement said. “Protests and demonstrations against military rule have occurred and are expected to continue.”
Saw Taw Nee, head of the foreign affairs department of the Karen National Union, the main political body representing the Karen minority there, confirmed that new raids Tuesday left six civilians dead and 11 wounded.
Dave Eubank, a member of the Free Burma Rangers, which provides medical assistance to villagers in the region, provided the same information.
The attacks by Burma’s military led the Karen National Union to issue a statement from one of its armed units saying that the government’s “military ground troops are advancing into our territories from all fronts,” and vowing to respond.
“We have no other options left but to confront these serious threats posed by the illegitimate military junta’s army in order to defend our territory, our Karen peoples, and their self-determination rights,” said the statement, issued in the name of the Karen National Union office for the district that was first attacked on Saturday.
It said the attacks were the latest in a series of actions by Burma’s military breaking a cease-fire agreement. The Karen National Union has been fighting for greater autonomy for the Karen people.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, speaking before the latest air attacks, said his country is ready to shelter anyone who is escaping fighting, as it has done many times for decades. His comments were made a day after humanitarian groups said Thailand has been sending back some of the thousands of people who have fled the air attacks.
“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,” Prayuth 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 governor of Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, where as many as 3,000 refugees had sought shelter, said later that those still on Thai soil were expected to return to their own country in a day or two.
The attacks are a further escalation of the violent crackdown by Burma’s junta on protests against its Feb. 1 takeover.
At least 510 protesters have been killed since the coup, according to Burma’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which says the actual toll is likely much higher. It says 2,574 people have been detained.
Protests continued Tuesday despite the deaths of more than 100 people on Saturday alone.
Burma’s government has battled Karen guerrillas on and off for years — along with other ethnic minorities seeking more autonomy — but the airstrikes marked a major escalation of violence.
Political organizations representing the Karen and Kachin in northern Burma were joined Tuesday by the Three Brothers Alliance, which represent the guerrilla armies of the Rakhine, Kokang and Ta-ang — also known as Palaung — minorities.
The alliance condemned the killing of protesters and said if it did not stop immediately, they would abandon a self-declared cease-fire and join with other groups to protect the people.
Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989. Some nations, such as the United States and Britain, have refused to adopt the name change.