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More refugees flee Karen state fighting
Irrawaddy - December 6, 2010
Refugees from Burma continue to flow into neighboring Thailand as fighting fails to die down in Karen State between Burmese government troops and breakaway forces of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).
The latest military action was reported early on Monday from Myawaddy Township, where the village Metta Linn Myaing was shelled by junta troops. More than a dozen artillery shells hit the area of the village, according to local sources.
The English language Bangkok Post quoted the governor of Thailand's Tak Province, Samart Loifa, as saying that 1,129 refugees were staying at a border patrol police base in Mahawan, in Mae Sot district, on Dec. 5.
The current conflict started when the breakaway faction of the DKBA led by Col Saw Lha Bwe, who opposed the junta's plan to transform his troops into the regime's Border Guard Force, overran for a short time key government positions in Myawaddy Township on election day, Nov. 7.
Government troops drove the DKBA forces out of Myawaddy, but isolated clashes have been occurring since, sending waves of refugees into Thailand.
"Sadly, so far neither side in the recent fighting has shown much regard for the civilians caught in the crossfire," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
When fighting at first died down after government troops retook control, of Myawaddy, Thai authorities encouraged refugees to return home. The HRW called on the Thai authorities, however, to stop pressuring refugees to prematurely return to Burma, where they may be caught in the fighting or subjected to human rights abuses.
The situation in Karen State was further complicated when the Karen National Union (KNU) entered into the conflict in support of the DKBA breakaway forces. On December 1, the KNU called for the withdrawal of the junta troops from the areas held by the Karen armed groups.
David Takapaw, the vice chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU), told The Irrawaddy: "We will not stop fighting if they [the Burmese army] insist on trying to deploy in our area."
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