BANGKOK: Around 200 ethnic Karen people fled fighting in Myanmar and crossed the border into Thailand, Thai border officials said on Saturday (April 19).
Fighting has been raging in Myanmar's eastern Karen state, which borders Thailand, with local ethnic militias battling the military junta that seized power in a 2021 coup.
Four years of conflict across Myanmar have spurred mass displacement, driving tens of thousands across the border into neighbouring Thailand.
About 200 ethnic Karen people fled to the kingdom on Friday and Saturday due to bombing and civil unrest a few kilometres from the border on the Myanmar side, Major General Maitree Chupreecha, commander of the Thai military's Naresuan Force border unit, told AFP.
The people there were frightened by a drone bombing operation targeting military troops, he said, leading some to cross the Moei border river to Tak province.
"Approximately 200 people... started to arrive yesterday afternoon," he said, adding that they were ethnic Karen people.
Those who crossed are being held in a temporary shelter by the Ratchamanu Task Force, he said, which was confirmed by a post on the Thai Army unit's official Facebook page.
Maitree warned that there could be more people crossing into Thailand and that authorities intended to repatriate them when security improves.
The junta and numerous opposition groups declared a ceasefire to ease relief efforts after a 7.7-magnitude quake hit central Myanmar on March 28, killing more than 3,700 people.
However, Myanmar residents told AFP this week that there has been fighting in Karen towns on a major highway leading to the western Thailand border town of Mae Sot. - AFP
