Thailand sends refugees back to Myanmar as clashes continue

Refugees, who fled a flare-up in fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic minority rebels prepare, as they are voluntarily returning across the border to Myanmar, at a pier in Mae Sot district, Tak province, Thailand, December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

MAE SOT, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand has sent over 600 Myanmar refugees who fled fighting between the military and ethnic rebels back across the border, according to a senior Thai official who said on Sunday clashes were continuing.

Some of the refugees who reached northwest Thailand's Tak province told Reuters before they went back over the frontier on Sunday morning that they had volunteered to return. On Sunday afternoon, Reuters reporters on the Thai side of the frontier were hearing continuous gunfire.