‘Karen people fleeing Myanmar told to return’
Thousands of people from the Karen, or Kayin, state of Myanmar have fled to Thailand in recent days following airstrikes by Myanmar’s military.
But those that have crossed into Thailand are now being told to go home, a spokesperson for the Karen Peace Support Network said.
The spokesperson, whose identity is being concealed for security purposes, told BBC World News that people were afraid to return and had been sleeping by a river without any support.
“In the morning the Thai military has again come down to the riverbank and told them – you all have to go back to the other side because there is no more fighting,” the spokesperson said.
The UN’s envoy to Myanmar, also known as Burma, has previously warned of an “imminent bloodbath” as the military crackdown in the country continues.
A local monitoring group has said that 536 people have died since February’s military coup.
