Thailand Denies Sending Fleeing Villagers Back To Myanmar

BANGKOK, March 29 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan o-cha today refuted media reports that the country's security forces had sent back villagers from Myanmar who fled military air strikes.  Prayuth who is also the Defence Minister said Thailand is ready to shelter those who fled Myanmar based on humanitarian principles. “There is no influx of refugees yet. The authorities asked those who crossed the border if they have problem in their area (in Myanmar) and when they said no, they were asked to return to their home first… We do not use any force. “We will not be forcing them back if there is fighting in their country, but if there is no fighting they can go back for now,” he said at a press conference here Tuesday. Earlier, Myanmar local media reported that the military launched air strikes at Karen state on Sunday causing up to 3,000 villagers to flee into the forest and cross into Thailand. Meanwhile, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said news report alleging the Karen people who fled to Thailand were pushed back on Monday being inaccurate and solely based on non-official sources. He said Thailand is monitoring closely the developments in Myanmar with relevant agencies making preparations for a potential influx of refugees following the civil unrest in the country. “Thailand has experienced various influxes of people from its neighboring countries for a variety of reasons over many years. In the past, we have always assisted groups fleeing fighting and unrest based on our humanitarian tradition and internationally accepted principles,” he was quoted saying by Thai PBS tv station. Myanmar's military launched a coup on the morning of Feb 1, hours before the Parliament was set to sit, and had detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), triggering anti-coup protests across the country. To date, media reported that at least 510 protesters were killed since February 1 coup.  Meanwhile, Reuters reported that more than a dozen people fleeing Myanmar were allowed to cross into a border village in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand on Tuesday to receive medical treatment at a border village. According to the report, Thai army was still sending back most of those fleeing Myanmar because it had deemed the situation over the border to be safe. -- BERNAMA