More than 600 people who fled to Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province due to the armed conflict in Mese Township, Karenni (Kayah) State, have reportedly begun returning home since early September.
The returning IDPs from Mese are said to have both returned voluntarily and repatriated due to pressure from Thai authorities, according to sources close to the IDPs.
“They have returned for various reasons, because they are sent back or the situation is not favorable for them. The first thing I would say is that some of them were forced to return. Some may have found it difficult to stay there because the Thai government is putting more restrictions on international humanitarian aid. It has become very difficult for them to stay there. That is why some of them have been thinking of returning home,” said U Banyar, second secretary of the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC).
Since early September, IDPs have been returning in batches from the Thailand-Myanmar border to IDP camps in Myanmar, and as of 10 September, some 600 people had returned home, according to groups supporting the IDPs.
Although returnees are returning to their original camps in Mese Township, they have not yet returned to the town, IDP support groups said.
Meanwhile, clashes between the two sides continue to occur in Mese township, and according to people helping the IDPs, there is also concern for the safety of civilians due to aerial threats from the Myanmar military.
In addition, food supplies for Karen IDPs on the border are highly dependent on supplies from Thailand, and Thai authorities have imposed restrictions on food, U Banyar said.
“Secondly, it is about food supplies. So far, the Thai side has also imposed significant restrictions on food. So there will probably be shortages of food supplies within Myanmar because they cannot transport food from other areas to Mese. On the other hand, there is always fighting along the main road there and the prices are very high. So we have to rely on the Thai side,” he explained.
According to an IDP support worker, IDP camps on the Thai-Karenni border must first get permission from Thai authorities if they want to deliver food there.
“Depending on what they are delivering, whether it is rice, oil or salt, we hire trucks and then deliver it back. For the returning to that side, we have to ask permission from the Thai authorities. If they give permission, we go there and distribute at the border,” he said.
There are currently more than 4,000 refugees at the border in Mese Township, and with the influx of returning IDPs, there is concern that food supplies could run out, the aid worker added.
Currently, most Karen refugees live in Hsaunghi village in Mae Sariang in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, and the returnees are from that village as well as some other villages, according to the IDP.
The IEC said it is in contact with international organizations to provide humanitarian assistance to the Karenni IDPs.
Fighting first broke out in Mese Township on 13 June, when Karenni joint resistance forces attacked Myanmar army outposts, including police stations, forcing some 5,000 people, including residents of Mese, to flee to Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.