Over 100 Kayin State civilians flee to Thailand amid fighting

02 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 July 2022, Sittwe

More than 100 locals have been forced to flee into Thailand by ongoing fighting between Myanmar’s military regime and anti-junta forces for a strategic outpost in Kayin (Karen) State’s Myawaddy Township, according to volunteers helping the refugees.

The Karen National Union’s armed wings — the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karen National Defense Organisation — and other Kayin State-based resistance groups have been attacking the junta’s Ukayi Hta military outpost in Waw Lay, near the Thai border, since Sunday.

Locals from Ukayi Hta village have been forced to flee across the border to Phop Phra District, in the southwestern part of Thailand’s Tak Province, by junta air raids and artillery attacks.

A management staffer of the displacement camp said: “Yesterday, we heard the sounds of fighting from the Myanmar side.”

Among those who have fled into Phop Phra are pregnant women, children and elderly persons, according to volunteers.

“We have provided relief supplies to them,” said a volunteer.

Villagers struggled to make their way through corn fields to the Thai side of the border following junta artillery strikes, said a Ukayi Hta resident.

The displaced villagers are in urgent need of food supplies, clothing and temporary shelters, according to those helping them.