Myanmar refugees face hardship as Thai authorities ban food deliveries to camps

By Admin 11 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
11 July 2023, Sittwe

Thai authorities have reportedly halted the transportation of food for more than 5,000 Karenni refugees who are taking shelter in Thailand’s Mae Hong Son district for a week, from July 7 to 14.

The Thai authorities have banned traffic and transportation of food in and around Sunghein Village, Mae Sariang Township, Mae Hong Son District, where Myanmar refugees shelter, under the pretext that the area is experiencing an outbreak of Covid-19, according to aid workers.

“Around 5,000 Myanmar refugees taking shelter in Sunghein Village were displaced by fighting in Mese, Karenni State,” said a member of the Bangkok-based charity New Power Generation. “Some refugees come from Hpruso, Demoso and Bawlakhe. Thai authorities have prohibited Myanmar refugees from travelling under the pretext that there is an outbreak of Covid-19.”

The Myanmar refugees fled to Thailand after fierce fighting between the military and Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) near Mese, a border town in Karenni State, on June 28.

The delivery of food and medicine to the refugees has been entrusted to Thai police stations and municipality offices, with Thai authorities prohibiting direct delivery to the refugees.

“The Thai police told us that travel to the refugee camps was banned. One of our members took the help of a refugee and went to the refugee camp to see the situation of the refugees. Myanmar refugees are not provided with relief items and their conditions are getting worse,” said a philanthropist from Equality Myanmar.

The refugees are reportedly in urgent need of food supplies. 

“We are not allowed to go out. Sometimes, we receive relief items. We are struggling to make ends meet and are facing various hardships,” said a female refugee from Mese.

Regarding this issue, NGOs, CSOs, and refugee activists in Thailand have appealed to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand and Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG) for intervention.

“In the current situation, there is a change in the Thai government, so it is taking time,” said a member of New Power Generation.

About 15,000 local people were forced to flee to the Myanmar-Thai border and into Thailand proper after clashes between the military and anti-regime forces led by the KNDF in Karenni (Kayah) State’s Hpruso, Demoso, Bawlakhe and Hpasaung townships.

According to IDP assistance groups, there were an estimated 300,000 IDPs in Kayah State who were uprooted and remain displaced since the coup in February 2021, many of them fleeing their homes due to fighting between regime troops and the KNDF and its allies.