Escaping from Junta Violence, Myanmar Citizens Ask for Militia Protection

THERE IS A SOT – Hundreds of people have left the cities on Myanmar since military coup last month. They took shelter in areas controlled by ethnic militias on the border Thailand . This was stated by an official from one of these groups, as Thailand was preparing to face a wave of refugees.

An official from the Karen National Union (KNU), which has been fighting the Myanmar army for decades, said nearly a thousand people took refuge in the KNU -controlled area.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a civil rights group in Myanmar, the country’s security forces have killed at least 217 people in their crackdown on anti-coup opposition groups.

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“Hundreds of people are now in our area,” said Padoh Saw Taw Nee, KNU’s head of foreign affairs, in an interview.

“Some were strike leaders, some were involved in CDM (civil disobedience), government staff … defector police as well as the military and later also some members of parliament (members of parliament) and doctors,” he was quoted as saying. Reuters, Thursday (18/3/2021).

He said a small number of refugees were also seeking refuge further north, on the border with Shan state, in areas controlled by other ethnic militias.

More than two dozen armed ethnic groups are active on Myanmar’s borders, and the KNU was among those who condemned the coup and pledged to support the resistance.

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