2,000 Karens flee Myanmar

2,000 Karens flee Myanmar

BANGKOK (AFP): Some 2,000 villagers, mostly ethnic Karens, have fled Myanmar into Thailand since last week and are likely to face repatriation, Thai military and border sources said yesterday.

Villagers fled forced labor at the hands of the Myanmar military and poverty conditions in Karen state, but have been denied access to Thai refugee camps because they are not escaping fighting, sources said.

Forces of Yangon's ruling junta swept over the KNU's last enclaves along Myanmar's eastern frontier in a massive offensive in February, which forced some 20,000 Karens into Thailand.

Over 90,000 Karens are in camps in Tak and other northern Thai provinces, after fleeing the military state since the mid-1980s.