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.