Civilians from Kawkareik, Karen State travelled back to the town this week to inspect what was left after recent battles and decide whether to return to their houses, they said.
While authorities have urged civilians to go back to Kawkareik—located on a section of the Asia Highway used as a major border trade route—the residents fear fighting will occur in the area again, they added.
“They are trying to persuade people who fled to come back. Instead of returning and staying in Kawkareik again, people just went back for the things they had left behind,” a local man said. “The situation is such that no one can guarantee there won't be another armed clash there.”
He told Myanmar Now that he had reentered the town himself on April 28 to retrieve possessions he had left at home when he fled the fighting.
Since April 28. . .
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