Thousands flee Myawaddy fighting only to be stranded along Myanmar-Thai border

As the military and ethnic Karen resistance forces fought for control of the border trade hub of Myawaddy this month, thousands of people from the township fled to neighbouring Thailand, before being sent back to Myanmar, joining a growing population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. The Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA) claimed control of the strategic Karen State town on April 11 after intensifying clashes with the junta. They held the town for nearly two weeks. According to estimates from the Overseas Irrawaddy Association (OIA), a local social welfare group helping the IDPs, some 15,000 people fled their homes during the battles for Myawaddy, sheltering in monasteries and makeshift camps along the Moei River—known as the Thaungyin in Burmese—which separates the township from Thailand. Shelters built by IDPs from tarps and bamboo along the Moei River in Myawaddy Township (Myanmar Now) Some 3,500 people who had crossed the Moei to seek refuge near the Thai town of Mae Sot joined the IDPs last week when they were told by the volunteers helping them that they needed to return to their home country on April 24. The move, which followed the junta’s recapture of Myawaddy from the KNU and its allies on April 23, was allegedly part of an agreement between the Thai authorities and those from Myanmar’s military council. Many of the returning refugees found themselves at host sites in Myawaddy Township after being unable to go back to their homes due to damage caused by junta airstrikes and artillery fire, or fears surrounding the continued tension in the area. “For some people, there is no home to return even if they wanted to go back, while other people could not go back due to the lack of safety,” said Poe Thingyan, secretary of the OIA. At the time of reporting, conditions in Myawaddy appeared relatively calm, but occasional weapons fire was reported from the base of Light Infantry Battalion 275, which the military retook with the help of the Karen Border Guard Force, according to the KNU. Active fighting between the Karen forces and the military was also ongoing eight miles south of Myawaddy around the town of Lay Kay Kaw. Young men displaced by fighting in Myawaddy prepare nets to fish in the Moei River, which separates Myanmar and Thailand (Myanmar Now) ‘I just want to go back home’ Many of the displaced persons who had been sheltering in Thailand had fled fighting between the KNU and the military in the village of Thingan Nyinaung, located west of Myawaddy in Kawkareik Township, in the first week of April. They first sought refuge from junta airstrikes in Myawaddy, then on the banks of the Moei when the town also came under siege, and finally, across the border. One 28-year-old heavily pregnant woman among the IDPs in a crowded and sweltering monastery along the Moei River told Myanmar Now this week that she was “only a few days away” from giving birth to a son, her second child. She fled an earlier episode of fighting in Thingyan Nyinaung during the early months of her pregnancy, planning to give birth in Myawaddy’s hospital, which may no longer be possible. “I am worried I will be in trouble on the day I give birth to my son because I might not be able to go to the hospital,” she said, noting that the facility would close if a clash broke out nearby. When the hospital closed due to similar conditions earlier this month, injured and sick people fled to Mae Sot, Thailand, for treatment. “I hope the hospital will be open when the day comes,” the woman said. She noted that with the road to Thingyan Nyinaung recently reopened, her husband had returned to inspect their home, only to find it had been damaged by artillery. One ward, Kwat Thit, suffered extensive destruction, with some 175 houses completely burnt down and others partially collapsed, according to IDPs at the monastery. A 61-year-old displaced woman from the ward confirmed that a bomb explosion broke the roof and walls of her house, causing her to flee with several family members, including her husband, who is paralysed and requires regular medical treatment. “We now live in a tent close to a toilet near the monastery,” she told Myanmar Now. “I don’t know what to say or do… apparently, we will have to stay here like this for the moment.” In addition to losing her home, the woman, who had seven children, explained that one of her sons joined an anti-junta armed resistance force and was killed within three months. “I didn’t get a chance to see him again,” she said, crying. “I am still very sad. He was only 21 years old when he died.” Another woman, 68, from Thingyan Nyinaung fled with her adult daughters and grandchildren on motorbikes when junta aerial bombs began hitting the area, unable to take any of their possessions. Her husband, 71, stayed behind to take care of their property. He developed what appeared to be a heart condition after a bomb exploded near the bunker where he had been staying, and died of heart failure after recently reuniting with his family at the monastery. She blamed the explosion for his death, noting that he did not have heart issues before. “He suffered badly. It saddened me to see how uncomfortably he died at a monastery like this,” she told Myanmar Now. “This place reminds me of him. I just want to go back home.” Women and children displaced by fighting in Karen State stay in a makeshift shelter at a monastery in Myawaddy Township (Myanmar Now) Poe Thingyan, secretary of the OIA, one of the local groups that has been providing food and shelter to the IDPs from Lay Kay Kaw, Myawaddy, and Thingan Nyinaung, said that thousands of displaced people will face new challenges coping with the upcoming rainy season. “Nobody knows when the fighting will be over, and the rainy season is coming at the end of May, so there is only one month for them to find better shelter,” he explained, noting that many IDPs are sleeping in outdoor covered spaces not suitable for the annual monsoon and rising river waters. “They need a shelter that protects them from flooding with the [Moei] River swells,” Poe Thingyan said. “We are brainstorming what will be best.” “We estimate that one third or even half of Myanmar’s population are in need of humanitarian aid,” he told Myanmar Now, emphasising that assistance should not be channeled through the junta, as it would legitimise their administration and was unlikely to reach the people in need. “There are organisations that can effectively help with humanitarian aid, so don’t use humanitarian titles to support the Myanmar military,” he warned.

Thousands flee Myawaddy fighting only to be stranded along Myanmar-Thai border

Unable to return home due to widespread destruction and continued military tension, internally displaced persons shelter along the river separating the two countries

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