Some Karen CSOs have called on Thai authorities to help providing food and other humanitarian assistance to thousands of Karen villagers who have fled to the Thai-Myanmar border aerial raids.

Saw Lay Ka Paw, Spokesperson of the KPSN said: “The Thai government should accept fleeing people on the humanitarian grounds as the IDPs may die if they are forced to go back home.”

The Thai authorities have sent back over 2500 locals who fled two villages in Muhtaw and Eituhtar villages, due to airstrikes by the army on the afternoon of March 30th. On March 31st, Thai authorities forced them back. Now Karen IDPs are hiding in the forest for their safety.

Naw Wah Khu Shee, the spokesperson of the Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) said: “Locals who have fled to the border are facing difficulty in the availability of food and accommodation. The Thai army asked man IDPs to go home and did not allow Thai aid organizations and media to go the places where the IDPs are present. Some elderly have to take food and water back to their villages in Myanmar. I want the NGOs, the UNHCR and international organizations to put pressure on the Thai government in order to provide assistance to aid to the IDPs. Most of the IDPs are children.”

The Karen Information Center said 2,009 people are now internally displaced and hiding in the jungle, having been forced back into Myanmar, shortly after crossing the border with Thailand.

But about 3,000 Karen people were able to flee across the border to Thailand without being turned away.

The influx of people fleeing into neighboring Thailand marks a new phase in the deepening crisis for Myanmar.