A sleepy village in remote northern Thailand became a hub of activity this week when it received refugees fleeing Myanmar -- a sight that brought back vivid memories for its ethnic Karen residents.

Hkara, 70, said she had spent roughly 30 years crisscrossing the Salween river, which marks the frontier, to flee military attacks on ethnic rebel armies in Myanmar's eastern Karen state.

She decided to settle in the Thai village of Mae Sam Laep village two decades ago -- a safer bet than Myanmar, then still under full military rule, which lasted nearly 50 years.

"I also came from the other side -- I feel very bad for them, I am so sad," she told AFP.

Since the weekend, the Myanmar military has launched near-daily airstrikes in Karen state, targeting strongholds of the Karen National Union (KNU) -- the first such attacks in the area in 20 years.

Around 7,000 people fled their villages -- about half of them holed up in the jungle and around 3,000 crossed the river into Thailand.

Thai authorities returned most of them -- while insisting they went voluntarily -- but a handful stayed to get medical treatment for shrapnel wounds in a tiny local hospital.

The air campaign has left Hkara glued to her phone following the news.

"I knew (the attacks) would happen because of my experience," she told AFP, adding that she had pleaded two weeks ago with family remaining in Karen to move away from the targeted areas.

- Air strikes -

The KNU is one of Myanmar's largest ethnic armed groups and has been fighting the military on and off for decades.

It has been critical of the February 1 military coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and of the generals' bloody crackdown on protests, which has left more than 500 civilians dead.

The KNU has sheltered hundreds of anti-junta protesters in the territory it controls, and over the weekend seized a military base -- triggering the air strikes in response.

Karen rights groups have accused Thailand of forcing the refugees to go back to Myanmar -- something the Thai authorities strongly deny.

Declining to be drawn on whether the refugees had returned on their own accord, Mae Sam Laep resident Tamu Nochi -- also ethnic Karen -- said simply that he sympathised with them.

"If the Myanmar military is truly the good guy, then these refugees wouldn't have to leave their homes in the first place," he told AFP.

The 75-year-old also fled Karen state 30 years ago, and today runs a small grocery store in Mae Sam Laep's only stretch of road with shops.

The majority of the village's tiny population are ethnic Karen and live in wood and bamboo homes perched precariously on the rugged, tree-covered terrain above the river.

K'nyaw Paw, head of the Karen Women's Organisation, said the town was actually once a bustling trading point for locals in Karen state and Thailand.

"I remember when I was little, I came back and forth with my family. It was an informal trading area, a lot of Karen would come and sell stuff," she told AFP.

Food, household items, and construction materials were sold out of the shophouses by the riverside, and Karen people would ferry their wares across the Salween to hawk them to Thais.

- 'I don't want to die here' -

But by the mid-90s, the junta had stepped up offensives in Karen state -- sending most of the communities on Myanmar's side of the river fleeing to Thailand's refugee camps.

"The people who remained (in Mae Sam Laep) became integrated -- they built up a new village, but a lot of trading was reduced as there weren't people (living across the river anymore)," K'nyaw Paw said.

Today, several stores along the waterway are shuttered and padlocked. From the village, a Myanmar military outpost can be spotted on the other side of the river.

On the river, children play in the water, while women bathe or do their washing -- an idyllic, peaceful sight in contrast to the violence of the air strikes that happened just a couple of kilometres away.

Despite the life she has created in the village, Hkara still dreams of returning across the river to a Myanmar that is safe for her people.

"I don't want to die here," Hkara told AFP. "I always say I want to go back and die in my town."

Myanmar junta slammed for child deaths
Yangon (AFP) April 2, 2021 - Myanmar's junta faced fresh international criticism Friday over the deaths of more than 40 children and the "forced disappearance" of hundreds of people in its crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The military's ruthless suppression of demonstrations against its February 1 power grab has left 543 civilians dead, including 44 children, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a local monitoring organisation.

As well as breaking up protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds, security forces have detained some 2,700 people.

Violence has ramped up in recent weeks, with Save the Children saying the death toll of youngsters had more than doubled in the past 12 days.

"We are shocked that children continue to be among the targets of these fatal attacks, despite repeated calls to protect children from harm," the charity said in a statement.

"It is especially horrifying that several of these children were reportedly killed at home, where they should have been safe from harm."

The authorities have made numerous arrests during night raids on the homes of people suspected of supporting the rallies or the civil disobedience movement that has sprung up aimed at stopping the military from running the country.

Human Rights Watch said the junta had "forcibly disappeared" hundreds of people, refusing to confirm their location or allow access to lawyers.

"The military junta's widespread use of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances appears designed to strike fear in the hearts of anti-coup protesters," said HRW's Asia director Brad Adams.

"Concerned governments should demand the release of everyone disappeared and impose targeted economic sanctions against junta leaders to finally hold this abusive military to account."

- 'Rapidly deteriorating situation' -

Outrage from world powers has been growing at the increasing violence, and on Thursday the UN Security Council unanimously "expressed deep concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation", condemning violence against peaceful protesters.

Britain announced a new round of sanctions, this time targeting the junta's extensive business interests, as well as a $700,000 contribution towards UN efforts to document serious human rights violations in Myanmar.

But so far neither sanctions nor calls for restraint have shown any sign of holding back the junta as it struggles to quell the widespread unrest.

There were more protests around the country on Friday, according to local media reports.

In Yangon, people left flowers at bus stops and other public spots in memory of those killed in the crackdown.

The junta has throttled communications in an effort to stop news getting out, and on Thursday it ordered a complete shutdown of wireless internet services.

- Suu Kyi secrets charge -

Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has meanwhile been hit with a new criminal charge, accused of breaking an official secrets law.

The 75-year-old, a democracy icon in Myanmar for decades, faces a raft of charges and conviction would see her barred from political office for the rest of her life.

She appeared in court by video link on Thursday and appeared in good health, according to her legal team, despite two months in detention.

Meanwhile another leading figure in Myanmar's struggle for democracy, Mya Aye, was charged on Thursday under a law against inciting people to commit criminal offences, his lawyer told AFP.

Mya Aye is one of the leaders of the 88 Generation, a veteran pro-democracy group that came of age during an uprising against junta rule in 1988.

That movement was brutally suppressed by the military, with thousands gunned down by soldiers.

The military has defended its coup with claims of fraud in the November election which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide.

burs-pdw/oho

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