Authorities in western Thailand’s Tak province detained 108 Myanmar nationals on Wednesday in a series of raids on buildings believed to house members of anti-junta groups, seizing what they claimed was military equipment. .
The raids took place around 1 p.m. in Tak’s Mae Sot district, along the Myanmar border, and followed intelligence reports that members of the anti-junta People’s Defense Forces paramilitary groups from Myanmar were being refugees, according to reports from residents and the Bangkok Post.
“Thai military and immigration officers raided the (two) four-story buildings of Ma Ruay Villa… causing all the residents to come out and sit on the streets,” a resident of a building near the complex told RFA Burmese, speaking under his breath. condition of anonymity citing fear of retaliation.
“Then they found two men with some drones and military equipment in an apartment. They took photos and took them away. They then let the other people in the building go and left.”
The Bangkok Post reported that authorities discovered more than 200 Myanmar citizens, including children, living in the buildings, many of whom “managed to flee.” He said authorities detained 83 illegal immigrants for questioning and confiscated “bullets, military equipment and uniforms, drones, insignia of some resistance groups and medical supplies.”
But sources told RFA that up to 108 people were detained in the raids and 106 were released after being interviewed by police. The two men detained after authorities found them in possession of military equipment were reportedly released on Thursday.
The raids took place when a joint Chinese, Myanmar and Thai police force held an anti-trafficking rally in Tak province, which was also attended by the Myanmar police chief.
A Myanmar national who fled the conflict at home to take refuge across the border in Mae Sot told RFA security in the town was noticeably tighter on Wednesday.
“There are continuous arrests because the Myanmar police chief is here and I dare not come out,” he said.
Additional raids were carried out on Thursday, according to the sources, but no arrests were made as those interviewed by police provided proof of legal residence and permits to work in Thailand.
looking for activists
A man who witnessed the raids and was briefly detained by authorities told RFA that police had been asking people about the identity of two people in the photos they were carrying. Interviewees were also asked if they were members of the Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar which has seen tens of thousands of government employees leave their jobs in protest of the February 1, 2021 military coup.
“We told them there were no MDL or political activists here, just refugees from the conflict,” said the man, who also declined to be named for security reasons. “They told us that we can stay here in peace, but if we do anything… like organize political activities or support political activists in Myanmar, we will be arrested.”
Residents were also warned not to photograph Wednesday’s raid or post information about it on social media, or risk arrest.
The man told RFA that the two men who were detained overnight were suspected of having links to the PDF because “when they opened their doors (to the police)…they were wearing camouflage shirts”.
“At that time, the police opened all their storage containers and found some drones, followed by computers and cameras,” he said.
“The youths claimed that they had only arrived there that day and suggested that (the equipment) may have been owned by previous tenants. The officers still took them away, but released them later.”
arrests on the rise
Following the military coup in Myanmar, police in Thailand have made regular arrests of people who cross the border to escape what has become an escalating conflict between junta troops and various armed resistance groups.
Sources say Thai authorities have significantly stepped up random raids and arrests of Myanmar citizens living in Mae Sot in 2023.
In January, the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge, which connects Thailand’s Tak province with Myawaddy township in eastern Myanmar’s Kayin state, resumed operations for the first time since 2020, when the two countries closed their borders due to the coronavirus pandemic.
That same month, international watchdog Fortify Rights reported that Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission would investigate the Thai government’s treatment of Myanmar refugees after the group shared evidence of possible violations. They included “forcible returns, arbitrary arrest, detention and extortion by the Thai authorities”.
Also in January, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing hosted General Chalermpol Srisawat, Thailand’s military chief of staff, at a seaside resort in Myanmar’s Rakhine state for talks that focused on military relations and security issues. stability along its 1,500-mile (2,415-kilometer) border. .
The three-day meeting was the eighth annual meeting of the two nations’ military leaders.
The Myanmar military is facing anti-junta forces including People’s Defense Force paramilitary groups and ethnic armies on multiple fronts in the beleaguered states of Kayah, Kayin and Shan, as well as in the Tanintharyi region, all which border Thailand.
Since the military seized power in Myanmar, the Foundation for Education and Development has reported that arrests of Burmese immigrants have at least doubled and deportations are also on the rise. The Thai NGO recorded 1,400 migrants and 181 arrests in 2022.
TO recent report The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 people per month returned to Myanmar in 2022. Most of them were deported. For those forced into exile, risks hang over their lives.
According to the Migrant Workers Rights Network, the number of people crossing into Thailand from Myanmar increased from 100 a day in 2020 to 2,000 a day in 2022. Thai authorities reported that 60,000 migrants were arrested last year, including as many as 45,000. who fled Myanmar.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.
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