Residents of Yadanarbon Village, part of Tanintharyi Region’s Bokpyin Township on the Myanmar-Thai border, were reportedly forced to relocate by the military regime.

The residents were forced to relocate their homes on December 12 as the military’s Bokpyin- based Light Infantry Battalion No. 585 plans to build a military outpost near the village, a local woman said.

“Our homes were forced to relocate for construction of a military outpost near the village. The site chosen for construction of the military outpost is far from the village,” the local woman explained.

There are about 200 households and some 800 people who call Yadanarbon Village home. Of them, nearly half are currently taking shelter in a village across the border in Thailand.

“About 350 residents of Yadanarbon Village fled to a village in Thailand and they are being furnished with relief items by Thai authorities and Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand,” said a labour activist.

“About half of the village’s population fled to Thailand and the remaining residents are taking shelter at the village’s monastery and at their relatives’ homes in nearby villages. The military plans to relocate the residents of Yadanarbon Village to Pyigyi Mandai Village,” he added.

The military suffered casualties after a coalition led by the Karen National Defense Organisation (KNDO), a military branch of the Karen National Union (KNU), launched attacks on a military outpost in Yadanarbon Village on December 3 and 7.

Regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment regarding the military’s forced relocation of the Yadanarbon villagers.

Yadanarbon Village, located near the Thai-Myanmar border, is home to mines owned by the military and private mining companies.