Over 10,000 residents of the Shwe Kokko area of Myawaddy Township in Kayin State have fled from their villages to Thailand because of an increase in fighting in the area.

Fighting escalated after the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and allied defence forces raided two camps of the Border Guard Force (BGF) junta-aligned militias.

The displaced people are sheltering just across the border in Thailand. The Thai authorities have provided 15 emergency tents, but large numbers of the displaced still need food, water, toilet facilities and other basic items, according to Phoe Thingyan, a spokesperson of the Overseas Irrawaddy Association (OIA).

“They urgently need food, mosquito nets, clothes and bed sheets, while they have to take shelter in small tents”, he said.

Most of the displaced are elderly people and children.

There has been intense fighting between people’s defence force (PDF) and KNLA fighters against BGF and junta army soldiers in the area of the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Highway in Kayin State. As a result, 10 resistance groups have signed a joint statement telling people not to use the highway for 15 days from 7 to 15 April.