Thousands poised to flee to Thailand due to violence in Myanmar | Conflict News

Thai foreign ministry says 2,267 Myanmar civilians had crossed into Thailand as of early Friday since the latest round of conflict began.

Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers in Myanmar are poised to cross into Thailand on Friday if, as expected, fighting intensifies between the Myanmar army and Karen fighters, joining those who have already escaped the turmoil that followed a February 1 coup.

Karen rebels and the Myanmar army have clashed near the Thai border in the weeks since Myanmar’s generals deposed an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, displacing villagers on both sides of the border.

“People say the Burmese will come and shoot us, so we fled here,” Chu Wah, a Karen villager who crossed over to Thailand with his family this week from the Ee Thu Hta displacement camp in Myanmar, told the Reuters news agency.

“I had to flee across the river,”…