UNHCR weighs Thailand to accept 3,000 Myanmar refugees

More than 3,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand’s border province Tak, are seeking shelter inside the kingdom after they left their houses to flee the ongoing violence between Myanmar’s military and the armed wing of the Karen National Union. Now the UN’s refugee agency is calling on Thailand to give them “urgent access” to the refugees.

Hundreds fled the Karen state to Thailand to escape the artillery shelling and small arms fire between the state military and the ethnic army. But that number shot up from 700 on Thursday to 3,900 by Monday, according to the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees. The UN’s refugee agency issued a statement expressing concern for Myanmar refugees and offering assistance to Thai authorities to provide them with essential humanitarian aid.

About 3,500 refugees remain in two places on the Thai side as some have gradually returned after violence…