Refugees ask governments not to forcibly repatriate them

Refugees at Mae La, the largest Myanmar refugee camp in Thailand, have urged the Thai and Myanmar governments not to forcibly send refugees on the Thai side of the Thai-Myanmar border to Myanmar.

At a ceremony to mark World Refugee Day held at Mae La Refugee Camp on 20 June the camp’s chairman, Saw Honest, told KIC News that he does not want the Thai government to make any decisions about forcibly returning refugees to Myanmar and that they want the Thai Government to follow the previous agreement on refugees.

He said: “We don’t want the Thai government to forcibly send us, the refugees, back. We are making this request to both the Thai and Myanmar governments. We want to live like normal human beings without any wars and human rights violations, as we [previously] decided. We need peace and unity.”  (Courtesy of mizzima.com)