Refugees head back to Burma

About 20,000 refugees headed home to Burma yesterday after fleeing to Thailand as fighting followed a general election that will keep the military and its allies in power.

The exodus underlined Burma’s vulnerability to unrest following the country’s first election in 20 years on Sunday, which was billed by the ruling junta as a key stage in its self-proclaimed road to democracy.

Privately, officials of the junta’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, claim to have won up to 80% of the vote, even though just a handful of official results have been announced.

Political opponents said the sweeping victory was won through cheating, and were joined by Western nations in decrying the vote as manipulated and unfair.