Thailand denies sending villagers who fled air strikes back to Myanmar

Medical workers attend to an injured Karen villager from Myanmar who crossed Salawin river on a boat, at Ban Mae Sam Laep Health Center, Mae Hong Son province, northern Thailand on Tuesday March 30, 2021. The weekend strikes by the Myanmar military, which sent ethnic Karen people seeking safety in Thailand, represented another escalation in the violent crackdown by Myanmar’s junta on protests of its Feb. 1 takeover.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand’s prime minister has denied that his country’s security forces forced villagers who had fled from military air strikes back to Myanmar, saying they returned home of their own accord.

Prayuth Chan-ocha said his country is ready to shelter anyone who is escaping fighting, as it has done many times for decades.