KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 (KUNA) -- Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara announced, Tuesday, Thailand's readiness in welcoming 100,000 Myanmar refugees as a result of the ongoing Myanmar civil war since 2021.
In a press statement, Bahidda-Nukara said that Thailand can accommodate 100,000 people temporarily; underscoring that Thailand's borders are still open with Myanmar despite a 30 percent decline in trade in the past year. The Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin expressed his concerns regarding the escalating situation on the border, met with high-level Thai officials to discuss these issues, and attempted to bring back negotiations with all parties in conflict, added Bahidda-Nukara. Local reports mentioned violent clashes recently in Myanmar's Myawaddy Town, bordering Thailand's Mae Sot, where a number of refugees border cross to Thailand. The Myawaddy-Mae Sot crossing is considered the third busiest land border crossing between the two countries, where goods and commodities worth USD 1.1 billion have passed through in the last 12 months, according to the Ministry of Commerce of the military junta in Myanmar. Thailand shares a 2,400-kilometer border with Myanmar, which is going through a civil war between armed tribal and political groups opposed to the junta that overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup d'أ©tat in 2021.
A junta is a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force. (end) aab.za