Thousands in Myanmar flee air strikes as ethnic tensions simmer

The government prevented a UN official from visiting the area a day earlier as waves of people crossed the border into China to escape the turmoil.

YANGON // More than 3,000 people have fled air strikes and heavy fighting in northern Myanmar since the weekend as the government tries to flush out rebel positions, activists said on Wednesday as the government blocked a senior UN official from visiting the area.

Clashes between the army and ethnic minority militias in Myanmar’s borderlands have intensified in recent months, undercutting Aung San Suu Kyi’s vow to bring peace to the country since her party took power in March.

Dozens have been killed and thousands displaced since fresh fighting erupted between the Myanmar military and the ethnic minority Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in November.

The government prevented a UN official from visiting the area on Tuesday as waves of people crossed the border into China to escape the turmoil.

The unrest has rippled across Shan and Kachin states, threatening the next round of peace talks between the government, military and ethnic groups scheduled for February.

Dashi Naw Lawn, secretary of the Kachin Network Development Foundation, said the army launched air strikes near the border town of Laiza on Tuesday.

“There was a big fight yesterday and the Myanmar army used planes to attack the area around Laiza,” he said on Wednesday.

“The fighting is getting worse and worse.”

Kachin activist Khon Ja said some 3,600 people had fled overnight from two camps for the internally displaced in order to escape the violence.

She cited testimonies from escapees saying around a third had crossed a river into China, while the rest were stranded on the Myanmar side.

The UN’s relief agency said this week that 2,700 displaced people had been moved to new camps because of the clashes, warning there was not enough shelter to protect them against dropping temperatures.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Yanghee Lee arrived in Myanmar on Sunday for a 12-day visit. But the government, citing safety concerns, denied her request to visit the town of Laiza in Kachin state, where there are camps for the internally displaced as well as the headquarters for the Kachin Independence Army

She is scheduled to visit Rakhine state on Friday, home to most of Myanmar’s estimated 1 million Rohingya who face discrimination in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country.

* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse