Human rights groups and opposition politicians in Thailand are criticizing the government for forcibly repatriating three men who were reportedly members of an anti-government resistance movement in military-ruled Myanmar.
There has been serious fighting for the past two weeks in eastern Myanmar’s Myawaddy township, part of an ongoing struggle that began in February 2021 when the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. When initial nonviolent protests against military rule were put down with lethal force, armed resistance broke out in much of the country. Myanmar’s independent media, which operate underground and in exile, reported that the three men were members of a resistance group called the Lion Battalion Commando and crossed into Thailand last month to have at least one of them treated for injuries.
The Bangkok-based People’s Empowerment Foundation said the action violated universal human rights principles and Thailand’s own policy because the men were likely to be in danger as a result of their activities fighting against Myanmar’s government. “Given the situation of generalized violence in Myanmar, all Myanmar nationals in Thailand should be given temporary protective status and, as per Thai law, no one should be forced to return to a situation where they may face grave human rights abuses,” Patrick Phongsathorn of the human rights organization Fortify Rights said Tuesday.
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