MAE SOT (Thailand) – Thailand sent more than 600 Myanmar refugees back to Thailand after fighting broke out between ethnic rebels and the military. According to a Thai senior official, clashes continued on Sunday.

Some refugees from northwest Thailand told Reuters that they were willing to return after crossing the border into Thailand on Sunday morning. On Sunday afternoon, Reuters reporters covering the Thai frontier heard gunfire.

Somchai Kitcharoenrungroj was the Provincial Governor. He told Reuters this afternoon that “more people are willing go back, as they are concerned about what happens to their property there.”

Phil Robertson (Deputy Asia Director for Human Rights Watch) urged Thailand to not rush refugees back to Myanmar.

Robertson explained that everyone knows that Myanmar’s military intentionally targets civilians by using deadly force in the field. Therefore, it’s not exaggerated to state these refugees have literally fled for their lives.

The phone number of a spokesperson from Myanmar’s military leadership was not answered by him on Sunday. The army claims that civilians are being targeted.

According to the Aid Alliance Committee (a Thai-based Myanmar migration group), approximately 1,000 people are currently awaiting entry into Thailand from Myanmar.

Reuters journalists saw dozens of refugee children, who were sheltering in a Thai school at the time, being loaded into trucks and taken across the border to their destination.

“I ran from Mae Htaw Talay. A refugee standing outside a truck en route to the border said that artillery had fallen into his neighborhood. I walked over the water to reach this (Thailand’s) side.

Kitcharoenrungroj the Tak governor stated that 623 refugees have been returned to Thailand and that 2094 are still on Thai soil. Kitcharoenrungroj added that everyone would be returned, if necessary.

Myanmar is in chaos since February 1, when the military overthrew a civilian government headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. This triggered protests and occasional clashes between the army and anti-junta militias.

The Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmar’s oldest rebel force and military, fought a new battle last week. It forced thousands of Karens to flee the state.

Some people crossed the river that runs between Myanmar and Thailand by boats, while others wade through water chest high while carrying children.