Two Mae La camp refugees shot and killed

Two men from Mae La refugee camp were shot dead in mysterious circumstances last week.

The two men were from Mae La refugee camp in Tak Province on the Thai-Burma border. Both men were found dead on November 7 outside the camp. The men had been traveling between the Thai villages of Nya Mu Klo and Htee Maw Hta, about two miles south of the Mae La camp.

The two men were identified as Saw K’Nyaw, 33, and Saw Than Tun Lay, 29, both men lived in the camp’s Zone C1-B. Family members said the two men went outside the camp to look for daily labor work and were killed while they were traveling.

Saw Ah Mu, a security officer at Mae La refugee camp told Karen News about the killings.

“On the morning of November 7, the two men left the camp to go and work harvesting corn. They didn’t come back that night and their wives went to the corn farm the next morning to look for them. The women were told by a farmer that gunfire was heard the night before.”

Saw Ah Mu said that the wives reported the shooting and the disappearance of their husbands to the camp security officers and together with the women the security guards went to search the area were they found the bodies of the two men.

According to the security officers, the two men had been shot dead by homemade rifles. In the area, both local villagers and Thai forestry use homemade rifles.

Saw Ah Mu said it is hard to speculate who killed the two men.

“We can’t say who did it. In that area, there have been many similar incidents. Even Thai forestry officer have been shot and killed. This is the first time that refugees have been shot and killed.”

Funerals for the two men were carried out on November 9 at Mae La camp cemetery. Saw K’Nyaw is survived by his wife and three children and Saw Than Tun Lay is survived by his wife and two children.