Burmese Villagers Flee Violence as Ethnic Tensions Rise

Renewed fighting along the border with Thailand comes days after pro-democracy activist Aung Sung Suu Kyi was released.

Elections held in Burma earlier this month were widely discredited and sparked outrage at the country’s ruling military junta. In the wake of the vote, the junta released Suu Kyi, who had been in prison for 15 of the past 20 years, but also renewed fighting against the various ethnic groups that live near the border with Thailand, causing hundreds to flee their homes on Sunday. Some 1.5 million villagers there were denied the right to vote by the junta, and observers fear the country could soon be engulfed by ethnic conflict. In a speech to thousands of elated supporters yesterday, Suu Kyi called for dialogue with Burma’s military rulers and for national reconciliation.