China urged to safeguard refugees from Myanmar
-A A +ATuesday, June 26, 2012
BANGKOK — A human rights organization is warning that as many as 10,000 ethnic Kachin refugees from Myanmar are facing food and water shortages and inadequate sanitation at makeshift camps in China.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says in a report Tuesday that the refugees in Yunnan province also are at risk of being returned to a combat zone. It urges the Chinese government to give them temporary protection and permit the U.N. and humanitarian agencies free access to them.
The Kachin minority in northern Myanmar has been fighting government forces since June last year, when the authorities sought to shut down one of their militia's bases. The hostilities marked the end of a 17-year cease-fire and displaced about 75,000 people. (AP)
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