Two Karen workers shot dead outside Thai refugee camp

Two men from Mae La refugee camp were shot dead in mysterious circumstances last week, according to a Karen News report on Monday, November 12.

Situated near Mae Sot at the Thai-Burmese border, Mae La Refugee Camp houses some 50,000 people, mostly Karen refugees from eastern Burma.

The report said that the men—Saw K'Nyaw, 33, and Saw Than Tun Lay, 29—were found dead on November 7 outside the camp. Family members told Karen News that the two men went outside the camp every day to look for labor work.

"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," said Saw Ah Mu, a security officer at the camp when interviewed by Karen News.

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 where they found the bodies of the two men.

According to the security officer, the two men had been shot dead by homemade rifles. In the area, both local villagers and Thai forestry officials use homemade rifles, he is report to have said.

"This is the first time that refugees have been shot and killed," said Saw Ah Mu.

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 while Saw Than Tun Lay is survived by his wife and two children, said Karen News.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/11/13/two-karen-workers-shot-dead-outside-thai-refugee-camp/