Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 1 on April 12
Mizzima
The Myanmar junta closed the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge No. 1, between Myawaddy in Myanmar and Mae Sot in Thailand, to anyone coming from Myanmar.
The gates on the Myanmar side of the bridge were closed to people wanting to leave Myanmar at about 8:00 a.m. on 21 April as hundreds of people were waiting to cross into Thailand.
According to locals the bridge is still open on the Thai side but the Myanmar authorities have closed the exit gates on their side and are only allowing people coming from the Thai side through the gates.
This means that returning migrant workers who were working in Thailand but returned to Myanmar for the Thingyan New Year’s celebrations from 13 to 16 April are unable to return to their jobs in Thailand.
Many residents of Myawaddy also want to cross into Thailand to flee the escalation of fighting in Myawaddy and the surrounding areas.
There has been fierce fighting between the junta and the combined forces of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and people’s defence forces (PDFs) in suburbs of Myawaddy and the surrounding areas since the evening of 19 April.
There has also been particularly fierce on the northern outskirts of Myawaddy at the No. 2 Friendship Bridge. Like the No 1 Friendship Bridge, this bridge has been closed only on the Myanmar side, but the junta closed it earlier, on 20 April. The No. 2 Friendship Bridge is used to transport goods, rather than people, between Thailand and Myanmar.
After fighting erupted at the No. 2 Friendship Bridge and the junta launched airstrikes about 3,000 people fled across the Moei River into Thailand, according to the Thai authorities.
Thousands of other people fleeing the violence are still trapped on the Myanmar side of the Moei River with some sheltering near to river crossing jetties.
Traders have said that there will be delays and disruptions to goods travelling between the two countries due to fighting in the Myawaddy Economic Zone and near both bridges.
