Myanmar residents begin to go home

By Wang Linyan in Beijing And Li yingqing in yunnan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-31 07:56

Myanmar residents who had fled into China because of clashes near the border have begun to return to their homes as the situation improves, an official with the public security department of Yunnan provincial government said Sunday.

About 37,000 border inhabitants comprising both Burmese and Chinese had fled into China after armed conflicts broke out in the Kokang area of Shan state in northeastern Myanmar last week, said Meng Sutie, director of the Yunnan provincial public security department, at a press conference in Kunming Sunday.

One person was killed and two were injured after three bombs were fired from across China's border with Myanmar, Meng said. In Myanmar, one person died and 13 were injured as they tried to escape the clashes. All of them are Chinese.

The Myanmar government said Sunday the situation in Kokang region or Shan State Special Region-1 has "returned to normalcy". It confirmed in an annoucement that some border inhabitants, who fled the fighting into the neighboring country (China), have started to return to their homes.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed concern to the Myanmar government, Meng said. China hopes that Myanmar will stabilize the border area, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said last week.

"Myanmar has apologized for Chinese casualties," Meng said. "Myanmar also thanked the Chinese government for its treatment of Myanmar residents." Myanmar had promised to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in Myanmar.

The Yunnan provincial government set up seven areas in Zhenkang and Genma counties, where about 13,000 people were staying in shelters such as tents.

"About 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) has been spent on water, food, daily necessities and medical care. They are satisfied with the conditions. We'll help them go back home as soon as possible," Meng said.

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