NATIONAL

A group of activists who support democracy in Myanmar has urged the Korean government to build a refugee camp in a border area between Myanmar and Thailand.

A group of activists who support democracy in Myanmar has urged the Korean government to build a refugee camp in a border area between Myanmar and Thailand.

The activists, including members of the Myanmar Democracy Network of the Republic of Korea, held an online meeting, Tuesday, with 12 Korean lawmakers, including Rep. Lee Yong-sun and Rep. Lee Yong-bin of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), to propose and discuss the construction of the camp in Myanmar’s Myawaddy and Thailand’s Mae Sot regions, using funds from the Korean government.

“We call on the Korean National Assembly to support the construction of refugee camps in Myanmar in principle. We call for humanitarian assistance from both the Korean government and the international community to minimize hunger and refugees occurring,” the lawmakers said in a statement released Wednesday.

They also said the Korean National Assembly did not acknowledge as the official government of Myanmar the Myanmar military regime that overthrew the democratic government established by citizens through a coup.

According to the activists, over 30,000 Karen people, who reside in Myanmar’s border state of Kayin, have already entered Thailand due to multiple air raids by Myanmar’s military, which has illegally seized power by occupying the country’s capital, Naypyitaw, and detaining leaders of the civilian government.

“The protests by the Myanmar people, who are crying out for the restoration of democracy against the illegal seizing of power through a coup that took place on Feb. 1, have been continuing over three months. In the meantime, more than 780 innocent citizens have been slaughtered and we do not know if 4,000 people who have been taken somewhere are alive,” the activists said in a press release, Tuesday.

“In addition, they have carried out indiscriminate air strikes against unarmed civilians, claiming many lives and turning many people into refugees who cannot but leave their homes. The number of such refugees has exceeded 30,000.”

The activists said that they plan to build the refugee camp, after getting permission from the Thai government, and modeling it after Turkey’s Kilis Refugee Camp, a temporary shelter for Syrian civilians that is considered to be among the most successful examples of the construction and operation of a refugee camp.

They added that the refugee camp for Myanmar people, if built in the border area, will be operated jointly by civilian organizations, the provisional civilian parliament and the government of Myanmar — called the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and the National Unity Government, respectively.