Thailand has confirmed reports that thousands of ethnic Karen villagers have fled into the country to escape fighting in neighboring Burma.
泰国证实了报告所说的数以千计卡伦族村民为逃避邻国缅甸战乱而进入泰国的消息。
Rights groups and aid organizations were the first to report as many as 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers fled from Burma to Thailand, in the past week. The groups say villagers crossed Thailand's western border to escape escalating fighting between Burmese forces and Karen rebels.
维权团体和援助组织率先报告上星期有3000名卡伦族村民从缅甸逃到泰国。这些团体说，村民们越过泰国西部边界逃避缅甸军队和卡伦族反政府武装之间不断升级的战斗。
Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed the reports for VOA. He says it was not the first time fighting in Burma had forced villagers to flee to Thailand and would not be the last.
泰国政府发言人潘尼坦对美国之音证实了有关报告。他说，缅甸战火迫使村民逃往泰国不是第一次，也不会是最后一次。
"We believe that, with the experience of Thailand handling this situation in the past two decades, where at times there were several hundred thousand came over the Thai borders - this is, on one hand, serious issue," said Panitan. "But, on the other hand, I think Thailand is capable of handling this. And, there shouldn't be any problem."
他说：“我们认为，泰国在过去20年在处理这种情况方面很有经验，有些时候几十万人越过泰国边界，这是个严重问题；但另一方面，我认为泰国有能力处理这件事，不应该有任何问题。”
Panitan says the Thai authorities have emergency procedures to handle large flows of villager refugees. He says they will be given temporary shelters and medical care, while immigration authorities decide what to do with them.
潘尼坦说，泰国当局有处理大批逃难村民的紧急程序。他说，难民们将得到临时庇护所和医疗照顾，与此同时，移民当局决定如何处置他们。
Thailand has tens of thousands of refugees living in camps along its borders. Many of them fled fighting in Burma.
泰国有成千上万难民居住在边界线上的难民营里，其中有很多逃离缅甸战乱的人。
This latest flood of villagers came as Burmese forces moved in on rebel fighters from the Karen National Union.
最新一波村民涌入之际，缅甸军队正向来自卡伦民族联盟的反政府武装分子发动进攻。
Burma has been increasing pressure on Karen rebels to end decades of fighting, ahead of next year's controversial Burmese elections. Burma's military-run government wants the country's many ethnic groups to support the elections.
缅甸在明年举行选举之前一直在给卡伦族反政府武装增加压力，以结束持续数十年的战乱。缅甸军方操控的政府希望缅甸的许多族群支持这次有争议的选举。
Thailand has been acting as a go-between for the Burmese authorities and the KNU to try to end the fighting, but with little success.
泰国一直在为缅甸当局和卡伦民族联盟之间充当调解人，试图结束战乱，但是几乎没有取得成果。
Burma's last elections were in 1990, when the party of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won by a landslide. The military ignored the results and placed her under house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi is now on trial for allowing an uninvited guest to stay in her house without official permission and is expected to be sentenced to up to five years in prison. |