93 Myanmar refugees return from Thailand: UNHCR

GENEVA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A group of 93 refugees in Thailand have returned to south-eastern Myanmar after decades of displacement, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday.

Through a process coordinated by the governments of Thailand and Myanmar and with the support of UNHCR and its partners, the returns mark further progress in the voluntary repatriation of refugees from Thailand, the UN agency said.

UNHCR said that the refugees departed Monday from five refugee camps on the border and split into two groups that crossed from Thailand into Myanmar's Kayin and Kayah States.

They were received by Myanmar and assisted at two reception centers, from where they will go on to villages and towns where they will live.

According to UNHCR, refugees in Thailand have been expressing interest in returning home and have begun making plans for their future beyond the camps in Thailand in the hope that peace and stability will prevail in their places of origin in south-eastern Myanmar.

UNHCR expects returns to continue, since in south-eastern Myanmar, conditions allow for it to facilitate the voluntary return of refugees from Thailand to that area.

In the last such facilitated return movement in October 2016, 71 Myanmar refugees returned home from Thailand and UNHCR has been monitoring their situation since their return. Enditem