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Over 5,800 Myanmar inhabitants return to Kokang

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-09-02 13:33

Yangon: Some 2,938 more Myanmar border inhabitants returned to Kokang ethnic region on Tuesday, the third day after the end of the fighting in the northeastern Shan State Special Region-1 last Saturday, bringing the total of the returnees to their homes to 5,811 as of Tuesday, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The Kokang local people came back to Laukkai, the capital of the region, through Yanlonkyaing and Chinshwehaw border gates, the report said.

A total of 37,000 Kokang local inhabitants were estimated to have fled last week's fightings in the Kokang region to Yunnan province, southwest of China, where they were taken care by the Yunnan provincial government on humanitarian grounds.

Related readings:  China, Myanmar share responsibility for border stability: FM  China presents railway carriages to Myanmar  Myanmar residents begin to go home  Myanmar refugees in Yunnan  Myanmar called on to end fighting

The runaway border inhabitants started to return homes on Monday, a day after the Myanmar government announced on Sunday night that it was able to restore peace in the region on Saturday (August 29) and it is "now in a stable condition and local administrative machinery has become normal".

The newly-formed "Kokang Region Provisional Leading Committee" in Laukkai, led by the government, called on the fleeing members of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) to return to the legal fold, assuring them "personal safety under law".

The Kokang ethnic armed group agreed a ceasefire with the government on March 21, 1989 but was allowed to retain arms and establish the northern Shan State Special Region-1, conditionally enjoying self-administration to a certain extent.

Kokang is connected with China's Zhen Kung, Geng Ma, Meng Ding and Long Ling areas, with a population of about 150,000.