NANSAN, China -Thousands of Myanmar refugees headed home from China on Monday as fighting between government troops and a rebel militia that left more than 30 people dead appeared to be over.
More than 30,000 civilian refugees streamed into China to escape the fighting, which broke out last week after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers moved into Kokang, an ethnically Chinese region in northeastern Myanmar run by a local militia.
The shooting ended Saturday and refugees were transported Monday to the border, where they walked through the gate, clutching bags and blankets.
At least 4,000 refugees had gone back by Monday afternoon, Yunnan provincial government spokesman Li Hui said. About 9,000 remained in seven camps set up to house them in tents and makeshift buildings. The rest are believed to be staying with friends and family, or are staying in hotels, or have left the area.
Li said authorities were closing parts of the vacated camps but would not force people to leave.
“We have been assured by the Myanmar side that things are stable on their side,” Li said. “Whether they can maintain social stability is really their internal affair, so we do not know much about it.”
Many refugees were returning to ruined homes and businesses, and it wasn’t clear what percentage of Chinese investors who had moved in large numbers to Kokang in recent years would be going back.
At the border crossing, Chinese businesswoman Li Chunhua wept as she told of seeing looters carry off the entire stock of her clothing store.
“There’s nothing left,” Li said. “I was told I will not get any compensation. So what can I do?”
Hundreds of Kokang rebels fled the clashes, surrendering their weapons and uniforms to Chinese border police and crossing to safety after several days of skirmishes.
Myanmar’s junta said three days of fighting killed 26 government soldiers and at least eight rebels. It said the clashes had ended and “the region has now regained stability.”
Myanmar is trying to consolidate control over several armed ethnic groups along its borders to ensure smooth conditions for next year’s national elections, the first in nearly 20 years. Several groups are resisting pressure to join the military to become border guards ahead of the vote.
The clashes and the flow of refugees have strained Beijing’s close relations with Myanmar’s ruling generals, prompting a rare demand last week from China’s Foreign Ministry for Myanmar to end the fighting and protect the interests of Chinese citizens in the area.
Myanmar apologized for the death of one Chinese national from three artillery shells fired into Chinese territory, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. That followed China’s issuing of a “stern representation” over the matter, it said.
The agency quoted local police chief Meng Sutie as saying 37,000 people, both Burmese and Chinese, had fled into China since fighting broke out.
The crisis came amid a push by China to ensure stability ahead of Oct. 1 celebrations to mark 60 years of communist rule. China borders a number of volatile states, including Pakistan and North Korea, and the country’s leaders have struggled to maintain order within the country, particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang, where ethnic minorities have chafed against Beijing’s rule.
Myanmar’s conflict area is on the fringe of the drug-producing Golden Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. Many of the ethnic armies there have used the trade in heroin and amphetamines to finance their operations, with much of their product smuggled into China.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is the second largest exporter of heroin after Afghanistan.