The BRN separatist movement in Thailand’s deep South issued a statement via social media on Friday, urging the Thai government to resume peace talks with them, within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Towards Peace (JCPP).
The movement also confessed to being behind the recent escalation in violence in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat, and some districts in Songkhla, because of the government’s reluctance to resume the peace process, which was suspended early last year.
The BRN claimed in the statement they are the true representatives of all insurgent groups fighting the Thai government and has sent several delegations with full authority to engage in the peace talks.
The talks usually took place in Malaysia, as the country serves as their “facilitator”.
The separatist movement said that, since last August, the government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has lacked policies and wisdom to settle the conflict in the Deep South, despite several thousands of people having been killed and many more injured.
The suspension of the peace process is an indication that the government is not sincere about resolving the conflict and unconcerned about the hardships being suffered by the people in the region, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, leaflets have been distributed in many villages and masjids in Yala and Narathiwat provinces threatening Muslim men working for the government, specifically defence volunteers.
The leaflets, believed to have been printed by insurgent groups, labelled the volunteers as traitors to the Patani state, the penalty for which is death.
Security officials say that the volunteers, who are mostly Muslims, are considered a threat by the insurgents, because they are familiar plantation and forest covered terrain in the south.
