内容摘要：Cardinal Raymond Burke attends the conference “The synodal Babel” in a theater near the Vatican, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Cardinal Raymond Burke attends the conference “The synodal Babel” in a theater near the Vatican, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Non-profit organizations based at the border have been fundraising to help get these men and women home, but as the wait dragged on their embassies told some of them that they were not on Myanmar’s official list of people waiting for repatriation. That could stop them from being sent home even if they had plane tickets.In recent weeks, people from the group said, they saw visitors who appeared to be from the compounds come to talk to the DKBA militia soldiers.

After one of these meetings, the DKBA soldiers came to the detained people and offered them a chance to go back to the compounds. They told them: “Whoever wants to go back to work, can go back easily,” said one man. “There will not be punishment. There will be (a) salary.”The men and women grew scared, and on Sunday, they took things into their own hands. They all packed up their suitcases and decided to head for the compound’s exit. “We are tired and we want to go,” said one man. “There’s no proper food. We are sleeping on the floor.”They walked out slowly in a loose group, pulling all their personal belongings with them. Although they made it out the compound, they were met by soldiers with guns on the street, according to three people who tried to leave and videos of the confrontation viewed by the AP. Eventually, one of the soldiers said they were open to discussion, and the group agreed to turn back.

Kritiya, the activist, said that the DKBA had agreed to send the men and women to Myawaddy, which is under the control of the Kayin Border Guard Force, where they could then be taken to Thailand and then their home countries. The DKBA could not be reached for comment.Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it was aware of the escape attempt and the men and women’s names were being added to the official repatriation list. Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director at Acts of Mercy International, said her group, alongside an airline and partner groups, had raised enough money for the 270-plus group to go home.

Ethiopia said it had repatriated 130 citizens from an earlier batch and further rounds will begin in the next 10 days, Ambassador Nebiat Getachew, spokesperson of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For now, the men and women are waiting. “It’s really, really hard to trust,” said one man. “You’re not 100% sure it will happen.”South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has not criticized Trump directly but said the U.S. president is being fed false information by some Afrikaner lobby groups in South Africa and some conservative commentators in the U.S. who have elevated the issue.

at the White House next week in an attempt to “reset” the countries’ relationship.Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this story from Washington.

More AP Africa news:DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Ndeye Lam visits the cemetery often, praying and gently touching the seashells laid out across her daughter’s gravesite.