BMS World Mission is supporting Karen refugees displaced from Burma to Thailand through a relief grant that will enable them to make the trek back to their homes in Burma where they will then help other displaced people (IDPs).

Teams of returning refugees from camps on the Thai-Burma border will provide pastoral, health and educational support to internally displaced people there, funded by a £7,320 grant from BMS partners, the Kawthoolay Karen Baptist Convention (KKBC).

Around 150,000 people from across several people groups in Burma have sought shelter in neighbouring Thailand due to oppression.

Minority groups like the Karen group have suffered some of the worst offences of the last decade in 2006 alone, including extreme human rights abuses.

Villages have been burned, women have been raped, and forced conscription and murder are rife.

The persecutions have resulted in the displacement of 18,000 Karen people over the last year - making them the group in greatest need.

KKBC is providing 12 months of essential medicines to IDPs thanks to the BMS grant, which will be used to treat communities visited by the teams as well as replenish supplies for a major clinic that treats around 10,000 people.

The grant will also provide educational resources for 325 students, including books, pens and footballs.

"It is a sign of their faith in a compassionate God and an expression of their love for their own people that motivates KKBC to minister to those on the Thai side of the border," says Liz Russell, BMS Regional Secretary for Asia.

"This work on the Burmese side will bring much-needed relief to those suffering oppression and deprivation."