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South unrest leaves 2,897 orphans
2/07/2009

Insurgency in four southern border provinces since its resurgence in 2004 has left as many as 2,897 children orphans, said a Social Development and Human Security official said on Thursday.

Suparerk Hongpakdi, director of the Office of Women and Family Affairs, revealed that since the resurgence of insurgency in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla province in 2004 until July this year a total of 2,897 children have become orphans because they lost their parents in insurgency-related incidents.

Since the number of orphans as of January 2007 was 1,425, the increase to 2,897 at the end of July indicated that the situation has become more serious from 2007 to the present time, he said.

According to Mr Suparerk, the southern unrest has also left 542 women widows in Pattani, 502 in Yala, 439 in Narathiwat, and 69 in Songkhla.

bangkokpost.com

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