Thousands of ethnic Karen villagers in Myanmar are poised to cross into Thailand if, as expected, fighting intensifies between the Myanmar army and Karen insurgents, joining those who have already escaped the turmoil that followed a Feb 1 coup.

The UN humanitarian office said on Friday that in all about 56,000 people have been displaced by conflict in Myanmar this year while another UN agency warned that the coronavirus and the political crisis could push nearly half the population into poverty.

Karen rebels and the Myanmar army have clashed...