Violence and abuse are on the increase in eastern Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). A report published by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, an alliance of 12 organisations providing aid to Burmese refugees, shows that in the past year alone about 75,000 civilians have had to flee their homes because of the fighting and the oppression in that part of the country.
For five years the consortium has conducted research on daily life in the war zone. The report, which was published last week, shows the presence of more than half a million internally displaced people in eastern Myanmar. Most of the refugees are members of the Karen, Karenni and Shan ethnic minorities, which have been at war with the central government for decades.
The majority of the refugees flee to temporary shelters in areas close to the Thai border and under the control of these ethnic minorities. Tens of thousands of others are forced to move to locations controlled by Myanmar’s military junta. Tens of thousands of others are roaming the jungle, moving from one hiding-place to the next.
Hiding place
A Karen man told one of the researchers: “We live in fear, always at the ready to flee. If we hear about the presence of troops near our hideout, we run to another place". Those interviewed spoke about torture, rape, extortion and forced labour for the army.
Human rights organisations point out that all parties to the conflict are guilty of human rights violations. However, the report puts the blame for the worsening security situation squarely on the increasing militarisation of eastern Myanmar. At least 235 army battalions have been deployed in the region, double the number compared to 15 years ago.
During this period, minorities in the region have lost most of their homeland and an increasing number of civilians have found themselves in a region where the violence simply drags on as a low-intensity conflict. Ever since then Burma gained independence in 1948, the minorities in the east of the country have been at war with the central authorities, seeking greater local autonomy and equal rights in the context of a federal state.
Pipeline
Violence against civilians is a fixture of the army’s counter-insurgence strategy known as Pya Ley Pya, (Four Cuts), intended to cut rebels off from recruits, information, supplies and money. The strategy is not only intended to force ethnic rebels to surrender. Pacification of the region is also important because it’s the location of a pipeline supplying natural gas to neighbouring Thailand, an export that is one of the Myanmar regime’s financial lifelines. The junta is also engaged in drawing up plans for the construction of dams for the generation of hydroelectric energy.
The extensive humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s remote jungles is for the most part taking place out of sight of the international community. The region cannot be reached from Yangon, as the junta has declared the region off limits, From the Thai border, it takes several days of hiking through the hills to reach the displaced people in their temporary shelters and hideouts.
Elderly people
Every once in a while, a story comes out about elderly people who have lost count of the number of times in their lives they have had to flee, and about children bearing names such as Running Shell because they were born during an offensive.
In their reporting, international media focus primarily on the power struggle between the democratic opposition in Myanmar, led by Aung Sang Suu Kyi, and the generals of the junta, formally known as the State Peace and Development Council, in Naipyidaw. Experts repeatedly warn that these reports do not do justice to the complex situation and that a political solution for the position of ethnic minorities is crucial to peace and democracy in Myanmar.
It is not yet clear whether elections scheduled to be held next year will be a first step in this direction, or whether they will only serve to give the army more political power. Whatever the case in that regard, Jack Dunford, director of the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, says Mynamar’s ethnic minorities issue needs to be addressed urgently if a solution for the problem of the country’s displaced people is to be found.
(The full report can be found at http://www.tbbc.org/)
Lead photo taken in Mae La camp - a Karen refugee camp - by Jackol on Flickr under CC licence
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