Thursday, September 27, 2012

Kachin to hold US rally at UN headquarters

Kachin in the US will hold a rally in New York City to urge President Thein Sein to address the humanitarian crisis faced by the Kachin ethnic group and to seek UN intervention and assistance.
 
A view of the UN building in New York City. Photo: UN
A view of the UN building in New York City. Photo: UN
The Kachin community in the US said it is deeply concerned that the civil war being waged in the Kachin region in northeast Burma along the Burma-Sino border has continued since the resumption of hostilities in June 2011, claiming thousands of lives and sending refugees throughout the area to seek safe shelter.

Thein Sein is scheduled to address the 67th UN General Assembly on Thursday.

The fighting has “caused untold miseries to tens of thousands of our kinsmen,” said a statement released on Thursday. “Our friends and family members have been forced to flee homes and villages, and are in dire need of the most basic human needs.

“They are living in constant fear and uncertainty, driven back into conflict zones from camps along the China border, and experiencing the violation of their rights even in the sanctity of church-run camps in government-controlled territory,” it said, adding that ethnic residents of the area face harassment, interrogation and arbitrary detention

The rally is organized by the Kachin Alliance, a network of Kachin communities and organizations in the US.

A statement called for the free flow of humanitarian aid to Kachin refugees along the Burma-China border, and an end to the war by implementing a peaceful resolution through political dialogue.

It also asked the UN to send personnel to observe the current crisis, to facilitate a free flow of humanitarian aid along the Burma-China border, and to facilitate a process leading to a peaceful resolution.

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