As the heavens opened with the monsoon rain, the thousands of Karen villagers hiding in the jungle from the Burmese soldiers thought their prayers had been answered. However, their relief was soon washed away as they realised that the rains did not mean the end to the offensive, as happens most years. This offensive was different.
With the southern part of Burma effectively under the control of the military junta, the army launched a large scale offensive in the northern districts of Karen State, to gain control over villagers who have always managed to evade the junta’s rule.
Sadly, military attacks are a regular feature in the lives of villagers in Burma. Over the past three decades the military regime has launched numerous offensives directly targeting the civilian population, undermining their ability to survive. Since this latest offensive began in November last year, more than 18,000 people have been displaced from their homes1. Villagers have become so accustomed to having to flee, that they have developed non-violent coping strategies, such as storing food in hiding places.
Regardless of their preparation, villagers who are internally displaced live a precarious existence hiding the jungle, until they can safely return to their villages – only to wait until the next time they have to flee. Heavily armed columns of soldiers are being sent to find villagers and “flush them out” of the hills. Troops are systematically destroying villagers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) rice supplies and are killing innocent people on sight. Villagers, who have been able to return home for a short time to collect food and supplies, have found their villages desecrated. Abandoned villages have been looted and burnt down by the Burmese soldiers. Crops deliberately destroyed and animals taken or killed. The soldiers have planted landmines around the villages and in the fields to deter people from coming back.
In order to perpetrate these attacks the Burmese army has deployed additional battalions to the three districts in Karen State, Toungoo, Muthraw (also known as Papuan) and Nyaung Lay Bin, where the offensive is underway. There are reports that a significant portion of these troops are child soldiers2. Additional military bases are being built (with forced labour) to house the extra troops, and are a sign that the increase in troops is not temporary. Furthermore, in addition to the troops, military equipment, supplies and rations are being stockpiled in the area.
While there are no mass graves, this is genocide
This military build up has not just occurred recently. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been increasing its military presence in Karen State since a verbal “gentlemen’s” ceasefire agreement with the Karen National Union (KNU) was reached in January 2004. Due to the terms of the ceasefire the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the KNU, could do nothing to stop the Burmese army without breaking the agreement3.
As a result of the on-going large-scale offensive, and the increased militarization of the area, the human rights abuses perpetrated against the villagers have amplified. The systematic use of villagers as forced labour and porters is well documented. During this offensive more than 800 villagers, including women, elderly and children were used to carry supplies and equipment for the military4. Prisoners are also being brought to Karen State to be used as porters. Alarmingly the SPDC is using people conscripted for forced labour as human mine sweeps - making them to walk in front of soldiers to detect and remove landmines by hand.
After eight months of this offensive what is clear is that there is no singular reason behind it. Some analysts and groups have made links between the creation of a “security zone” around the new capital Pyinmana and the offensive. However, Muthraw, which is southeast of Pyinmana, is being attacked but would not be considered within the parameters of the security zone, while other places in Karenni and Shan State that would be within the security zone are relatively peaceful.
Nonetheless, perhaps there is some truth in the “security zone” being part of the reason for the offensive. It is well known that the junta is extremely paranoid and one area of particular concern for them is an uprising from within the army and the government. The clearing out of “hostile” villagers may not be about creating a fixed security zone, but rather to ensure that if a revolt did occur in Pyinmana that there would not be any sympathetic villagers around to support it.
However there are numerous speculated reasons for the offensive. The three districts that have been targeted, Mutraw, Toungoo and Nyaung Lay Bin are considered the “heart land” of the Karen resistance to Burmese oppression. Thus, bringing this area under the control of the junta would strike a blow to the Karen insurgency and possibly weaken the KNU’s position. While some analysts have predicted that this could be the last offensive against the Karen insurgency, with the Burmese army continuing until it has left the KNU in tatters, others believe that it could weaken the KNU, but it will not stop the resistance.
Additional reasons for the offensive relate to development projects along the Thai-Burma border. The Salween Dam is continuing, despite protests from local groups on both sides of the border and the death of a Thai surveyor from a landmine5. The SPDC is still securing land around the dam site and transportation routes that will be used during its construction. Furthermore the three districts that the offensives are occurring in are rich in natural resources, which is extremely profitable when exploited with little regard for environmental issues and with limited labour costs as villagers “volunteer” to do the work.
However, the reasons behind the offensive do not detract from the reality that the SPDC is attacking civilian populations without any form of provocation. Not only is the Burmese army directly attacking villagers but they are also undermining the grassroots people’s ability to survive. The villagers in the offensive area, who are mainly farmers, were beginning to harvest their crops when the offensive began last November. The crops rotted in the fields because the villagers had to abandon their farms to flee to safety in the jungle. Most of the 18,000 people in hiding have very little, if any, food. Their diets are supplemented with food that they can find from the jungle. However, due to the serve landmine contamination of the area, looking for food is extremely dangerous.
As the offensive continued more villagers had to flee the Burmese troops, while the others remained in hiding. This meant that they could not prepare for next years crop. Consequently in the coming November and December there will be no crop to harvest and food scarcity will continue next year, regardless of the political situation.
In addition to food scarcity IDPs face serious health problems, especially since the beginning of the wet season. Malaria is prevalent, as is skin disease, dysentery and malnutrition. Children and the elderly suffer the most. Heavily pregnant women have to flee the same as other villagers, walking for days and giving birth to their children while on the run.
The areas in Karen State where the offensive is taking place is extremely mountainous and there is very limited access to these areas. All transportation routes, apart from walking, are controlled by the SPDC. The regime prevents non-government organisations and United Nations agencies inside Burma giving humanitarian aid to the villagers affected by the offensive. Also the junta does not allow organisations to travel to these areas and document the situation. Cross-border aid from Thailand is illegal, and due to the close political and economic relationship between the Thai government and the SPDC maintaining this relationship is a much higher priority within Thailand than helping people in need.
However, the IDPs are receiving some aid from community-based organisations. Whatever aid these groups can give, is only a tiny amount of what is needed. Most of this assistance is very basic medical care and food. The SPDC deems the activities of these groups illegal and if the Burmese army catches workers they will simply disappear – never to be heard of or seen again.
Despite the aid, the villagers are living in appalling conditions, waiting to see if they survive this latest offensive. While the majority choose to stay in hiding near their villages as a form of non-violent resistance, others have decided to travel to Thailand to seek refuge in the camps along the Thai-Burma border. Earlier this year the Thai authorities allowed an estimated 2,500 people to cross the border and enter the refugee camps; however they have subsequently closed the border6. The Thai authorities are now refusing to allow the IDPs to enter Thailand, reasoning that they are not fleeing fighting, but are merely capitalising on the resettlement opportunities that are being opened up to refugees in the camp. Consequently, approximately 800 IDPs, with more on the way, are living in a makeshift camp along the Salween River on the Burmese side of the border, with the soldiers only an hour walk away7.
As this is not the first offensive that the Karen people have survived, they are waiting for the attacks to stop so they can start rebuilding their communities again. Despite the offensives nearly being an annual event, the international community is yet to find a solution that will persuade the SPDC to stop their attacks on civilians.
Earlier this year this offensive received a lot of international media attention. Individuals and organisations were lobbying governments and UN agencies to take a stance against the SPDC, in particular to put Burma on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) agenda. In May the United Nation’s Under Secretary General for Politics Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma to meet with the junta and opposition parties. His visit to the country, and meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi bumped the Karen offensive and IDP issue off the media agenda and it is yet to return.
People's Stories: Saw Eh Htoo
My father, bother and I went to work on our farm cutting
down trees. My brother, who was 12 years old, only had
one leg because when he was younger a snake bit the
other leg and it had to be cut off. The Burmese Army
came and began shooting at us while we were working.
I had been shot three times, but I could still walk.
My father could not walk. He told me to go to the village
and send people back to get himandmy brother. I made
it to the village and told them what happened. The villagers
could not go back immediately because they did not know
if the soldiers had left or if they were still there.
The next day someone told my father and brother had
been killed.
Our
village is in the mountains so it is not easy to contact
other people. There is no clinic but a few people know
a little about medicine. I have to take care of my mother
and my three siblings that are alive because my father
is dead. I hate the soldiers who killed my father, but
I cannot revenge my father and brother’s death
Saw Eh Htoo is 16 years old.
Some governments are pushing for a UN Security Council resolution on Burma, while others are actively lobbying on behalf of the regime to keep Burma off the UNSC agenda and are continuing to do business with the junta giving them the financial means to carry out the offensive. The United Nations is sending mixed messages. While individuals with mandates from the UN are making statements condemning the regime, they are using weak language, which ridicules the seriousness of the situation. Profeor Paulo Pinheiro the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma with other UN officials released a statement that only “alleges” the military used excessive force and fire arms8. However, on the other hand, UN agencies have sent fact-finding missions to Thailand to collect information and document the situation. What becomes of these missions is anyone’s guess, especially given the UN’s “wait and see” reputation.
Often as a result of the UN’s “wait and see” approach the crisis is over before an action can be decided upon and implemented. Consequently, allowing a system of inaction to continue. However, as this offensive is expected to last until December this year (given the current level of rations, supplies and military personnel in the offensive area) perhaps the UN will not be able to hide behind inaction, without looking completely useless.
Since May there have been more calls from the international community and the United Nations to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Burma, than for the military regime to stop their blatant attacks on the civilian population in Karen State. Pinherio himself, who is suppose to stand up for all victims of human rights abuses in Burma, made reference to the offensive as being part of a counter-insurgency military action being carried out by the regime, suggesting that the villagers are merely collateral damage. IDPs and rural villagers face human rights abuses on a daily basis, as well to military attacks during offensives. In addition to torture, rape, extra judicial killings, forced relocation, displacement and land confiscation, the SPDC are slowing and deliberately eroding the people’s ability to survive. Constant fleeing means people cannot feed their families, provide education and health care or even ensure their safety. Putting this into perspective, it has been occurring for over thirty years. It is not a counter-insurgency against a rebel group, but the slow destruction of a people who refuse to give up their ideals of democracy, equality, justice and freedom. While there are no mass graves, this is genocide. Our silence makes us compliant, and eventually, the voices of the people calling for help will be forever silenced.
Endnotes:
“Burma Army launches new attacks in
Nyaunglebin and Toungoo Districts of Karen State, Burma”
, Free Burma Rangers, July 19, 2006
Information from Burma Issues Field
Staff, June 2006
“Seeing Through the Smoke of Ceasefires”
, Karen Human Rights Group, June 9, 2005
“Burma Army Captures 800 Civilians and
Forces 1,000 Prisoners to Porter for Their Offensive”,
Free Burma Rangers, June 3, 2006
“EGAT stops Salween surveys after worker
dies”, Mizzima News, May 31, 2006
“Burmese Junta Accuses KNU of Forced
Relocation”, The Irrawaddy, May 15, 2006
Ibid
“Press Release”, United Nations Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, May 16, 2006
People's Stories: Naw Lay Lay Paw
We had to flee our village in March. A person from our
village had gone to another place to take medicine and
on the way back he saw the Burmese troops. He ran home,
avoiding the soldiers, and warned the villagers that
the army was near. We started to prepare, then we split
into two groups and fled. We slept that night in the
jungle and the next day we found the other group and
fled again.
The
State Peace and Development Council troops had also
divided into smaller groups. They had too many groups
and they found our camp where we had been hiding. The
SPDC group 522 which had split into two groups saw a
rice stores and burnt it down. They then went to another
place and saw a villager, Saw Thee Sha Paw who was 38,
and shot him. He died. When this group of SPDC soldiers
arrived at the Klar Khee village they entered the village
and caught more than 60 chickens and ducks that the
villagers had to leave behind when they fled. They took
or killed all the animals. The next morning as they
were leaving they saw two grandmothers that were hiding.
They threatened them by shooting on either side of the
old grandmothers, as well as putting a knife in the
barrel of the gun and threatening the women with this
makeshift bayonet. The soldiers left the scared women
and continued their trip until they saw two tents full
of villagers’ belongings, which the soldiers stole.
When this SPDC group arrived in Klee Cha Khee village
they killed a student who was 18 years old. We did not
dare bury him for a while after his death because the
SPDC usually leaves landmines in the villages where
they have been. The villagers were afraid of the landmines
and nobody dares go there.
We
slept in the jungle for nine nights. We have to stay
in the place where a lot of wild animals live, such
as wild buffalo and many other animals. Moreover, there
were no plants that we could eat. There was only one
small stream and we worry for the children because the
stream has myi (very small water-based leeches). The
myi get into the children’s noses, mouth, ears and eyes
and it becomes a problem as they suck the children’s
blood and get bigger and bigger.
After
nine nights in the jungle we came back to our own village.
Even though we could go back to our village we were
still in danger. We get news from the SPDC porters that
the SPDC offensive will continue for this whole year.
Now many SPDC troops are coming and they are sending
many cars with food to the frontline. After sending
the food, they will start carrying out their military
activities. So we are always very worried about the
situation and have to be careful.
When
you live in the jungle it is the same as you live in
constant trouble. We are surrounded by the army and
if they see fire or smoke they will come and find us.
The other thing is we are afraid to make a loud noise
and stay quiet otherwise the soldiers might come and
search for us. We have to stop our children crying and
make them play quietly. It is hard for our children
to live in this situation and it means they have no
freedom when we are fleeing from the SPDC. We always
have to be prepared and ready to escape from the army.
We have no time to live in freedom and each day we have
to be aware of the SPDC situation because we don’t know
when they will come again.
The
SPDC hates us because we are Karen. Whenever they see
a Karen person, big or small, young or old, they kill
them. They don’t analyze anything. The army considers
all the ethnic Karen people to be members of the group
that fights against them, so big or small, all must
be killed. If the children grow up, the army thinks
they will fight against them.
What
I want the most in my life is liberty. We want to live
and travel in freedom. It is really hard for us to continue
to survive under the SPDC persecution. So I want to
know if the United Nations has any ways to bring peace
to our country. If so, I hope they will come and help
us now and build up peace in our country. *Naw
Lay Lay Paw is a 53 year old, Christian Karen woman
from Hsaw Mu Plaw village. Despite spending many years
on the run, and numerous personal tradegies, she continues
to work as a teacher for IDP children helping her community
and dreaming of a better future. She told her story
to the Burma Issues video staff and it was translated
into English by Naw Cha Mu.
While there are no mass graves, this is genocide
