'They cut off his hands and feet and he bled to death'

timesonline.co.uk ^ | May 15, 2006 | Nick Meo

[Tailgunner Joe]

Our correspondent reports from the Thai border on the plight of the Karen hill tribes fleeing the Burmese army

WE CROSSED the Thai border into Burma at the river port of Mae Sam Laeb, posing as missionaries. We then cruised for an hour up the Salween river in a long-tail boat with Thailand’s flag prominently displayed to deter Burmese snipers. Finally we scrambled up a muddy path through the jungle to reach a camp that was called E Tu Hta. There we found 700 refugees — men, women and children — living in a makeshift village of bamboo huts that they erected after staggering exhausted from the jungle three weeks ago.

Humanitarian organisations say that more than 15,000 Karen hill people have been forced to flee their homes since last year by the Burma Army’s most brutal offensive since 1997. Their villages have been burnt and they have been shot, raped and tortured.

The survivors fled, but Burmese army patrols have orders to hunt them down.

This group spent weeks fleeing across some of the toughest terrain on earth to reach a malarial wilderness on the banks of the Salween river, tenuously held by guerrillas from the Karen National Union. They hope that in an emergency they can escape across the fast-flowing river into Thailand in two boats kept on the river’s sandbanks.

A cross-party group of British MPs called on the Government last week to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the refugees and to seek a binding UN resolution demanding that the Burmese Government stop the violence.

The Burmese offensive began when the country’s increasingly paranoid military regime quixotically relocated north to a new capital at Pyinmana and moved to eliminate nearby Karen villages.

The brutal methods that the Army has employed have become frighteningly familiar to Burma’s ethnic hill peoples during more than five decades of conflict; men are killed, women raped, homes burnt. Survivors are enslaved or escape into the forest.

Helen Hto, 47, told The Times that she ran from Saw Tay Der village on February 7 when the dreaded Tatmadaw, the Burmese army, arrived.

She said: “The Government says we are in a black area where Karen fighters are operating, so anybody can be killed. Four families have made it here to this camp. I don’t know what happened to the rest.

“Soldiers killed at least one of my neighbours – Saw Tat Tut Tu. They cut off his hands and feet and he then bled to death. He had five children but I don’t know what has happened to them.

“The village has been burnt down many times before but usually everybody escaped. This time they caught us by surprise. I heard that two other men were later killed when they were foraging for food in the forest.” She spent nearly a month dodging army patrols with five of her children aged between 7 and 18.

She said: “It was bad when we had to cross roads. You feared running into soldiers.”

Like nearly all the refugees, Mrs Hto had never seen a foreigner before. Only the oldest could remember the British soldiers who fought the Japanese during the Second World War when the Karen were one of Britain’s staunchest allies. In 1949 Karen separatists launched a rebellion against the Burmese Government that has now lasted for more than 50 years.

Boe Relley, 68, first had to flee with his parents from Japanese troops and their ethnic Burmese allies. A wiry man with a mouthful of rotten teeth, one good eye and a nervous giggle, Mr Relley says that he has fled almost every year since, this time running through the jungle with his grandchildren.

“I don’t know what has happened to my village because we escaped as quickly as we could and didn’t look back. But in the past they have killed many people on these operations.” He said that the family felt safe in the camp although his youngest grandchild has fever. Malaria is the biggest killer for the refugees, who fear that the coming monsoon next month when disease always worsens.

Poe Tha Mya, 68, said that the last time he saw a foreigner was when British paratroopers landed in his village during the war. “We loved the British and thought they would give the Karen independence,” he said. “If they had, there would be no killing here now. This year the army burnt my village and the rice store. I heard they killed three of my relatives.

“The Burmese have always hated the Karen. Even in the time of the last Burmese king we were attacked and enslaved. Now even the anti-government Burmese students who flee the regime come to Karen state and try to boss us about.”

MINORITY FIGHT

• There are more than six million Karen living in Burma (making up 7 per cent of the population), and 400,000 in Thailand

• The Karen are divided into two sub-groups, the Skaw (or Pgaganyaw) and the Pwo (or Plong)

• The Karen National Union (KNU) has fought the Burmese regime since independence in 1948. The KNU has 4,000 men, the Burmese army 400,000

• Aid agencies estimate that about 300,000 Karen have fled their homes during the past two decades

• 30-40 per cent of Karen are Christians; the rest are Buddhists, representing Burma’s main religion

[LeoWindhorse]

this situation is both sad and disgusting . It has gone on & on with these poor Karen , and Shan , and Mon minorities that the lowland Burmese have routinely brutalized for decades now.
And the world , aside for a few stalwart mercs, stand by and watch . Or poo-paa from the comfy confines of the UN .
The Thai's are utterly useless , scared or still cowed by the dirty licking they took at the hands of the Burmese kings in pre-Colonial times , over & over again. Today , they are either cowards regarding the atrocities that afflict those just over their borders , or are in commercial cahoots with the fruit salad chested bad boys of Yangon.
Personally I would like to see the USA militarily invade Burma and forever put and end to these monsters who think the world will let them get away with what they are doing forever. At least give them guns! Open the doors for retired military members to go in and act as advisors and
such. But to do nothing?.....just sick

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

WE CROSSED into Burma ... posing as missionaries.

Those idiot journalists! They brag about this in print, so that when this fact gets back to the Burmese, they'll now assume that the genuine missionaries out there are really just lying scumbag reporters in disguise, leading them to shoot or incarcerate the missionaries.

[metmom]

It kind of puts it all in perspective when the worst I have to worry about is high gas prices and how we're going to pay for college. It's time to thank God again for the unbelievable priveldge of living in this country. My problems seem pretty insignificant in comparison to the horrors these people and others living under other regimes go through on a regular basis.

[derllak]

Hard to fathom, isn't it.

[killjoy]

The Thai's are utterly useless , scared or still cowed by the dirty licking they took at the hands of the Burmese kings in pre-Colonial times , over & over again. Today , they are either cowards regarding the atrocities that afflict those just over their borders , or are in commercial cahoots with the fruit salad chested bad boys of Yangon.

Don't assume silence is complacency. There are many actions taken by individuals that fly under the radar and they want to keep it that way. There are many 'former' soldiers running around the Thai/Burmer border. Some have yellow skin, some white.

[killjoy]

Those idiot journalists! They brag about this in print, so that when this fact gets back to the Burmese, they'll now assume that the genuine missionaries out there are really just lying scumbag reporters in disguise, leading them to shoot or incarcerate the missionaries.

Your point has no meaning. What you are talking about happened with the Thai auhorities, not Burmese. The Burmese do not care about your occupation and if you are allowed into the country, you will be treated the same no matter if you are a journalist, missionary, or teacher. Your anger should be directed at the Burmese government.

[denydenydeny]

Same old story, unfortunately: Burma is under Russian and Chinese protection, so nothing can be done.

[metmom]

Beyond comprehension. I will never cease to be amazed at man's inhumanity to man.

[metmom]

Agreed. The blood of the next missionaries martyred ANYWHERE in the world as a result of this stupidity will be on their hands. I guess I never realized what a disconnect there is in the brains of journalists.

[metmom]

It's a very legitmate concern. In *No Time for Tombstones* about Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries who were captured by the Viet Cong when Viet Nam fell, the captive missionaries were constantly being accused by their captors of being spies and CIA operatives. Of course, they weren't but this sort of stupid maneuver by these journalists will only add substance to the accusations should something like that happen again. No missionary anywhere will have any credibility to their accusers after this if this gets out. All it takes is one liar.

[derllak]

I'm with you. I always thought people were born with a conscience. Maybe I'm wrong.

[killjoy]

It's a very legitmate concern. In *No Time for Tombstones* about Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries who were captured by the Viet Cong when Viet Nam fell, the captive missionaries were constantly being accused by their captors of being spies and CIA operatives. Of course, they weren't but this sort of stupid maneuver by these journalists will only add substance to the accusations should something like that happen again.

Care to elaborate about your personal experiences with third world totalitarian governments? I can assure you your concern has no meaning in the real world. If you are in this type of position where you are being interrogated, your captors care only about confessions, not about the truth. Your actual background has no meaning.

No missionary anywhere will have any credibility to their accusers after this if this gets out. All it takes is one liar.

Why do you assume a missionary has credibility to begin with?

Again, I am amazed that the anger in the posts on this thread is directed at the journalists and not at the Burmese government.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

You are wrong. The first sentence of the article says, "WE CROSSED the Thai border into Burma at the river port of Mae Sam Laeb, posing as missionaries"

Unless you have some privileged information not mentioned in the article that this border crossing between the two countries is manned only on the Thai side with no Burmese guards in sight, then it was almost certainly the Burmese authorities and not the Thai guards who were lied to by the journalists, thus endangering the lives of genuine missionaries. Have you traveled much? I've crossed between countries hundreds of times, and only remember being asked about my plans by the agents of the country of arrival and not the country of departure.

What takes the cake is their bragging about their lie in print, so that it can get back to the Burmese authorities, and maximize the chances of danger to genuine missionaries.

And no, my anger at the idiot journalists does not lessen my anger at the Burmese. I don't know why you'd imply otherwise. I'm even still mad at the Democrats at the same time, if you can believe that, and my anger towards Hitler & Stalin & Mao hasn't been diminished either, and I can even walk and chew gum while all this is going on too.

[CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC]

Why do you assume a missionary has credibility to begin with?

Why would you assume they don't?

[Cacique]

bump

[dc-zoo]

'They cut off his hands and feet and he bled to death'

Ya think?

[killjoy]

Unless you have some privileged information not mentioned in the article that this border crossing between the two countries is manned only on the Thai side with no Burmese guards in sight, then it was almost certainly the Burmese authorities and not the Thai guards who were lied to by the journalists, thus endangering the lives of genuine missionaries.

Yes, as a matter of fact I do know more than the article since I have travelled quite a bit along the border areas in Thailand. There is no official border crossing at Mae Sam Laeb. The crossing, like many into Burma, is unofficial. These checkpoints are manned on the Thai side by either Thai Border Patrol Police or Thahan Phran paramilitary units. (The Thai Army does man some checkpoints but generally does not operate along the border except when there is an active threat.) Along the Burma side, there is no checkpoint. This is mainly because the areas are basically a no-mans-land where the Burmese government does not have control. This is the cause of the fighting mentioned in the article.

Have you traveled much?

I am living in Thailand. You do the math.

I've crossed between countries hundreds of times, and only remember being asked about my plans by the agents of the country of arrival and not the country of departure.

The border checkpoints on the Thai side WILL ask what you are doing in the area. Many tourist attractions are close by the border and this is to ensure people's safety. The last thing they want is a traveller wandering into Burma unknowingly.

[killjoy]

Why would you assume they don't?

Because I have been to Burma numerous times and know the situation there quite well.

[LeoWindhorse]

There are many 'former' soldiers running around the Thai/Burmer border. Some have yellow skin, some white.

really ? I thought that since R.K. Brown and crew left the
AO of the Karen back in the 80's they have been pretty much on their own.
But don't you think it's about time for those boys down in Yangon to have their doors kicked in big time? I do...