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ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Monday, March 20, 2006

NEW ATTACKS BY BURMA ARMY DISPLACE OVER 3,000 KAREN

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

MYANMAR (ANS) -- Over 3,000 people are in hiding following recent attacks by the Burma Army in Western and Northern Karen State. Several villages have been burned down and civilians killed. The Burma Army is laying more landmines in the area, and forcing those villagers who have not fled to work as porters for the military.

According to a media advisory put out by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), soldiers from three Burma Army battalions on March 9 attacked Klaw Kee village in the Saw Ka Der area of Mon Township, western Karen State, according to reports received from the Free Burma Rangers. One 38 year-old man, Saw Maw Sae Kya, was shot dead, and two paddy barns were destroyed.

The media release says the troops then attacked Maw La Kee village, where they burned down seven houses. At least 1,140 villagers have fled Mon Township and are hiding in the jungle. Constant Burma Army patrols in the area mean they cannot return to their homes.

On the same day, CSW says, in Ler Doh Township, similar attacks took place, forcing 1,153 villagers from Kwey Der village into hiding.

The CSW release states: "In the past two weeks attacks have also taken place against civilians in Toungoo District, northern Karen State, causing the displacement of over 700. Last month a further 640 were displaced, and they are unable to reach the Thai border due to Burma Army patrols. However, since December 2005 at least a thousand people have fled to the safety of the refugee camps in Thailand and many more may follow."

According to the Free Burma Rangers: "These attacks reflect the ongoing effort of the Burma Army to break the will of the people and control them. The murder of porters and the laying of landmines to terrorize and block food to a civilian population are two of the tactics used in the strategy of the Burma Army to dominate, assimilate and exploit the ethnic people of Burma. What is clear is that the Burma Army is slowly attempting to expand its control, that people are under great danger and there is already a shortage of food."

CSW says the attacks on Klaw Kee and Maw La Kee villages were carried out by Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 366, 368 and 364, under Military Operations Command 10, Division 66 of the Burma Army. The attacks on Kwey Der village were carried out by soldiers from LIB 362 and LIB 363.

Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship since 1962. Elections were held in 1990 and won by the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest. Over 1,100 prisoners of conscience are in jail in Burma.

The current military regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is perpetrating gross violations of human rights, particularly against the ethnic nationalities, the Karen, Karenni, Shan, Mon, Chin, Kachin, Arakan and Rohingya. Over one million people are internally displaced, and since 1996 over 2,500 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma alone. Evidence of widespread, systematic rape, forced labour, forced conscription of child soldiers, use of human minesweepers, torture and killings continues to be reported regularly.

In September, 2005 the international law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary published "Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma," commissioned by former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Nobel Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu. A briefing was held at the UN Security Council in December, 2005. CSW is calling for a full UN Security Council discussion on Burma, leading to a resolution. For a copy of the report see http://burmacampaign.org.uk/unitednations.php

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: "We have been working on Burma for almost two decades, and during that time the news has barely changed – continuing brutal attacks on ethnic nationalities, continuing suppression of democracy, continuing crimes against humanity. These latest attacks are tragic in themselves, but even more tragic when added to the litany of violations perpetrated by the ruling military regime over the past half a century. For too long the world has sat by and allowed these attacks to continue. It is time now for the international community to say enough is enough, and to act to stop the genocide unfolding."

CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

For further information, please contact Alexa Papadouris, Advocacy Director, Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0035 or email alexa@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.

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