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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, October 30, 2006

Burma Army Intensifies Attacks on Karen Civilians and Fires on Displaced People in Hiding

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BURMA (ANS) -- The continuing Burma Army offensive in Karen State has displaced a further 1,450 people in one valley alone. During the last ten days, 700 people have fled from their homes in the area north of the Mon Chaung (river) and more have fled the area south of the river following machine-gun attacks on villages and areas where Internally Displaced People are in hiding.

According to a news release from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, one villager was killed and another badly wounded during an attack on Mawn Ki village, when the Burma Army opened fire. There are currently five Burma Army columns based in the area.
“These latest attacks form part of an ongoing offensive in Karen State, which has resulted in 20,000 people being displaced from their homes,” said the release.

“UK Members of Parliament discussed the situation in Burma during a Westminster Hall debate last week. They called on the government to take a stronger stance against UK businesses operating in Burma and urged the government to raise the situation with the UN Security Council. In September, members of the Security Council, including the UK and the US, voted to include a debate on Burma in their agenda.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas says: “These latest attacks form part of a deliberate and fierce offensive against the Karen people. The plight of those suffering at the hands of this brutal regime in Burma demands the immediate attention and intervention of the international community. We urge the UN Security Council to pass a binding resolution on Burma immediately, requiring an end to these atrocities, and to put in place a concrete plan for national reconciliation and a transition to peace and federal democracy."

Many of the Karen people are Christian. The Gospel was brought to them by American missionary, Adoniram Judson in the early 1800s. A

lthough their land is in what is known as the “Golden Triangle,” they do not allow drug growing or smuggling there.

The Karen’s conflict with the Burmese government began in 1948 and is over the Karen wanting to keep their unique way of life. It is the longest running civil war in the world. In a story, the BBC cited aid agencies estimates that up to 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war, with 120,000 more refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, living in refugee camps on the Thai side of the border.

Many Karen accuse the government of Myanmar of ethnic cleansing. The U.S. State Department has also cited the Burmese government for suppression of religious freedom, a source of particular trouble to the Karen as between thirty and forty percent of them are Christians and among the Burmese religious minority.

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to www.fromtabloidtotruth.com. danjuma1@aol.com.

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