Karenni IDP's Hiding

July 9, Irrawaddy
Thousands of Karenni IDPs hide in jungle – Saw Yan Naing

An estimated 4,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are currently
hiding in the jungle near Hpasawng Township, about 94 kilometers south of
the Karenni State capital Loikaw, according to a Karenni relief group.

Daniel, a coordinator for the Karenni Social Welfare and Development
Center (KSWDC), which provides aid to Karenni IDPs, told The Irrawaddy on
Wednesday that the villagers had fled their homes fearing attacks by the
Burmese army.

“More than 4,000 Karenni IDPs are now hiding in Hpasawng Township,” said
Daniel, who uses only one name. “It will be very difficult for them if
they have to stay in the jungle for a long time.”

The Burmese army’s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 427, 428 and 337 patrol
the area around Hpasawng and have clashed with Karenni rebels in the area
six times so far this year, according to local sources.

Some of the Karenni IDPs want to move to the Thai-Burmese border, but they
fear possible attacks by Burmese troops along the way, said Daniel.

Poe Byar Shay Reh, chairman of the Karenni Refugee Committee, said that
more than 160 IDPs have arrived at Karenni refugee camps in Thailand’s Mae
Hong Son Province since the beginning of 2008.

He said, however, that so far, none of the IDPs currently hiding in the
jungle have reached the refugee camps.

“None of them have arrived at the refugee camps, but we don’t know if
they’ll start coming later,” said Poe Byar Shay Reh.

He added that some of the Karenni IDPs now sheltering in the refugee camps
had fled their villages after being accused by the Burmese army and the
ceasefire Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front of supporting
the anti-government Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

The KNPP signed a ceasefire agreement with Burma’s ruling junta in 1995,
but the truce broke down after just three months when Burmese troops
deployed on KNPP territory.

There have been several failed attempts since then to restart talks, most
recently in late 2004. However, the junta suspended all contact with the
group following the ouster of Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, who had
masterminded a number of ceasefire agreements with ethnic rebel groups.

Burmese military operations forced around 6,000 Karenni villagers to
become IDPs in 2007, according to a survey conducted by KSWDC.

More than 20,000 Karenni refugees are staying in two camps in Mae Hong Son
Province, according to the Thailand-Burma Border Consortium and the
Karenni Refugee Committee

Fighting In Karen State

July 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Regime troops withdraw from KNLA stronghold – Naw Say Phaw

Troops from the Burmese military and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
withdrew from a Karen National Liberation Army stronghold yesterday, a day
after attacking the area.

The KNLA battalion 201's stronghold is located 25 miles south of the Thai
town of Mae Sot on the border with Burma and across the river from a
village called Padi.

KNU information department coordinator major Saw Hla Ngwe said the
fighting lasted until yesterday and some heavy artillery shells fired by
the Burmese army landed on Thai soil, causing havoc among Thai villagers,
who fled their homes in fear.

"The SPDC troops fired artillery rounds upon the Wal Lay Khee stronghold
on Monday morning until 11am and about three shells landed on the Thai
village," Saw Hla Ngwe said.

"About 200 Thai villagers had to flee their homes and took shelter in a
monastery and a school building."

He said the clash ended yesterday evening when the regime's army and DKBA
troops withdrew.

The number of casualties on the two sides is still unknown.

Saw Hla Ngwe said the government's offensive was probably in retaliation
for the loss of regime troops killed in nine clashes with the KNLA in
June.

"Also, they can collect tax money from local farmers if they take control
of the area as well as getting themselves an open route to go in and out
of Thailand," he said.

Situation is Still Dire for Neglected Cyclone Victims in Burma

Situation is Still Dire for Neglected Cyclone Victims in Burma
Written by CFI News
Monday, 30 June 2008 14:04

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI -- (CFI News) -- Thousands of storm victims in Burma are still in desperate need of relief aid, nearly two months after Cyclone Nargis ripped through the southeast Asian country.
Nargis touched down in Burma’s Irawaddy region in the early morning hours of May 3, 2008, bringing 120-mile an hour winds that left thousands of people dead or homeless, and an unprecedented trail of destruction in the already impoverished nation. To date, the government’s official death toll from the storm has reached over 84,000, with 53,000 more still considered missing.

Burma’s military government, which is known for an extensive history of human rights abuses and a vicious ethnic cleansing campaign against its Karen and Karenni population, was the subject of sharp criticism after the cyclone for its initial refusal to allow international relief aid into the country. But despite recent claims from ASEAN officials that most of the survivors’ needs are now being met and that the crisis appears to be stabilizing, many local victims have reported to indigenous CFI workers that they have yet to receive aid from either the Burmese government or any foreign relief agencies. And even as dozens of communities continue to struggle for survival without the most basic of necessities, the junta has reportedly threatened to begin confiscating land from residents who don’t resume rice production soon.

Christian Freedom International, an organization that has worked actively in Burma on behalf of persecuted Christians and provided firsthand testimony about the effects of the junta’s brutality since 1998, began distributing relief aid in the country through a network of local pastors, underground churches, and a team of backpack medics in the days immediately following the storm. Even as other humanitarian agencies waited for permission to enter the region, CFI had already begun wiring funds for emergency supplies to key contacts in the country, who then delivered essential items such as food, clothing, medical supplies and clean drinking water in storm-affected areas.

With most other foreign aid still seemingly under the junta’s strict control, CFI remains as one of the few organizations making a difference for storm victims who have been left to fend for themselves in Burma. CFI president Jim Jacobson, who recently traveled to the region to oversee the relief effort, is urging Americans to donate funds for more emergency supplies, including fishing and mosquito nets, water purifiers, clothing, food, medicine, and building materials to reconstruct homes. Funds are also urgently needed to purchase tractors to help with rice production, as well as to support the scores of children who have been left orphaned by the cyclone -- children who may otherwise face recruitment by the junta and forcibly sent to government “indoctrination” schools.
Last Updated ( Monday, 30 June 2008 14:40 )

Link to View Photos
http://www.christianfreedom.org/multimedia/gallery.html?gid=26&subcat=26&limit=20

More than 30,000 Myanmar refugees rdesettle

June 25, Associated Press
More than 30,000 Myanmar refugees rdesettle

More than 30,000 Myanmar refugees living in camps in Thailand have been
sent to third countries in what the United Nations said Wednesday had
become the world's largest refugee resettlement operation.

Most of the refugees are Karen ethnic minority people who had been
sheltered in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said 30,144 refugees have left
Thailand to start new lives abroad since the resettlement operation began
in January 2005. A UNHCR statement described it as the world's largest
refugee resettlement operation.
But the camps remain home to 123,500 refugees and asylum-seekers.

"Some of the refugees have been here for nearly two decades. Some were
born in refugee camps, grew up there and are now raising their own
families in refugee camps," UNHCR regional representative Raymond Hall
said Wednesday. "For them resettlement offers a way out of the camps and
the opportunity for a fresh start in life."

The United Nations and human rights groups say that over the years the
Myanmar military has burned villages, killed civilians and committed other
atrocities against the Karen, who have long fought for autonomy from the
central government.

Some activists have charged that Myanmar's ruling junta is waging a
genocidal campaign against the Karen and other rebellious ethnic groups.

Hall said prospects for the refugees to return to Myanmar or settle
permanently in Thailand were dim.

Nearly 21,500 of the resettled refugees have gone to the United States,
while Australia has received 3,400 and Canada 2,600.

Other resettlement countries are Britain, Finland, Ireland, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden.

Myanmar refugees are now leaving Thailand for resettlement at an average
rate of more than 300 a week, the UNHCR said.

Refugees

June 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Cyclone refugees flee to Thailand – Htet Yarzar

Around 100 refugees from Bogalay, Labutta and surrounding villages have
fled to the Thai border town of Mae Sot after losing their homes and
livelihoods in the cyclone.

One of the refugees said he had lost his home and family when the cyclone
hit Burma last month.

"We were left with nothing to eat. All our cattle and buffalo were killed,
and all our rice grain was destroyed. That's why we decided to come out
here," he said.

"My house was blown away by the wind during the cyclone. My wife and I had
to swim underwater to save ourselves and our four-year-old son, who I was
carrying in my arms,” he went on.

“But soon my wife was carried away by the tide and I couldn't save her. My
son couldn't make it either – he died in my arms."

Manh Manh, the director of the Backpack Health Worker Team, said a group
had been formed to provide assistance to the new arrivals.

The Emergency Aid Team (Burma) is made up of a number of organisations
including the National Health and Education Committee, the Karen Youth
Organisation, the Burmese Women’s Union and Dr Cynthia Maung’s Mae Tao
clinic.

"The group has so far provided 1000 baht and a month’s ration of rice to
each of the refugees and is currently holding discussions on how to keep
providing them assistance in the longer term," Manh Manh said.