Misery for Karen Refugees

“Whenever I see a Burmese soldier, I feel fear and hate. They have no hearts,” said Naw Kee Lar, a 35-year-old Karen woman who left her home and sought temporary shelter in Thailand.        

She fled to Thailand because of ongoing attacks launched by joint Burmese and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) troops in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 area of southern Karen State.   

Karen child refugees at the Thai-Burmese border. (Photo: US Campaign for Burma)

Naw Kee Lar, who lives in a village called Wa Mee Klar, said all the villagers fled to Thailand when Burmese and DKBA troops fired mortars into the village.

“It wasn’t just the mortars. If we had stayed we would have been arrested and forced to become porters,” she said, speaking softly in the Karen language.  

Naw Kee Lar is one of an estimated 6000 Karen refugees who have fled from Pa-an district in Karen State to Tha Song Yang district in Tak Province of Thailand since early May.   

Most of the refugees are women and children. Some of the women are pregnant and some have babies. “One woman even gave birth in a monastery as soon as she arrived in Thailand,” she said.  

Saw Hla Htun, the chairman of the Karen Youth Organization which is currently helping the refugees, said women and children are the most vulnerable, especially as it has been raining and there is no shelter on the trails to the border.

Many of the children, women and elders are suffering from malaria, sources reported.  

Rain is adding to refugees’ woes. (Photo: US Campaign for Burma)

The refugees are now being taken care of by Karen relief groups, such as the Karen Refugee Committee, as well as by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.

Karen sources also said that the joint force from the Burmese army and the DKBA plan to attack all KNLA controlled military camps along the Thai-Burma border. 

Refugees in Mae La refugee camp are worried as they have heard that the Burmese and DKBA troops plan to launch attacks along the border near the refugee camp.    

Some youngsters from Mae La camp were reportedly called up to serve as security guards if conditions become worse, said refugee sources.    

The DKBA, an armed group that separated from the KNU in 1995, joined forces with the Burmese and started to attack the KNLA’s Brigade 7 in the first week of June.

More than 20 soldiers from the joint force have been killed in recent attacks, while there are no reports of deaths from the KNLA, the military wing of the Karen National Union announced.

The joint force is reportedly planning to keep attacking KNLA Brigade 7 until they have taken the entire area under its control. The same sources said the joint force may loose about 500 soldiers in the operation.

The most recent attacks were being launched by Burmese battalions under Light Infantry Division 22 and DKBA battalions 999, 555 and 333. The force is reportedly about 9,000 soldiers strong, according to Karen sources.

Zipporah Sein, general-secretary of the KNU, said the attacks show that the Burmese military have no intention of finding a peaceful solution to its conflict with the KNU and ethnic groups.    

A recent KNU statement said the attacks against Karen villagers were an attempt to eliminate the Karen people.

“The Burmese regime’s recent order to the DKBA to turn its troops into a border guard force under the Ministry of Defense will make the DKBA into regime slaves,” the statement said.  

Zipporah Sein also reminded the DKBA that it is being used as a tool of the Burmese regime to oppress Karen people, and she urged the DKBA to reconsider its military activities against Karen civilians.

“The DKBA soldiers are clearly being used by the Burmese army. During fighting, the DKBA soldiers must stay in the front line and serve as minesweepers while the Burmese soldiers stay back and fire mortars,” said Zipporah Sein.