ဖော်ပြချက်/အကြောင်းအရာ:
"The International Karen Organisation today called for the urgent implementation of new
targeted strategic sanctions on the Burmese military in response to escalating attacks
against civilians in Karen State.
Simultaneous attacks by the Burmese military are taking place in different parts of Karen
State, in Sagaing Region, Kachin State, Chin State and many other ethnic states, at the
same time as the military continue to make mass arrests of political leaders, peaceful
protesters and PDF members across the country. This demonstrates that the international
community is moving much too slowly to cut the flow of arms and revenue to the military,
and reduce their capacity to attack and oppress the people of Burma.
Sanctions need to be applied on the supply of aviation fuel, arms, and on gas revenue and
other sources of revenue for the Burmese military. Funding for cross border aid needs to
be increased without placing unnecessary reporting burdens on local civil society
organisations which are impossible to meet, and effectively act to block life-saving aid to
those in need.
The Burmese military appear to be targeting hundreds of Burmese democracy activists
who have taken shelter in Lay Kay Kaw, a town in Karen State under the control of the
Karen National Union (KNU). In the process, they are indiscriminately using heavy artillery
and gunfire against civilian areas, forcing thousands of Karen villagers to flee as well as
the democracy activists. This is a war crime. It is a violation of international law.
On 14th December the Burmese military raided the town of Lay Kay Kaw, in the KNU
controlled Dooplya District, in southern Karen State, bordering Thailand. They arrested
around 30 activists who had taken refuge in the town. Hundreds of Burmese democracy
activists were sheltering in Lay Kay Kaw.
On 15th December the Burmese military escalated attacks, using heavy artillery in
surrounding areas and forcing more than 1,000 local civilians to flee. In the following days
these attacks continued and expanded. On 19th December the Burmese military began
attacking Palu and other nearby villages where many people who had fled attacks against
Lay Kay Kaw had taken shelter.
As of the morning of 20th December, the number of people displaced by these attacks was
estimated at 4000. With numerous attacks taking place, numbers of displaced people are
constantly changing.
At the same time, the Burmese military has increased shelling against civilian villages in
Doo Tha Htu (Thaton) District in Karen State, as more Burmese military troops move into
KNU areas.
In both areas the Karen National Liberation Army is defending civilians against attacks and
encroachment by the Burmese military.
On 18th December around 30 Burmese military vehicles, including armoured personnel
carriers of the type supplied by China and Ukraine, and military transport vehicles, brought
reinforcements through Myawaddy travelling towards Dooplaya.
There are increased jets and drones flying over the areas, increasing fear of indiscriminate
aerial bombing of the kind that happened in March and April this year. Before the new
attacks this December there were already more than 80,000 people internally displaced,
mostly because of bombings and the threat of bombings. Jets and drones have continued
to fly over the area, preventing villagers from returning home and stopping them from
growing this year’s crops, creating a humanitarian crisis on top of the COVID pandemic.
Around 2,000 Karen villagers crossed into Thailand this week and around 600 have been
pushed back by the Thai authority.
We call on the government of Thailand not to keep pushing refugees back into a war zone
as they have done so many times in the past. We call on the USA, EU, UK, Canada,
Australia and sympathetic governments, and on the United Nations Secretary General, to
make representations to the Royal Thai Government not to force refugees to return
against their will.
The Burmese military are attacking our people with much more sophisticated weaponry
than they used before the so-called reform process began. They have used the past ten
years with sanctions lifted and more business opportunities to increase income and buy
more modern and deadly equipment. They have more heavy artillery, more jets and new
drones which they are using against civilians.
It is absolutely vital that more sanctions are rapidly imposed on the Burmese military in
order to reduce their military capacity.
The international community must:
Sanction aviation fuel
The majority of people in Karen State have been displaced by air strikes and are unable to
return because of the threat of airstrikes. These air strikes have killed and maimed
innocent civilians and have created a humanitarian crisis. The international community
must impose sanctions to stop aviation fuel reaching the military. Companies which supply
the military with aviation fuel should be sanctioned and evidence collected for future
prosecutions for complicity in violations of international law.
Expand the arms embargo
The United Nations Security Council should impose an arms embargo. With Russia and
China blocking a potential resolution on an arms embargo, countries should impose
unilateral arms embargoes. Only around 40 of 193 UN members have imposed arms
embargoes against the Burmese military, despite recommendations from the United
Nations Fact-Finding Commission on Myanmar, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
human rights in Myanmar, and a UN General Assembly Resolution in June this year. We
call on all countries to impose unilateral arms embargoes.
More targeted economic sanctions, including gas revenue
Almost a year on from the military coup, the Burmese military is earning up to $1.4bn in
gas revenues. This money is being used to kill our people. Even countries which claim to
support human rights and democracy in Burma have not stopped gas revenue, with
hundreds of millions of dollars being given to the military from a gas project run by
American and European Union companies Chevron and Total. We call on American
President Biden and French President Macron to stop blocking sanctions on gas revenue
and impose gas revenue sanctions. The European Union cannot sanction gas revenue as
long as President Macron keeps blocking it.
It makes no sense to us that President Biden and President Macron have arms embargoes
against the Burmese military but are still allowing their companies to give money to the
military which they can then use to buy arms from Russia, China, India, Serbia, Ukraine
and other countries. They won’t sell arms, but they help fund the purchase of arms.
The international community has long failed to take action against the Burmese military for
violations of international law committed against the Karen people. This decades long
impunity has contributed to the crisis in Burma today. We hope that the international
community will now finally learn lessons from past mistakes and take effective action
immediately..."
ရင်းမြစ်:
International Karen Organisation
Date of Publication:
2021-12-21
Date of entry:
2021-12-21
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
အကြောင်းအရာ/အမျိုးအစား:
Countries:
Myanmar
Administrative areas of Burma/Myanmar:
Karen State
Language:
English
မှတ်တမ်း:
ပုံစံ:
pdf
အရွယ်အစား:
195.44 KB
Resource Type:
text
Text quality:
- Good