KNU and armed wing reconciled on Thai-Burma border

Leaders of Karen National Union (KNU) Central and one of its military wings, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade – 7, have sorted out their differences and decided to continue their still unfinished revolution, according to a statement issued by KNU today.
The statement came out at the end of an emergency meeting held at the KNLA Brigade – 7 Region on the Thai-Burmese border to sort out the misunderstanding arising from underhanded divide-and-rule action of Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The Karen leaders also decided to find solutions to the political problems of Burma by means of dialogue.
“The result (of the meeting) is, we have this KNU 13th Congress. We decided to continue our activities based on the policies adopted there, with the same mind and stomach (in unity),” KNU Secretary General Phado Mahn Sha. “All the commanders were satisfied. In particular, there were some matters the commanders who were not clear in their view (about the actions of some KNU leaders). We explained those to them. They were worried that there might be some divisions within the Karen Revolution. There are some efforts they are trying not to be so. Everyone is worried that there might be some divisions within the Karen Revolution, especially among the whole of the Karen people. We all see that if things turn out like that, it would not be good, and it is a great success that we are of the same mind and stomach again.”
A commander of Brigade – 7, Maj Saw Htein Maung gave his reaction to the latest development as follows:
“There have been a little bit of differences in way of thinking among us. Therefore, there have been some explanations among us. The letter from the Central is the same. We have to continue to work together now and in the future. We have to stand firm regarding our duties until we succeed in our revolution.”

DVB
Aug 26, 2006
Image: Paul Keenan - KHCPS Archive

Hundreds arrested at huge migrant gathering

Nakhon Pathom _ More than 600 Karen labourers, most with legal work permits, were arrested while attending a traditional New Year celebration in the compound of the Police Cadet School in Nakhon Pathom's Sam Phran district yesterday.
Police had expected only a few hundred to attend the celebration, and instead faced a crowd estimated at 70,000.
Police said 183 of the 674 arrested Karen had no documents at the time of their arrest. They were all attending a celebration organised by Niroon Sukkrai, 30, a migrant worker.
While the other labourers had legal work permits, issued for Bangkok and nearby provinces, they were arrested because as registered migrant workers they were not allowed to travel out of their designated areas, police said. Sam Phran is about 40km west of Bangkok.
The workers may be deported for breaking the law, police said.
Mr Niroon said he was granted permission to organise the event, which included a traditional rite.
In past years, the annual ceremony was held at Catholic missionary schools in Nakhon Pathom. This year it had been moved to the police school compound as the Catholic schools were occupied.
A Police Cadet School official confirmed that it allowed Mr Niroon to use the place.
"They just told us they would invite friends to a ceremony which included a soccer match. We estimated there would be about 200 _ not 70,000 alien workers," said Pol Col Padsanong Boonyakiet, deputy director of the Police Cadet School.
The huge gathering caused panic among neighbours, who phoned the police.
Surapong Kongchantuk, an advocate for ethnic minority rights, said the police over-reacted.
"The police are out of their minds. They arrested these people during a traditional ceremony. This is tantamount to arresting Muslims while they are on the haj," said Mr Surapong, vice-president of a human rights panel under the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Police should have taken a lenient approach since most of the Karen actually have work permits, and Sam Phran is close to Bangkok.

Bangkok Post
PAWARISA PHUMAS ANCHALEE KONGRUT
28/08/2006
Image: Policemen surround a group of 674 Karen workers who were among the 70,000 who turned up at the Sam Phran Police Cadet School in Nakhon Pathom to celebrate the Karen New Year yesterday.  —PAWARISA PHUMAS (Bangkok Post)

Karen Refugees in Ratchaburi Pushed Closer to Burma Border

Some 8,000 Karen refugees currently living in Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand’s Ratchaburi province will be moved to a new location closer to the Thai-Burmese border in Kanchanaburi and Saraburi provinces. Thai authorities are concerned about the poor conditions that prevail in Tham Hin, according to Wongsak Sawaspanit, governor of Ratchaburi. Meanwhile, about 2,000 refugees from the camp are in the process of resettling to the US and Australia. That process, which began last week, is expected to take six weeks, according to a report in the Thai newspaper Matichon on Wednesday. Tham Hin has long been considered the worst of Thailand’s border refugee camps, due to poor housing conditions and lack of adequate sanitation. The relocation of residents to other camps is expected to be complete by the end of August.

Thousands of Karen refugees to relocate to US, Australia

Bangkok: More than 1,700 Karen refugees in Thailand will soon be relocated to the United States and Australia after the US waived a law which deemed them terrorism supporters, Thai interior ministry officials said Tuesday.

Nearly 10,000 ethnic Karen who fled fighting in their homeland of Myanmar are currently living in the overcrowded Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand’s western Ratchaburi province.
They had previously not been eligible for resettlement in the United States because many of them back the Karen National Union, an armed group fighting the Yangon military junta.
But in May, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice waived the law meaning the refugees will no longer be viewed as terrorism supporters, paving the way for some 9,300 Karen to apply to live in the United States.
A Ministry of Interior official said that 1,793 have so far applied for resettlement.
These refugees will be moved to the United States and Australia in a six-week operation which began last Tuesday. So far, 31 people have left the camp for resettlement.
About 8,000 Karen will be left at the camp after the relocation programme, and officials said that Thai authorities plan to move them to other camps nearby because of concerns over the hygiene and conditions at Tham Hin.
“It is difficult to do this as all camps are crowded, but we keep doing our routine health checks,” an official told AFP.
Thousands of ethnic Karen flee fighting in military-run Myanmar every year and end up in cramped refugee camps on the Thai side of the border.
Human rights groups have accused Myanmar’s military of killing civilians and torching villages in their efforts to quell the Karen National Union, the oldest and largest rebel force which is still battling the junta.
The United Nations announced in May that an escalation in fighting this year had forced some 2,000 people from their homes and into Thailand.

Agence France Presse:
Tue 22 Aug 2006 

Karen exodus eases, but abuses rife

Systematic human rights abuses by the Myanmar military against members of the Karen minority in the east of the country are continuing, with nearly 20,000 people displaced within Karen State and 3,000 having sought refuge in Thailand, human rights groups say.

According to a field report released this week by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), attacks on villages in Toungoo and other northern Karen State districts are continuing, with more than 2,000 State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) troops deployed in Toungoo district alone.
“The SPDC’s current plan is to force the villagers living in the hill areas to move into the SPDC controlled areas,” the report said, “representing the first step in their strategy to eliminate any possibility of non-violent or armed resistance against complete SPDC control of people’s lives, land and livelihoods.”
While many Karen villagers living in the hills are resisting attempts by SPDC forces to drive them into lowland areas controlled by the military, others continue to flee to other districts or across the border or to refugee camps in Thailand, the report said.
Detailed reports from a number of groups working in Myanmar cite continued blockades of non-military traffic throughout Karen State, as well as increasing patrols in the jungle-clad hills that are normally a stronghold of the rebel Karen National Union (KNU) and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
Widespread human rights abuses against civilians continue to be reported, including forced labor, killings and torture.
“In these [SPDC controlled] areas the increased SPDC militarization and activity has led to increases in forced labour, land confiscation, forced relocation, and restrictions on movement and livelihoods, all of which have led to problems with food security,” the KHRG report said.
“In the hills, villagers have suffered from forced displacement, systematic destruction of their crops and food supplies, arbitrary shootings and killings, and land mines, among other abuses.”
Latest figures from the Free Burma Rangers suggest more than 18,000 villagers are displaced from their homes in Toungoo, Nyaunglebin and Papun districts alone.
And because of both difficulties and a reluctance to cross into Thailand as refugees, more than 1,000 Karen men, women and children are seeking shelter at a makeshift refugee camp on the border with Thailand at Ei Tu Hta, opposite Mae Hong Son province.
The KNU-run camp on the banks of the Salween River was set up in April and continues to grow, with new families arriving tired and hungry from the jungles each week.
“The displacement of villagers is due to the SPDC’s violation of their human rights, which have become so severe and systematic that they have had to leave their way of life and the places inherited by their ancestors in order to secure their human rights and life for the future,” the KHRG report said.
“The forced labour, extortion, restrictions on movements, blockades on the pathways and roads, and the proliferation of land mines throughout their district are all making it difficult for villagers here to work for their own and their family’s survival.
“If the villagers were not subjugated, attacked or hunted down by SPDC forces and if they were allowed to live according to their own culture and traditions, they would not be forced to flee from their homes and seek refuge in other countries in such large numbers.”
Some 140,000 Karen and Karenni refugees are living in refugee camps in Thailand, according to figures released in April by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The UNHCR cited concerns in May that a new exodus of refugees fleeing Myanmar would push the already overstretched Thai camps beyond their limits.
However, UNHCR yesterday said the number of new arrivals had dropped considerably in recent months and the latest refugees have adequate shelter and food, with most living at the Mae Ra Ma Luang camp near Mae Sariang.
“The numbers have certainly come down but there have been about 3,000 new arrivals in total since December 2005,” said UNHCR’s Hannah Massafin, speaking from Mae Hong Son.
“There has been speculation for different reasons for the reduction of numbers including tighter border controls, the Karen camp of Ei Tu Hta…effects of the rainy season and possibly less conflict.”
However, the fact that numbers in Ei Tu Hta had not risen dramatically pointed to a reduction in the number of those seeking refuge along the border, she said.
Massafin also said there was no indication that there would be a resurgence of large numbers of Karen fleeing across the border, as occurred early this year.
However, the possibility could not be discounted entirely, she added.

Ismail Wolff
Thai Day (IHT)
Thu 17 Aug 2006 

KNU President's Address on 56th Anniversary of Martyrs' Days

Dear All Karen Nationals, Officers and Men of the KNLA,

On the occasion of 56th Anniversary of Martyrs' Day, firstly, I would like to wish you all health, peace of mind, unity and fortitude during this time of the struggle for our freedom, because our enemy is always trying to eliminate us and our people, and split our organization. Hence, we must always be on the alert and be united in our collaborative effort.
There is an old Karen saying: "If we are united, we may bake stone to get it soft like taro and build a ladder to climb up to the sky." In the long years of our revolutionary struggle, we have gone through various kinds of difficulty and misery, but we remain alive today because of the protection and support given by our people. We do not receive any assistance from another country. Our people feed, help and protect us until they have to sacrifice their lives. Many of our women had to suffer the indignity of rape. We have no choice but to struggle on to free our people from tyranny and injustices. Another old Karen adage says, "The enemy's love is not even as good as your own people's hatred of you." If you look at peoples of advanced countries, you will see that they protect their own people and oppose the enemy with unity. They face death or life together. For that reason, their countries remain strong and their enemies cannot destroy them.  Take example from the Second World War. As we are still in the stage of struggle to free ourselves from oppression, unity among us is the most important factor. If you are not united, how can you face the enemy? If we are united, victory shall be ours.
Another point is that we are not alone in the country we live in. As there are many nationalities, we have to establish a state constitution and political system in consonant with objective conditions. Accordingly, we, the Karen revolutionary resistance adopted the position that our country must be established as a Federal Union, at the Mawko national Congress held in 1956. On account of this, we receive support, understanding and also acceptance from other groups. The main thing is we have to receive support and approval from all the nationalities and the democratic organizations. No other country can fulfill our aspirations for us. Only when we, and the entire people, are united in our thoughts and action, we will be able together to realize our goal. For that reason, in order for all of us to have equality, we have to build friendship, understanding and form alliances with other groups, agree to establish a genuine Federal Union, live together in it and accept democracy fully, with all the Member States having the rights to self-determination. We have to change the rule of military regime to a federal system of governance, based on democracy.  Consequently, we have to form friendship with other nationalities and other democratic organizations for mutual understanding and support. We also have to be always careful that our activities do not weaken our own arrangements.

Wanting to be liberated from repression and domination, we, the Karen people, have organized ourselves in stages. In 1947, we formed the Karen National Union (KNU) and started the peaceful struggle for freedom and establishment of a Karen Land. Gradually, the political tension increased and the peaceful struggle of the Karen people was transformed into an armed struggle, at the beginning of 1949. However, as the question of the Karen people is a political one, the KNU leadership has always striven for resolving the Karen question politically. Since 1956, we have accepted democracy and also federalism, because they are in consonant with the objective conditions of the Karen people. Our administrative and organizational   structures, as well as our procedures, are based on democratic principles and practices.
During the period of armed struggle for self-defense, we have to practice democratic centralism and collective leadership. Especially, in the areas of political activities, to eliminate weaknesses as far as possible, we have to practice collective leadership. On the other hand, as the SPDC generals practice dictatorial governance, they are not the same as we are. We have learned that the SPDC representatives do not want to discuss peace with our central leaders. As they want to deal only with the military establishment, it is against our principles and that is causing a lot of concern for us. Since the problem of the Karen people is a political one, the only correct way is to resolve the problem politically with the KNU central leaders. Otherwise, we are much concerned that the blood of our martyrs and comrades, who have shed their blood and sacrificed their lives, in the 56 years of our struggle, could become worthless. This is my call to the entire Karen people to be acutely wary of the peril.  As my final advice, I would like to say, let us all be united in our thought, action and in our political stand.

Let us stand with unity, courage and determination until we gain our freedom. May all of you be well and free from all kinds of danger!

OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI

August 12, 2006

KNU Statement on Topical Events

The following statement is issued for a clear understanding of the topical events, for the people inside and outside of the country.
In 2004, the KNU reached a gentlemen's agreement with the SPDC for ceasefire. From that juncture, both sides had taken constructive steps forward. The KNU had made the effort with the intention to solve the problems of the Karen people and the country, in a fair and just manner by political means.
Since the month of February 2006, the SPDC troops have been conducting military offensives against the Karen people, resulting in nearly 20,000 Karen villagers having to flee their villages after abandoning their homes and properties. At the same time the SPDC spread slanderous allegations, painting the KNU black at press conferences and in news media.
During the first week of July 2006, they sent certain Karen doctors residing in Singapore and Rangoon to meet Gen. Bo Mya and persuade him to go to Rangoon for medical treatment, with the intention of arranging a meeting between some Karen military officers going with the General and some SPDC military authorities. Gen. Bo Mya was to travel by plane, and the others were to proceed on the 12th  of July with the arrangement by the SPDC to stage a grand welcoming ceremony for the Karen officers, at Myenigon (275) Light Infantry Battalion Headquarters in Thingan Nyi Naung, and then in Kawkareik and again in Rangoon.
Gen. Bo Mya as well as the KNU leaders was not aware of this arrangement. The odd plan was rejected by Gen Bo Mya, and the conspiracy failed. On 14 July 2006, intelligence officer, Col. Myat Tun Oo came and had a meeting with some KNLA officers. At this meeting, the KNLA officers made it known that if the visit was for talks between the SPDC and KNU, he needed to make contact through the proper channel, meaning that he was to meet the KNU liaison officer and then meet with the KNU leaders. Col. Myat Tun Oo replied that he did not want to meet with KNU leaders but to meet with military officials only. He went back on the 16th  of July 2006.
Col. Myat Tun Oo’s reluctance to make contact through proper channel and intending to talk only with military officials, making arrangement for Gen Mya to go to Rangoon without informing him, in advance, and without having his consent were some things rather odd. If the SPDC leaders sincerely want to have talks with the KNU, they need to cease their current military offensives. They need to cease their killings and driving away the Karen people from their homes and villages. They need to have respect for the KNU, as well as the KNLA and the Karen people. For making contact, they need to go through the recognized proper channel, then and only then it will be trusted and accepted.
In conclusion, the Karen people greatly want freedom, justice and equality, unity and peace. In accordance with this stand, it will join hands and work in harmony with all the ethnic nationalities, the entire people and all the political parties. The KNU will not tolerate forever oppression against it, the Karen resistance or the Karen people, militarily, and it is also against the dirty divide and rule policy.

The KNU would like to remind and urge its members to be for the resistance and the Karen people, to have political alertness, revolutionary awareness, a firm resistance morale, a firm political stand in order not to become victims of divide and rule. Continue the struggle until the end with solidarity.

OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI

 3-8-2006

Divisions Persist among Karen Rebels

A statement issued on Tuesday by the Karen National Liberation Army—the military wing of the ethnic opposition group Karen National Union—declared its defiance of the political organization. Responding to an announcement by the KNU that discord among Karen rebels was the result of meddling by Burma’s military government, KNLA’s 7th Brigade dismissed such statements as propaganda, though they acknowledged that Burma’s ruling junta does attempt to crush its opponents by such “divide and conquer” methods. A statement issued last week by Brig-Gen Htain Maung and Col Ner Dah Mya, the tactical commander of the KNU’s General Headquarters Battalions and the son of Gen Bo Mya, accused “some leaders” of the organization’s Central Committee of corruption.

Irrawaddy
10 August 2006

KNU issues statement to counter Burma junta’s underhanded actions

The Karen National Union (KNU) issued a statement today in an attempt to ward off recent ‘problem’ between some leaders of its political wing and the commanders of its military wing Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade – 7.
The statement starts by saying that since the provisional ceasefire agreement with Burma’s military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the junta has been trying to split up the KNU by using every available means.
It continues that the SPDC plotted to take the ailing KNU former leader General Mya for medical treatments in Rangoon with the help of Karen doctors in Rangoon and Singapore, and that the SPDC intelligence officer Col Myat Htun Oo arrived at the Thai-Burmese border recently and tried to part Brigade – 7 from the KNU.
The statement ends by urging the whole of the Karen public including KNU members and armed fighters to be vigilant and stiffen their resolves. Moreover, the SPDC is told to stop all its military offensives against the Karen people and to approach the appointed channel if it really has the sincere desire to hold dialogues with the KNU.
KNU chairman Phado Saw Ba Thin Sein told DVB that the problem between KNU leaders and commanders of Brigade – 7 arose from a misunderstanding triggered off by unfounded rumours that General Mya was ousted by other KNU leaders. Ba Thin Sein said that the leaders concerned held a meeting to solve the misunderstanding between them and that it was no big deal.
“Some people within our organisation didn’t understand some matters and they should have solved them within the organisation, but as they didn’t do that, they were leaked to the outside world a little bit,” he said.
When asked if the problem would be solved completely, Ba Thin Sein said:
“We are discussing it with cool head in this way. There are some matters needed to be discussed by calling a central committee. We are solving it now. There is no reason we could not solve it.”
When asked what kind of preparations the KNU HQs are making to prevent this kind of problem occurring again, Ba Thin Sein said that as the problem was cased by the weakness in internal rallying, the KNU leaders must continue to consolidate truthful ideas among its members and act righteously.

Aug 03, 2006 (DVB)
Image: General Bo Mya and President Ba Thein at Waley Kee 2002 - Paul Keenan/KHCPS Archive