Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers
Individual Documents
Description:
"A new report by the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) raises concerns about
international ?peace support” programming amid
st increasing Burma Army militarization in
Karenni State after the2012 ceasefire with the
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).
The report ?Where is Genuine Peace?” exposes how a pilot resettlement project of the
Norway-led Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) in Shardaw
Township is encouraging
IDPs to return to an area controlled by the Burma Army where their safety cannot be
guaranteed.
The MPSI claims that between June 2013 and
September 2014 it supported 1,431 IDPs to
return to 10 Shadaw villages forcibly relocated in 1996. However, KCSN found only about a
third of these IDPs in the villages, most of whom were working-age adults returning to carry
out farming, but not daring to return permanently due to fears of renewed conflict. As in
other parts of Karenni State, the Burma Army has been reinforcing troops and fortifying its
positions in Shadaw, where there is a tactical command centre and over 20 military
outposts.
?Instead of encouraging IDPs to return home be
fore it is safe, international donors should
be trying to ensure that the rights of conflict-affected villagers are protected,” said one of
KCSN. ?There must be pressure on the government to pull back its troops from the ethnic
areas and start political dialog
ue towards federal reform.”
KCSN also criticizes the MPSI for fuelling conflict by ignoring Karenni-managed social service
organizations that have been providing primary health care and other support to IDPs in
Shadaw for decades. MPSI?s health support was through the government system, which
remains highly centralized and dysfunctional in Karenni State.
?Donors should not just give one-sided support to expand government services into ethnic
conflict areas. This won?t be effective, and will
only increase resentment and fuel conflict,”
said KSWDC.
The report also raises concerns about rampant
resource extraction after the ceasefire, land
confiscation, military expansions and lack of
transparency around dam plans on the Salween
and its tributaries in Karenni State. KCSN
is calling for a moratorium on large-scale
infrastructure and resource extraction projects
in Karenni State until there is genuine peace." [from the KCSN press release of 5 December, 2014]
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN)
Date of publication:
2014-12-05
Date of entry/update:
2015-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Karenni State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Forced displacement/forced migration linked to natural resource exploitation, Gold mining and trade
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
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1.6 MB
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Executive Summary: "The people of Karenni State are living ghosts. Their daily survival is an
achievement; however, it also signifies their further descent into poverty and a
spiralling system of repression. Whilst this report documents the deteriorating
situation in Karenni State over the past six years, this is nothing new for the
ethnically diverse population of this geographically small area. They have been
living in a protracted conflict zone for over 50 years with no respite from decades
of low-intensity conflict and frequent human rights abuses. All the while both
State and Non-State actors have marginalised the grassroots communities? voices,
contributing to the militarisation of their communities and societies.
Burmese soldiers oppress Karenni villagers on a daily basis. Villagers are isolated
from members of their own communities, and other ethnic groups; they report
daily to local Burmese troops about Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP)
troop movements and other activities in their areas; community members spy on
one another, reporting back to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC);
and they are punished by the SPDC in retaliation for the actions of the KNPP. All
of these strategies create an environment of fear and mistrust between ethnic
groups, communities, and even family members. These tactics successfully
oppress the villagers, as they are too fearful and busy to think beyond daily survival.
Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that villagers face oppression not
only from the Burmese army, but also ceasefire groups and the KNPP. Soldiers
from both the KNPP and ceasefire groups physically maltreat villagers and
undermine their livelihoods. While these occurrences are certainly less frequent
and less severe than similar acts by the SPDC, they still oppress the civilian
population and undermine their ability and capacity to survive.
Additionally the presence of many different actors has resulted in the militarisation
of Karenni State. Thousands of landmines have been indiscriminately planted
throughout the state, without adequate mapping or markings to minimise civilian
causalities. The SPDC, ceasefire groups and the KNPP all recruit and have
child soldiers in their armies. The Burmese army has the largest number of child
soldiers anywhere in the world, and approximately 20 per cent of the KNPP?s
troops are under 18 (the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces
under Burma?s national law). The increased militarisation of Karenni State has
resulted in increases in human rights abuses.
However villagers are staging their own non-violent resistance movement. They
have developed and implemented a number of early warning systems and
household and village-wide risk management strategies so as to minimise the
impact of the SPDC and other armed groups violence and abuses. These
resistance strategies have become the biggest threat to local and regional
authorities; consequently the villagers are increasingly becoming the targets of
hostilities from the Burmese army.
Most people in Karenni State rely on agriculture as their primary source of income
and are living a subsistence existence. Despite the villagers? best efforts to secure
their livelihoods, their ability and capacity to do so is constantly undermined by
the SPDC and, to a lesser extent, ceasefire groups and the KNPP via crop
procurement, forced production of dry season crops, arbitrary taxation and fines,
theft and destruction of property and food, forced labour and land confiscation.
This is further exacerbated by the drought that has been occurring in Karenni
State for the past decade, which affects crop yields. When coupled with
skyrocketing commodity prices, villagers? ability to ebb out a living is further eroded
– to the point of impossibility in some cases.
The abject poverty in Karenni State prevents villagers from accessing basic health
and education services. Whilst the SPDC claims to provide free health care and
education, in reality this does not occur. Health and education services provided
by the state are extremely expensive and are well-below international standards.
As a result, for most people education and medical treatment becomes a luxury
they simply cannot afford.
As a result of poverty some villagers are turning to illegal activities in order to
survive - mainly poppy production. In Karenni State there are two areas where
villagers are growing poppies with the permission of ceasefire groups. Farmers
can earn a significantly higher monetary return on their poppy yields than for
other crops using the same quantity of land. Poppy growers can earn up to
300,000 Kyat per 1.5 kilogram package of raw opium they produce (a 1.5 kilogram
package of raw opium can be produced in four months). A teacher supported by
the SPDC would have to work for 60 months in order to earn the same amount.
Additionally amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) are being produced in Karenni
State. Three factories producing ATS in Karenni State have been identified, again
in areas controlled by ceasefire groups; however as it is difficult to distinguish
between factories and ordinary dwellings it is possible that there are many other
ATS factories in Karenni State that have not been identified. Each factory can
produce between 250,000 and 300,000 pills per month. From the three known
factories in Karenni State between 9 million and 10.8 million ATS pills are being
produced and released into the international drug market each year.
Today over a quarter of the population in Karenni State have been forced from
their homes as a direct result of the actions of the Burmese military junta. Between
70 and 80 per cent of those displaced are women and children. Displacement
has increased 42 per cent since 2002 and represents eight per cent of the total
population in Karenni State. Karenni State has the highest level of displacement
to population ratio in all of eastern Burma. When similar comparisons are made
to the five countries with the largest displaced populations in the world (Sudan,
Colombia, Uganda, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo) the percentage
of displaced persons in Karenni State is alarmingly higher. Over 12 per cent of
Sudan?s population is displaced – less than half that of Karenni State.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Burma receive very little assistance,
if any at all, primarily due to the policies of the SPDC, which severely restrict
humanitarian agencies accessing these vulnerable populations. The SPDC
deems IDPs as enemies of the state and implements a shoot on sight policy,
which includes children and the elderly. IDPs are vulnerable to human rights
abuses, exploitation and violence from the
SPDC, as well as food shortages and have
severely limited access to education and
health care services.
The most pressing need of the people and
the IDP population is physical security. Most
people have the capacity to earn a livelihood
mitigating food shortages, to educate their
children, establish a medical clinic and
develop their communities; however, they
lack the security necessary to do so. There
are humanitarian organisations working in
Karenni State, including local community
based organisations (CBOs), nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs) and
international agencies such as the United
Nations Development Programme. Despite
this presence the humanitarian situation in
Karenni State continues to deteriorate and
people are finding themselves slipping further and further into the poverty abyss
– with no foreseeable escape.
The impacts from the situation in Karenni State are not confined to the State?s
boundaries - they spill over into other states and divisions in Burma and also
across international borders, especially into Thailand. These spill over effects
in
Source/publisher:
Burma Issues
Date of publication:
2008-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-04-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Karenni (Kayah) State, Karenni (Kayah) - cultural, political
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
521.58 KB
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Description:
Click on the on the html link above to go to a neater, paginated table of contents or on the pdf links below to go straight to the document ....
PDF File 1: Cover and Contents.
PDF File 2: Boundaries; Climate; Physical Features; Population; Ethnic Groups in Karenni; Gender Roles in Karenni; Agriculture, Land Distribution and Patterns of Recourse; Resources; Water; Communication, Trade and Transport Conflict in Karenni; A History of Conflict; The Pre-Colonial Period; The Colonial Period; Independence in Burma and the Outbreak of Civil War in the Karenni States; State and Non-State Actors including Armed Groups and Political Parties; The Role of the Tatmadaw; The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP); The Karenni National People?s Liberation Front (KNPLF); The Shan State Nationalities Liberation Organisation (SSNLO); The Kayan New Land Party (KNLP; The NDF and CPB Alliances and their Impact in Karenni; War in the Villages; The Formation of Splinter Groups in the 1990s; The Economics of War; The Relationship between Financing the War and Exploitation of Natural Resources; The Course of the War; Cease-fires.... PDF file 3: Conflict-Induced Displacements in Karenni -- Defining Population Movements; Conflict Induced Displacement; Displacement in 1996; Displacements by Township; Relocation Policy; Services in Relocation Sites; Smaller Relocation Sites and so-called ?Gathering Villages?; Displacement into Shan State; Displacement as a Passing Phenomenon; Displacement, Resettlement and Transition; Women outside Relocation Sites. Development Induced Displacement -- Displacements in Loikaw City; Confiscation of Land by the Tatmadaw; Displacement as a Result of Resource Scarcity; Food Scarcity; Water Shortages; Voluntary Migrations. Health and education needs and responses: Health Policy; Health Services; Health Status of the Population; Communicable Diseases; Nutrition; Reproductive and Women?s Health; Landmine Casualties; Iodine Deficiency and Goitre; Vitamin A Deficiency; Water and Sanitation; Responses to Health Needs; Education Policy; Educational Services and Coverage; Traditional Attitudes to Education; Educational Services in Karenni; Responses to Educational Needs; Responses from the Thai-Burma border; Responses by International Humanitarian Agencies from Inside Burma. Appendices: A Comparison of Populations in Relocation Sites in Karenni; Refugee Arrivals at the Thai Border; Displacements by Township; Examples of Population Movements.
Vicky Bamforth, Steven Lanjouw, Graham Mortimer
Source/publisher:
Burma Ethnic Research Group (BERG)
Date of publication:
2000-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Karenni (Kayah) - cultural, political, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Forced relocation of Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers
Language:
English
Format :
htm pdf pdf pdf
Size:
5.46 KB 472.28 KB 782.74 KB 1.32 MB
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Description:
This report documents human rights violations carried out by troops from the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) against Karenni people in Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern Burma. Information regarding human rights abuses in the area has come from interviews with Karenni refugees who have fled into Thailand, and with officials from the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS:
forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration,
forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
ABSDF
Date of publication:
1997-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Forced relocation of Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah)
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
31.16 KB
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Description:
"Testimony by a refugee from central Karenni (Kayah) State and List of Villages Relocated in March 1992."
"(Northwest Karenni State) List of 76 villages relocated in March 1992. Deemawso and Pruso Townships March, July 92. Karenni men, women: Rape; forced labour incl. portering and work on the Loikaw-Aung Ban railway -- 91); extortion; forced relocation; religious intolerance (the villages were Christian)..."
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
Date of publication:
1992-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Forced relocation of Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
14.34 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Statement by Karenni refugees fleeing a SLORC ultimatum to all villagers in a large part of the State where the Karenni opposition is strong to leave their villages or die. Their statements describe some of the SLORC army?s activities in civilian villages of western Karenni..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) Regional & Thematic Reports
Date of publication:
1992-06-12
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Forced relocation of Karenni (Kayah), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karenni villagers, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles
Language:
English
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