"...Threats to civilian populations in south-east Burma include murder, rape, torture, looting, forced labour and arbitrary taxation, hunger, land confiscation, and the destruction of entire villages. People living in conflict zones are often subject to ?multiple masters?, paying taxes (or other forms of ?tribute? – such as labour, or the conscription of their sons) to two or more armed groups. Protection against hunger is also a major concern. For vulnerable communities, the distinction between livelihoods and other forms of security is minimal. People manage or avoid these risks through a variety of strategies, including trade-offs, some of which may appear very negative. Often, people have to balance risks against each other, and choose the ?least-worst option?. Individuals, families and communities? limited selfprotection options depend on the resources available, including money, relationships, and information. The standing and quality of community leaders also appear to be crucial. Particularly important is the development of protective ?social capital?. In the absence of protection by the state or international agencies, community-based organizations play important roles in providing limited amounts of assistance to vulnerable communities in south-east Burma. Civil society networks operating cross-border from Thailand include a range of CBOs, some of which can be characterized as the welfare wings of armed ethnic groups. These organizations provide often life-saving assistance to IDPs and other vulnerable civilians, with funds provided by many of the same donors who also support the refugee regime along the border. Monitoring of these relief activities is very tight and little, if any, cross-border aid is diverted to insurgent organizations. However, the close association between several of the more prominent cross-border aid groups and the armed conflict actors with which they work serves to legitimize the latter, who are involved in the distribution of internationally funded relief supplies.44 Humanitarian donors and organizations must ensure that their interventions ?do no harm? to intended beneficiaries. Discussion of the relationships between aid and conflict has not been prominent within humanitarian networks along the Thailand-Burma border.45 Such caveats notwithstanding, locally designed and led humanitarian activities can help to mobilize communities. Local (especially faith-based) leaders do often help to build trust and ?social capital?. International donors can and should do more to engage positively with such initiatives..."