BURMA: Several thousand villagers fled from army attacks in Papun Township, Karen state

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the brutal actions of the Burma army, which has burnt an inordinate amount of rice in the Karen state, and caused thousands of villagers to flee their homes. The attacks have been ongoing since 14 November 2004, and are merely the latest in a long line of brutality.

Under any circumstances, the most basic human right, the right to food, must not be affected by any actions undertaken by state personnel, as it has been in this case. AHRC urges you to take immediate action by demanding that the Myanmar government halt the actions of the military at once, and provide relief to the affected people. Without taking these steps, the government will be violating international laws and there will be no hope of building peace and democracy within the country. 

Urgent Appeals Desk– Hunger Alert
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Due to the Burma army’s ongoing attacks since 14 November 2004, 4,781 Karen people became new Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 19,425 baskets (about 388,000 kilos) of paddy rice have been burned in Papun Township, Karen State, Burma up to now. The affected village tracts are: Bla Ko, Mae Ya Kee, Mae K’Tee, Saw Per Kee and Htee Blu (Bleh). The actual number of IDPs and burned rice baskets will increase as the army operation continues. All of the villagers in this area are Internally Displaced Persons- IDPs, and had recently moved back into this area to reestablish the homes and fields that they had lost in 2000. They are now in hiding again. 

At midnight, 14 November 2004, four Burma army battalions (LIB 350, IB 57, LIB 20 and one troop from LIB 264) launched attacks against villagers in Papun Township, western Karen State. The four battalions divided into two forces and launched simultaneous attacks in the Ya Aung area and the Htee Blu area. LIB 589 later joined the military operation and LIB 28 is delivering supplies to the battalions for those attacks. The army burned over 30 homes, destroyed over 2,000 baskets of rice, looted homes and livestock, and drove over 800 people into the jungle. Most of the people had only a one hour warning that the army was coming and fled in the middle of the night with few possessions or food. Many were sleeping in their fields during this harvest time and could not return to their homes at all. 

The villagers are now living in fear deep in the jungle and mountains, while the Burma army is occupying the high ground near the abandoned villages and continues to burn rice barns and homes as well as to eat the livestock the villagers were forced to abandon. The villagers can only cook at night in hidden places so that army patrols cannot find them. Most of them fled the attacks with only what they had on their backs and are now suffering from cold and exposure during the night. Many of them are beginning to suffer from dysentery and respiratory infections due to their being crowded into small hiding places with limited water supplies. This also makes them weaker and more susceptible to other diseases such as GI/UT tract infections and malaria. The most at risk are babies and small children, many of whom are already sick. 

There are also women who are pregnant and close to giving birth staying in the IDP hide sites and if they have to stay there much longer they will give birth in the jungle. The weather is getting colder and there has been some rain. They are also under constant pressure to always be ready to move if the Burma army troops come near this hiding place. Food, shelter, health and security are their biggest problems right now.

It was reported that the army moved to Su Mu Hta on November 19, and then to Ya Aung area (three villages in this area are Ya Aung, Ger Hee Day, Nya Lee Pu). Altogether more than 400 IDPs had to flee from these three villages and are still hiding in the jungle. Many of them were suffering from malaria, diarrhea, hepatitis and other illnesses.

Three new camps are being built by the Burma army in the areas they recently attacked (14 Nov-15 Dec). These camps are in a line going from north to south, forming a new eastern front which penetrates deeper into Karen territory. They are built on what were Karen village areas. The army has also placed landmines around the areas they attacked and burned. 
  
The army attacks then moved north. On 30 November 2004, two Burma army battalions attacked ten villages in Northern Karen state and displaced approximately 3,000 people from the following villages: Bway Baw Der, Saw Mu Der, Saw Day Der, Per Law, Law Bee Law, Maw They Der, Gwa Htoo Cho, Pwe Buh Der, Wa Mee Per and Klaw Mu Der. These villages are situated along the Yaw Law River valley.

The Burma army also continues its operations against civilians in Karenni State, attacking IDPs, their hiding places and placing land mines around abandoned villages. Up to now, it is reported that the 4,781 villagers are displaced due to those ongoing army attacks and are still in hiding in the mountains and jungle near these areas and cannot go back to their homes. 

Since the January 2004 attacks, there have been various other attacks on Karenni villagers, including forced labour, attacks on IDP ‘hide-sites’ and the laying of landmines near such sites and villagers.

There are over one million IDPs in Burma due to the attacks of the Burma army. Most of the people in these recent attacks in Karen and Karenni State had already been displaced numerous times before. In the case of the Karens in Papun Township, Karen State, they said that they believed cease fire negotiations would hold between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military dictatorship and Karen Nation Union (KNU). They had thus planted more rice than usual and had built better homes in the villages they used to live in, after being chased out due to the brutal army attacks in 2000.  

Damage cased by tsunami (gigantic wave):

It is reported that about 56,000 people died by one of the worst natural catastrophes of recent times by way of the tsunami that devastated several countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Burma and Malaysia. However, up to now, no information has been released from Burma about the damage caused by this flood in the country.  The AHRC calls on the Myanmar government to take prompt and strong steps to assist the individuals and families who have suffered, and to engage the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the country.   

ADDITIONAL INFOMRATION:

The AHRC has initiated the People’s Tribunal on Food Security and Militarization in Burma and addressed that under any circumstances the most basic human right to food cannot be affected by any actions undertaken by state personnel in its reports for several years. However, the Myanmar government has been consistently ignoring the problem and has failed to respond it.   

The current seriousness of the hunger situation in Burma is not due to any natural causes, but due to systemic militarization. For more information, please see the report:  Voice of Hungry Nation published by the People’s Tribunal in October 1999.    

** The People’s Tribunal arose from a growing concern that Burma’s serious crises in the areas of basic economic, social and cultural rights are worsening, yet have not been adequately addressed by the international discourse on Burma. Thus the Tribunal’s goal is to create greater awareness of the systemic denial of food, as the most basic human right, and its relationship to Burma’s heavily militarized state.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Commander in Chief/Army of Myanmar to demand that he intervene in this case. A sample letter follows.

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