The people of Burma and its minority groups are locked in one of the world’s great freedom struggles. The country’s military rulers, the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council), continue to rule by fear and suppression, guilty of obscene human rights violations, silencing all forms of free speech including imprisonment or death for voicing desire for a free and democratic country.
The Karen people from Eastern Burma are one of several ethnic minorities who continue to fight for their autonomy in the past ten years; over 3,200 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma. There are over 600,000 internally displaced people, with well over a million who have fled to other countries.
I accompanied Partners staff as they delivered supplies and assessed refugee situations in hard to reach camps, often gaining access under threat from the Burmese military across the Thai border into Burma. Refugees would continue to flow into camps such as Ler Ber Her, under direct threat from the Burmese Army, having ambled through the jungle to avoid capture.
Only too many times did I hear pleas by refugees that they may see peace in their lifetimes, not having to go to the “third country” and to be able live their simple lives without fear. A basic hope for the future, that seems to be falling on deaf ears.
I was fortunate also, to be present at the 60th anniversary of the Karen people’s “Revolution Day” on the 31st January 2009. An estimated 5000 Karen and guests came together in Karen State, just across the Thai-Burma border to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Karen National Union (KNU).
KNU Chief of Staff, Mu Tu addressed the crowd: “The Karens struggle for freedom will continue until we accomplish our goal. We Karen condemn the chauvinist Burman ideology of the military junta and the militarisation of Burma.”
