Than Htike Oo & Nay Thwin
At least 10 villagers in eastern Burma's Karen state have been killed and thousands rendered homeless due to increased Burmese Army occupation over the past two months, a humanitarian assistance group said.
In a new report, the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian assistance group working in eastern Burma, said in the past two months the Burmese Army's presence in Karen state has gone up to over 90 battalions.
With the number of soldiers ranging between 11,000 to 14,000 operating in three Karen districts - Papun, Nyaunglebin, and Taungoo - the number of internally displaced persons in the three districts have gone up to 25,000, the report said.
The FBR said with the increase of Burmese Army battalions in Karen state since 2006, human rights violations have escalated and landmines have filled the area, causing uncalled for destruction in the villages and killing local residents.
According to Saw Hla Henry, secretary of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), over the last two months the number of internally displaced people has increased to 10,000.
"There are at least 10,000 internally displaced people due to the fresh offensive launched by the Burmese Army in the last two to three months," Saw Hla Henry said.
The IDPs, since they have to flee their farm lands and leave their daily occupation, are faced with severe shortage of food and shelter in the jungles hideouts, he added.
According to the FBR report, there are at least 4,500 Burmese soldiers in Nyaunglebin district, 34 battalions in Papun district and 27 battalions in Taungoo districts.
The increase in the number of Burmese soldiers has seen to at least 12,900 IDPs in Nyaunglebin, 3,000 - 4,000 IDPs in Papun and 7,000 in Taungoo districts, the FBR said.
The Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a London based Human Rights group, in a statement released on Tuesday, said the Burmese Army's attacks on ethnic groups have been going on for the past 60 years. It condemned the military junta's onslaught against innocent civilians.
"The world was shocked by the killings of demonstrators in the cities of Burma in September 2007. However, the ongoing horrific attacks against the ethnic groups of Burma are less well known despite the fact that they have ensued for almost 60 years," Tina Lambert, CSW's Advocacy Director said.
"We condemn the onslaught of the Burma Army against its innocent civilians and urge the international community to assist ethnic groups like the Karen people through direct aid and diplomatic action," Lambert added in the statement.
Hla Ngwe, information officer of the Karen National Union (KNU), Karen ethnic rebel group, said according to statistics that the KNU has compiled currently there are 187 Burmese Army battalions in Karen state including the three districts.
With at least 120 to 150 soldiers in each battalion, there are an estimated 25,000 soldiers currently deployed in Karen State, he added.
According to statistics released by the KNU information department in December 2007, there have been at least 1,391 clashes between the KNU and a combined force of the Burmese Army and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a ceasefire Karen armed group.
According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), there are 1, 24,300 Burmese refugees, who are registered with the agency, living in nine camps along the Thai-Burmese border.