"Since mid-1996 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta, now renamed as the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), has forcibly relocated and destroyed over 200 villages covering at least half the geographic area of Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern Burma. At least 20,000-30,000 people have been displaced, forced to move into military-controlled camps where many of them have been starving and dying of disease, or to flee into hiding in the forest where they face similar suffering as well as the possibility of being shot on sight by SLORC/SPDC patrols. Some have escaped to Thailand but the vast majority are still struggling to survive in the relocation sites or in hiding in the forests near their destroyed villages. There is no sign that their situation will improve anytime soon, as the SPDC continues its campaign aiming at the complete military control of Karenni State and the obliteration of all possibilities of resistance ..." ...... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move.