"In mid-1996 the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) military junta ruling Burma broke a ceasefire with the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) by launching a military offensive aimed at gaining complete control over areas of Karenni (Kayah) State near the border with Thailand. To support this military campaign, at the same time the junta launched a mass forced relocation campaign against rural villagers throughout the state, hoping to undermine the KNPP by removing or wiping out the entire civilian population in rural areas. Since then over 200 villages covering at least half the geographic area of the entire state have been forcibly relocated, burned and destroyed by Burmese Army troops under the command of the SLORC, which was renamed the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) in November 1997. There is no accurate census data available, but most of the villages only have 10 to 50 households and estimates of the number of villagers affected range between 30,000 and 50,000..."...Forced relocation in Karenni. ... ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced