Description:
Abstract:
:Widespread human rights violations have been occurring in ethnic areas of Burma since the late nineteen
sixties. This report, based on a 2008/9 field survey, focuses on the government?s use of mass displacement
and relocation designed to destabilize the ethnic populations of Karen State.
The government first initiated a policy of ethnic relocation in Karen State in 1975 as part of what became
known as the four cuts campaign, a policy intended to deprive the ethnic resistance movement of food,
money, intelligence and recruits. While noting the existence of such earlier camps, this report specifically
examines the lives of people living in sites after a further concerted effort to control the civilian population
was initiated in 2006.
This report identifies three types of site created by the military regime. The first, roughly translated from
Burmese as ?model? villages, are some of the most recent examples and have been created under the guise of
development; the second type, initiated in 1979, are primarily security driven and have resulted in highland
villages being relocated to the plains; the third, which are also security initiated and mainly located in
Taungoo, consists of villages cleared from areas of military infrastructure. Villagers in this latter type, unlike
the previous two, have been given no provision for relocation; rather, the population was told to vacate the
area with little regard as to where they would go.
Relocated villagers, despite the fact that purported contact with resistance forces has all but been eradicated,
continue to face severe abuses by Burmese authorities. Forced labour on infrastructure projects and
military controlled business is widespread. Villagers are ordered to act as sentries, messengers, porters and
minesweepers by the Burma Army. Corruption and illegal taxation is prevalent in all the sites assessed.
In addition, the opportunity for making a living has been drastically reduced. Malnutrition, especially in
infants, has increased and is exacerbated by army restrictions that prevent villagers from access to food,
medicine and education.
This report identifies serious issues of concern that continue to affect the ethnic populations of Burma. It
highlights the government?s disregard for the rights of its people and its blatant use of the local population as
little more than a captive workforce to be used as the military dictates."
Source/publisher:
Ethnic Nationalities Council
Date of Publication:
2010-01-00
Date of entry:
2010-08-03
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
3.56 MB