EASTERN PWO KAREN CULTURE AND LITER

[brelief@xxxxxxx]

21 March 1998

EASTERN PWO KAREN CULTURE AND LITERATURE PRESERVATION COMMITTEE STATEMENT 

SUBSEQUENT TO ATTACKS ON KAREN REFUGEES IN THAILAND

Armed groups have repeatedly come and attacked refugee camps in Thailand,
shot civilians, looted property and burnt the dwellings of people who have
merely fled the long running civil war that continues to plague Burma. As a
non-political organization, however, it is not our place to make a statement
outlining specific details of these attacks, nor those of the perpetrators.

Karen refugees, in coming to Thailand, lose not only their land and
property, but also their valuable traditions and culture, as there is no way
available for them to preserve these in the climate of civil war. Meanwhile,
the people who remain inside Burma constantly have to face the impact of
ongoing civil war on their lives.

In order to preserve our culture and customs, and that every ethnic group
might stay peacefully together, we encourage all parties involved in the
conflict to act as follows:

1. Each and every political organization and armed group within the country
should meet and negotiate together with others in a constructive atmosphere.

2. International organizations, for their part, should do their utmost to
apply pressure for the above process to take place.

3. And as for the people, in so far as, and in whatever way they are able,
everybody should strive for peace in Burma.

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