Hundreds flee Karen state after Burma army killings

More than 200 Karen villagers have been forcibly displaced and three others have been killed along with a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) soldier, following attacks by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Burma Army in Dooplaya District, Southern Karen State, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

This violence comes only one month before UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon is due to visit the country for discussions over the political crisis. According to Free Burma Rangers, the DKBA and Burma Army began targeting villagers at the beginning of October in a bid to control the population and gain access to coal, zinc mines, rubber and teak trees.

These attacks spilled over from Pa-an District into the Dooplaya District of Karen State at the end of October. Families have since been forced to flee their villages and set up temporary camps in Thailand, 50 miles south of Mae Sot.

A field researcher from Karen Human Rights Group reported that the DKBA initially issued documents to villagers across the Pa-an District informing them of their intention to attack.

These letters outlined plans to target the Karen National Liberation Army after the Karen National Union (KNU) refused to agree to the construction of pagodas in Pa-an District. DKBA forbade villagers from staying in farm field huts during night time and warned them not to contact or support the KNU or KNLA on threat of injury.

A villager, who remains unnamed for his own safety, said: "They shot everywhere before they entered the village.If they capture you they will kill you...We dare not stay there, so we fled. They said they will kill everyone that would like to be friends with the KNU. We do not want to live under their control because they force us to do many things for them. We do not have time to work in our farm."

The DKBA burnt houses in Ker Law Lu and Htee Per Kee villages and four villagers were injured by newly planted landmines. Families from these villages have fled to a hiding site for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Karen State. They are now without food and in urgent need of safe drinking water, medicine, plastic sheets, blankets, mats, mosquito nets and warm clothes. There is a high risk of malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery, respiratory and urinary tract infections.

CSW's Advocacy Officer for Burma, Benedict Rogers said: "CSW strongly condemns these killings and the forcible displacement of so many innocent Karen villagers. We once again welcome the landmark visit planned by Ban Ki-Moon this December and call on the United Nations to set out specific benchmarks for progress, such as the release of political prisoners.

"We call on the UN Security Council to impose a universal arms embargo on the regime in Burma and to refer a case against Burma's Army Generals to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

"It is now time to secure real and lasting change for the Karen people and all the peoples of Burma.""