Statement
Mutraw Emergency Assistance Team
- In Mutraw (Hpapun) District, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)’s 5th Brigade, Ler Mu Plaw area, the Burmese Army has been launching its military offensive since early March 2018. This has caused an outbreak of fighting between the KNLA and the Burmese Army as the Burmese Army breached the ceasefire by moving troops across agreed ceasefire boundaries. As a consequence, over 2300 local villagers were forced to flee from their homes.
- To help the displaced villagers, a numbers of Karen community organizations and local groups have established the Mutraw Emergency Assistance Team on March 12 with the mission to provide humanitarian support to the displaced villagers. This consortium has since been providing medical and food support to the displaced villagers.
- On 5th April 2018, 42 year old Ler Mu Plaw villager Saw O Moo who was our team member and had actively provided emergency support for the displaced villagers was shot dead by the Burmese Army while he was on his way back to home. Saw O Moo was a leader of Mutraw indigenous Karen Community and actively advocated for indigenous Karen’s rights including land and forest governance as well as peace for Mutraw people.
- The murder of an innocent humanitarian aid worker by the Burmese Army seriously violates not only human rights but also the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).
- By releasing this statement, we call upon the president of Burma/Myanmar and the State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to take immediate measures to protect the displaced villagers and ensure the safety of our humanitarian workers.
IDP women and children still hiding in the jungle.
Villagers from He Ko Lo Der camped in a mountain valley after fleeing their homes on 5th March.