The Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government to take urgent action as more than 2,000 ethnic Karen civilians flee from the Burmese Army and their allies.
Ler Per Her, a camp for internally displaced people just inside Burma in Karen State, is being evacuated today as around a thousand soldiers from the Burmese Army and its allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), move into the area. The camp is in the Pa’an district of Karen State, on the Thailand Burma border. The Burma Campaign UK has visited the camp twice this year, hearing first hand testimony of abuses committed by the regime.
Ler Per Her has around 1,200 people who have already had to flee their villages because of human rights abuses and attacks by the Burmese Army and DKBA. The camp itself has twice been forced to relocate after previous attacks. After the last attack it moved closer to a base of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), which has provided protection for the camp. The KNLA is the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), which opposes military rule.
At the start of June the Burmese Army and DKBA began using people as slave labour to carry military equipment. The Burmese Army and DKBA have moved significant new numbers of troops into the area to prepare for a new military offensive. The Karen Human Rights Group estimates more than 700 villagers have been forced to flee for fear of being used as slave labour or caught up in fighting.
The Burmese Army now has troops and military equipment stationed within range of the Ler Per Her camp. It is expected they will begin military operations to take the area tomorrow. The area is currently controlled by the pro-democracy group the Karen National Union. The Burmese Army wants to take the land as part of its strategy to destroy all opposition to its rule, and offers the DKBA lucrative border trade deals to carry out attacks on its behalf.
The 1,200 people from Ler Per Her are now camped on the Thailand side of the Moei River, they have limited food and shelter.
“Once again the international community is silent as thousands of people flee attacks by the Burmese Army,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. “The British government must start speaking out about the situation in Eastern Burma. They must urgently provide aid, and also demand that the United Nations organise a Commission of Inquiry into the war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed against my people. They must also work for a global arms embargo.” Zoya Phan has twice herself been forced to flee attacks by the Burmese Army.
There are already around 150,000 people from Burma in refugee camps in Thailand, and around half a million internally displaced people in Eastern Burma, which has levels of poverty and disease equivalent to the worst conflict hit African country. More than 3,300 villages in Eastern Burma have been destroyed in the past 15 years.
For more information contact Zoya Phan on 020 7324 4710