2009 March 18
tags: Burma, Genocide, Human Rights, Junta, Karen, KNU, migrants, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
A splinter group of the Karen National Union (KNU), the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council, had called for the closure of Burmese refugee camps in Thailand and said that refugees should be sent back to Burma, according to a report obtained by The Irrawaddy.
“The war is over now and the international community should take this opportunity to support and help the return of the Karen people to live peacefully in their homeland,” said the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council in a report to UN Human Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana who traveled to Karen State in February.
tags: Burma, Genocide, Human Rights, Junta, Karen, KNU, migrants, world focus on Burma
by peacerunning
A splinter group of the Karen National Union (KNU), the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council, had called for the closure of Burmese refugee camps in Thailand and said that refugees should be sent back to Burma, according to a report obtained by The Irrawaddy.
“The war is over now and the international community should take this opportunity to support and help the return of the Karen people to live peacefully in their homeland,” said the KNU/ KNLA Peace Council in a report to UN Human Rights Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana who traveled to Karen State in February.
The report also urged the UN and the Thai government to work with them as well as the Burmese military regime to secure the refugees’ return home.
The group claimed that the UN’s refugee program along the Thai-Burmese border was a “breeding ground of corruption,” which encouraged terrorist activities, the sex trade, human trafficking and the drug trade.
The report also pointed fingers at what it called “faux refugees” who only went to the refugee camps in order to apply to go to Western countries, and said that corrupt camp authorities were benefiting from the system.
The KNU/ KNLA Peace Council separated from the KNU in February 2007 and is led by former KNU commander Htay Maung, who is a relative of late KNU leader Gen Saw Bo Mya.
The report also pointed fingers at what it called “faux refugees” who only went to the refugee camps in order to apply to go to Western countries, and said that corrupt camp authorities were benefiting from the system.
The KNU/ KNLA Peace Council separated from the KNU in February 2007 and is led by former KNU commander Htay Maung, who is a relative of late KNU leader Gen Saw Bo Mya.
The Karen splinter group also accused the KNU, the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) and Burmese exiled groups in Thailand, as well as local Thai authorities, of causing instability along the Thai-Burmese border.The report by the group also slammed international Burmese language broadcasters and exiled Burmese media, specifically The Irrawaddy.
“BBC, VOA, RFA (in Burmese language), Irrawaddy magazine, and others who are illegally using Thai soil to stir up unrest with irresponsible broadcasts, propaganda, fabricated stories and false accusations to promote and protect terrorist activities along our common border … are jeopardizing innocent Karen and Thai [people] …” the group said.
The KNU-KNLA Peace Council blamed international aid organizations operating along the border as “indirectly or directly supporting terrorists.”
The group also took a swipe at Christian organizations, NGOs and the UN, accusing them of “exploiting the refugee situation to promote themselves for their own monetary gain” and in turn supporting terrorism.
However, the KNU splinter group did not mention in its report the issue of the more than 450,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), most of whom are Karen. Human rights groups said military offensives in conflict areas in eastern Burma produce hundreds of thousands of IDPs in Burma every year.
On March 13, in an article relating to Quintana’s trip to eastern Burma, state-run The New Light of Myanmar said that the Burmese regime was trying to restore peace and stability across Karen State.
“Mr Quintana may relay the message to the international community that the groups that have returned to the legal fold are maintaining peace and stability,” the junta mouthpiece said.
Escorted by Burmese authorities on his trip in February, Quintana met with the three Karen groups that had split from the KNU and had signed ceasefire agreements with the regime.
However, human rights groups such as Amnesty International have continually charged the junta of Crimes Against Humanity during its military offensives in eastern Burma.
In a recent report, UN human rights envoy Quintana urged the Burmese military to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, which prohibited direct attacks against civilians in areas affected by armed conflict, particularly in Karen State.http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=15324
Shame on you Junta dogs
“BBC, VOA, RFA (in Burmese language), Irrawaddy magazine, and others who are illegally using Thai soil to stir up unrest with irresponsible broadcasts, propaganda, fabricated stories and false accusations to promote and protect terrorist activities along our common border … are jeopardizing innocent Karen and Thai [people] …” the group said.
The KNU-KNLA Peace Council blamed international aid organizations operating along the border as “indirectly or directly supporting terrorists.”
The group also took a swipe at Christian organizations, NGOs and the UN, accusing them of “exploiting the refugee situation to promote themselves for their own monetary gain” and in turn supporting terrorism.
However, the KNU splinter group did not mention in its report the issue of the more than 450,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), most of whom are Karen. Human rights groups said military offensives in conflict areas in eastern Burma produce hundreds of thousands of IDPs in Burma every year.
On March 13, in an article relating to Quintana’s trip to eastern Burma, state-run The New Light of Myanmar said that the Burmese regime was trying to restore peace and stability across Karen State.
“Mr Quintana may relay the message to the international community that the groups that have returned to the legal fold are maintaining peace and stability,” the junta mouthpiece said.
Escorted by Burmese authorities on his trip in February, Quintana met with the three Karen groups that had split from the KNU and had signed ceasefire agreements with the regime.
However, human rights groups such as Amnesty International have continually charged the junta of Crimes Against Humanity during its military offensives in eastern Burma.
In a recent report, UN human rights envoy Quintana urged the Burmese military to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, which prohibited direct attacks against civilians in areas affected by armed conflict, particularly in Karen State.http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=15324
Shame on you Junta dogs
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