It’s more than five months since tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Burmese cities and the nation’s military regime responded with a bloody crackdown which left an official death toll of 10, although sources within Burma put the actual figure at many times that number.
While there remains hope that the so-called ‘Saffron Revolution’ heralds the start of a journey toward a new era for Burma, London-based human rights organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide says in a recent report that the nation continues to “deteriorate into further political, human rights and humanitarian crises”.
In particular, the report, which follows a recent two week fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burma border region and Malaysia by CSW members, cites the assassination of 14th February of the general secretary of the Karen National Union, Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, as a “major setback” for the Karen people and the entire movement for democracy in Burma.
“Burma continues to deteriorate into further political, human rights and humanitarian crises.”
– Christian Solidarity Worldwide report
It also claims that the announcement by the ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, that they would hold a referendum on the new constitution in May this year and elections in 2010 as a “blatant attempt to rubber-stamp military rule and ignore the repeatedly expressed will of the people of Burma, the United Nations and the international community”.
Benedict Rogers, research and advocacy officer for South Asia at CSW, says that given the efforts of the UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari have so far “not succeeded in achieving any progress whatsoever”, it is time for the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, to himself become more engaged.
Mr Rogers says that while the US and, to a lessor extent, the European Union have introduced sanctions – and the US has been a major driver of efforts to raise the issue of Burma at the UN Security Council – other Western nations such as France and Germany have business interests in the country which have “led to them opposing tough action”.
“(A)lthough Burma is rich in natural resources including oil and gas, it is not a strategic priority for Western nations,” he says.
Mr Rogers adds that the lack of media attention on Burma means there is not enough public awareness and pressure for change. He says China, India and other nations in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) – in particular Thailand – “have protected the regime from further pressure and have provided economic and political support to the regime”.
The report focuses in particular on the plight of the Karen people saying that attacks on civilians in Karen State have been escalating over the past few years. In particular it speaks of a major offensive in 2006, which resulted in the displacement of thousands and in which, according to the report, civilians were shot at point-blank range, women and children were targeted and there were reports of mutilation including the cutting off of ears and noses.
“The regime is clearly intent on the destruction of the Karen people, driven by a racial hatred as well as a complete intolerance for any dissent,” says Mr Rogers, who took part in the recent trip.
“One Karen leader told us recently that the regime’s plan ‘is to try to eliminate the Karen as a people’ and he said that the regime ‘will try to wipe us out in 2008’.”
The report details the stories of several people who had recently arrived at camps for Internally Displaced People inside Shan and Karen States. They spoke of taking part in forced labour inside their villages, of permission being required for any local activities including Buddhist religious ceremonies, being forced to participate in pro-regime rallies, physical abuse and even rape.
Elsewhere the report, which also details conversations with a number of people who had participated in the Saffron Revolution, also draws attention to the “seriously under-reported challenges facing Burmese refugees in Malaysia and the desperate conditions in which the exist in urban and jungle camps in and around Kuala Lumpur”. It says the regular detention and deportation of Burmese refugees by Malaysian authorities – and “severe mistreatment” such as canings – requires “urgent international attention and action”.
