Karenni (Kayah) State

expand all
collapse all

Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: "The internal conflict in Myanmar refers to a series of ongoing insurgencies within Myanmar that began shortly after the country, then known as Burma, became independent from the United Kingdom in 1948. The conflict has been labeled as the world?s longest running civil war....."Main fronts: Kachin State... Kayah State... Kayin State... Rakhine State... Shan State..."
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-02
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "Like many ethnic classifications in Burma, ?Karenni? is a collective term constructed during the colonial era that does not represent a single ethnic group. Karenni, sometimes also known as the Red Karen (so-called because it was a favoured colour in traditional clothing) or Kayah, actually refers to a Karen grouping which includes a number of ethnic groups that speak related Tibeto-Burman languages such as Kekhu, Bre, Kayah, Yangtalai, Geba, Zayein and Paku. Their exact numbers are difficult to assert because of the absence of reliable statistics: one plausible estimate is that they may number some 250,000 people. In Kayah State where many Karenni are concentrated, sandwiched between Shan State to the north-west and Karen State to the south-west, the Karenni represented some 56 per cent of the state population of about 259,000 in the official census of 1983 (which is deemed unreliable by many observers). There is also a sizeable Kayah-speaking population in Shan State. It is generally thought that most Karennis are Christians, though a large percentage of the population is Buddhist. ..."
Source/publisher: Minority Rights Group
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
more
expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Sub-title: The Karenni People’s Defence Force went on the offensive over the weekend, but now faces an overwhelming show of force
Description: "As armed resistance to the Myanmar military’s February 1 coup continues to grow around the country, a new front has opened in the struggle between regime forces and civilians fighting back with homemade weapons. Since late last week, major clashes have been reported in an area of southern Shan State and northern Kayah (Karenni) State about 200km east of the capital Naypyitaw and about the same distance north of Kayin State’s Hpapun (Mutraw) District, which has also seen a dramatic escalation of hostilities. Unlike the situation in Kayin State, where the conflict is between the military and the Karen National Liberation Army, an established ethnic armed group, the fighting in Shan State’s Pekhon Township and Demoso, Bawlakhe and Loikaw in Kayah State mainly involves regime forces and the Karenni People’s Defence Force (KPDF), part of the nationwide anti-coup resistance movement..... The KPDF goes on the offensive: The KPDF went into action last Friday after soldiers entered Demoso, a town less than 20km south of the Kayah State capital Loikaw, the day before and opened fire in residential areas. According to the KPDF, the regime’s troops also used explosives during their assault on the town, which resulted in the arrest of 13 people, including four civil servants who had defected from the regime. The KPDF’s first response was to seize and burn down three outposts in Demoso and Bawlakhe townships with the help of a local ethnic armed group. Three police officers were killed during those initial clashes. The group made it clear that it had prepared carefully ahead of the attacks, which it saw as part of the nationwide resistance movement called for by the National Unity Government. “When the People’s Defence Force was formed, we started setting up township communication offices. We built our own strongholds to protect people. We warned [the junta’s authorities] from the beginning not to cross the line,” said a KPDF member who was involved in the fighting in Demoso, speaking on condition of anonymity. After the regime faced casualties in Demoso, it approached the KPDF for negotiations the next day, he added. However, the KPDF members did not respond to this overture because they didn’t trust the military council, which they knew was sending reinforcements to Demoso. Rather than back off, the civilian-led resistance force overran another local police outpost on Sunday morning, this time in Moebye, a town in southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township, on the border with Kayah State. Regime troops suffered heavy casualties in the attack on the Moebye police outpost, where at least 20 of the junta’s forces were killed and four police officers were taken into custody by the KPDF. “They call it a police station, but there were only three or four police there and all the others were soldiers. We ambushed the station because it had become a military outpost,” said the KPDF member. The Karenni youth-led resistance force spent two days preparing to overrun the police station, he added. On Sunday morning, they surrounded it and warned the soldiers and police inside to drop their weapons and surrender, he said. “If they had just surrendered their weapons, it would have been better for both sides. There wouldn’t have been so many casualties, and we wouldn’t have had to waste our time or bullets,” he said. At around 9:30am, the KPDF opened fire from outside the entrance to the station and a shootout began. “Some of them ran, and some of them took cover to fight back. But most fled, and there weren’t enough holding us back, so there were a lot of casualties,” said the KPDF member, who estimated that there were around 30 soldiers and police at the station. Three hours later, between 15 and 20 members of the regime’s forces were killed, and four more were captured alive, he added. One KPDF member was killed, and four others were injured.....Fending off reinforcements: Later the same day, the KPDF launched two more attacks to prevent military reinforcements from entering the area. The reinforcements were coming in three trucks from Pekhon in the north and six from Loikaw in the south. The first group was attacked in Hkwang Mai, a village on the way from Pekhon to Moebye. “Some trees were cut down and put across the road in Hkwang Mai, so they had to start walking from there. There was a short fight and the PDF members there had to retreat a bit. But the reinforcements didn’t get to the police station in Moebye until after we overran it,” the KPDF member said. The six trucks from Loikaw were ambushed at Kone Thar, a village about halfway between Loikaw and Moebye. “The PDF youths in Kone Thar also held them off for a while. After a brief shootout, they retreated. These reinforcements also arrived only after we’d captured the station. They had to walk the whole way,” said the KPDF member. The KPDF burned down any structure in the police station compound that the soldiers could use for shelter and dispersed before the reinforcements reached the scene. “After we scattered, the reinforcements went into the station to observe the situation of their fellow soldiers. Then they started firing their guns. They kept it up late into the night, threatening residents,” the KPDF member said. Although Light Infantry Battalion 422 is stationed only a mile away, near the Moebye dam—the main dam of the Lawpita hydropower project—it didn’t send any troops to the police station to defend it. Instead, it simply fired at the KPDF fighters from a distance, according to a member of the group who took part in the attack. Likewise, troops based at an outpost in Waryikawkhu, a village about five miles from the Moebye police station, fired heavy artillery but did not provide any other support, he added. The Global New Light of Myanmar, a junta-run newspaper, said on Monday that “some of the security members were killed in the attack” in Moebye and some were still “missing”. The report described the local resistance force as “terrorists” and said the police outpost was attacked by a combined force of about 100 armed fighters. Resistance fighters in Demoso also attempted to capture a police station in the town during a three-hour battle on Sunday afternoon, local media reported. However, the KPDF members were forced to retreat when army reinforcements, including some in armoured vehicles, arrived.....Civilians fall victim to reprisals: Following the attacks, regime forces started raiding local villages and terrorising civilians by opening fire with guns and heavy artillery. One victim was a 50-year-old woman who was injured after being shot by soldiers while riding from Moebye to Loikaw on her motorbike. At around 8pm on Sunday, a man on a motorbike was also shot on the Moebye-Loikaw road. He sustained a stomach wound and later died. The next day, the military imposed day-time curfews in Moebye and Loikaw. The junta’s armed forces are now stationed at the burned-out police station and a football field near Moebye, according to a local resident. He said the soldiers fired shots randomly on their way to Loikaw and Pekhon. Around 50 youths were arrested on Monday but were later released after questioning. Those still in Moebye are currently taking shelter in the town’s churches, the local added. More than 10,000 villagers from the surrounding area have fled their homes, while many inside the town are unable to leave due to the regime’s campaign to crush the armed uprising with lethal force. “Some people don’t want to leave, but those who do can’t anyway, because there’s no way out. They’re afraid they’ll be shot at if they try to leave,” said a Moebye resident who spoke to Myanmar Now on Tuesday. At least nine civilians have been killed since Monday, including a young man who was shot in the head by regime troops who had tied his hands behind his back. Lt-Gen Soe Htut, the junta’s minister for home affairs, arrived in Kayah on Tuesday. The junta-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Wednesday that Lt-Gen Soe Htut had “inspected” Moebye and Pekhon police stations and provided "cash assistance" to the police, soldiers, and their family members from coup council chairman Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. The report, however, did not mention the casualties at and damage to the Moebye police outpost after it was attacked by Karenni resistance fighters. It said Lt-Gen Soe Htut also visited Loikaw prison to inspect “prison healthcare services, accommodation and meals.” Meanwhile, there were also reports that the military was using drones as part of its offensive against resistance forces. “There were drones. Every time one passed, shells fell immediately. They were so fast we couldn’t keep up with them. They’re very advanced,” said a KPDF fighter from Demoso. On Monday, multiple military planes were seen landing at Loikaw’s airport, carrying soldiers and equipment. Armed only with handmade weapons, the KPDF fighters are up against a military that is far better equipped. There are even concerns that the regime could start carrying out airstrikes, as it has been doing in Kayin State since late March. Despite the prospect of an overwhelming show of force, however, many resistance fighters remain convinced that it is still possible to defeat the junta. “I’d like to call on the entire nation to rise up. Then this dictatorship could end in a short time,” said one KPDF member. Editor's Note: This article was updated on May 26 to include details of Lt-Gen Soe Htet's visit..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Topic: civilian resistance fighters, Demoso Township, IDP camp, Internally Displaced People, junta troops, Karenni People’s Defense Forces, Kayah State, KPDF, Loikaw, Moebyel Town, Pekon Township, regime forces
Topic: civilian resistance fighters, Demoso Township, IDP camp, Internally Displaced People, junta troops, Karenni People’s Defense Forces, Kayah State, KPDF, Loikaw, Moebyel Town, Pekon Township, regime forces
Description: "Civilian resistance fighters in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah State seized and destroyed a police security checkpoint north of Loikaw, the Kayah capital, on Wednesday morning. The Karenni People’s Defense Force (KPDF) burned the captured outpost in Htee Se Khar in Loilen Lay town, 15 miles north of Loikaw and close to the border with Shan State, according to a member of the KPDF. The attack comes as military tensions rise in Kayah and security has been tightened in downtown Loikaw, with junta forces checking the cell phones of residents. Many people are staying in their houses, while workers from other areas of the country are returning to their hometowns. Fighting between regime soldiers and the KPDF broke out on May 21 and over forty junta troops, including police, have since been killed. The KPDF has attacked and destroyed police stations in Kayah State’s Demoso Township and Shan State’s Pekon Township and Moebyel Town. Regime forces have fired artillery into community quarters and villages following the shootouts with the KPDF. Clashes continued in Demoso Township at dawn on Wednesday. A KPDF member said a woman was killed by junta forces gunfire, while another man was seriously injured. Five KPDF members were confirmed killed after heavy fighting near the Ngwe Taung Dam in Demoso Township on Tuesday. “During the May 25 fighting, we lost five of our men. We also heard there were many casualties from the junta side. However, we can only confirm seeing five dead regime soldiers,” said the KPDF member on Wednesday. Displaced People Some 70,000 residents from around 150 villages in Demoso, Loikaw and Shan State’s Pekon Township have been displaced in the five days of fighting since Friday, according to relief workers. In Pekon and Moebyel Town, over 20,000 people have been displaced, while more than 50,000 are displaced in Kayah State, including 10,000 in Demoso and 6,000 in Nam Mae Khon, according to Pekon, Loikaw and Demoso residents. One relief worker said the villagers have fled into the hills, while town residents are sheltering at monasteries, churches and in elders homes. “We need shelters in the rural areas with the rainy season beginning. The elders and children also need medicine,” he said. Another relief worker in Pekon said the town residents and people from nearby villages have fled their homes. The displaced villagers are taking temporary shelter at five different places, as well as scattering across Pekon and Moebyel to stay with relatives. He added that they are in need of emergency help, as the basic food items the villagers brought with them will run out after a week if the fighting continues. A spokesman of the management committee for the internally displaced people (IDP) in Pikin Kaw Khu, a village near the Kayah-Shan border, said that there are about 1,500 people who fled from Pekin Kaw Khu and Hawyi Kaw Khu villages. They have brought some food with them, but if they are going to be displaced for a long time, people will need rice, medicine and shelter from the elements. “We opened an IDP camp in Pekin Kaw Khu. But after artillery fire landed in the camp, we now have to go to another place,” he said. One villager from Kone Thar village said that more than 2,000 people have fled alongside him. “We have rice, but not enough for a long time. We need shelters, clean water and medicine,” said the villager. Relief workers, camp management leaders and locals who The Irrawaddy contacted urged the junta forces not to fire at civilians and the IDP camps. The relief worker from Pekon added, “There is no guaranteed safe place for the IDPs, because the junta forces even fire at the churches where people are sheltering and white flags are flying.”
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2021-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: The shelling came after local resistance fighters ambushed a convoy of soldiers travelling to southern Shan State as reinforcements
Description: "Four people died and eight were critically injured as the coup regime’s forces bombed a Catholic church near the Kayah State capital of Loikaw in the early hours of Monday morning. The Tatmadaw fired artillery shells at the church in Kayan Tharyar village at around 1am, shortly after its troops were ambushed on a nearby road by local resistance fighters. People who fled the shelling were chased by soldiers firing guns and hid in nearby caves, a local resident said. The ambush came as soldiers travelled from the Kayah capital Loikaw to reinforce troop numbers in Moebye, southern Shan State. Civilians-turned-fighters from the Karenni People’s Defense Force (KPDF) said they killed at least 20 members of the regime’s forces in Moebye on Sunday and another 26 outside the nearby town of Demoso. They also captured four soldiers. Their members attacked the reinforcements from Loikaw with guns, delaying them on their way to Moebye. “The KPDF ambushed them near the Kayan Tharyar village and the reinforcements did not arrive at Moebye in time,” the local resident said. Soldiers then entered the village and began shooting. “So the locals got scared and ran to the church to hide,” the resident added. Rescue workers on Monday were unable to send the eight people injured in the shelling to the hospital in Loikaw because there was still fighting along the six-mile stretch of road that leads there, a local resident told Myanmar Now. No further details about the four people who died were available at the time of reporting. The military council’s spokesperson could not be contacted for comment about the killings at the church..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-05-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Sub-title: Local sources report that over two days, nine Karenni villagers are killed in military offensives, shellings, and what appear to have been roadside executions by the coup regime
Description: "At least nine civilians were killed by the junta’s armed forces in the Kayah (Karenni) State capital of Loikaw between Sunday night and Tuesday morning. Regime troops suffered heavy casualties during fighting with the local Karenni People’s Defence Force (KPDF) on Sunday in Moebye in southern Shan State and Demoso in Kayah State. In retaliation, the Myanmar military used both light weaponry and heavy artillery to attack civilians that night and over the following two days in Demoso and Loikaw townships. Nine civilians were killed and at least eight others seriously injured in the assaults. In the early morning hours on Tuesday, regime forces began launching offensives against civilian resistance groups in Demoso, according to a KPDF member. Starting at 4am, clashes occurred in three villages: Daw Ngan Khar, Daw Tama Nge and Ngwe Taung. Three villagers from Daw Ngan Khar were killed in the attack, the KPDF member told Myanmar Now. Clashes in Daw Tama Nge halted at around 9am. Five KPDF members were injured in the village; one critically. Meanwhile, regime forces in Loikaw opened fire indiscriminately at around 10am, with the shooting ongoing at the time of reporting on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday afternoon, a young man was shot in the head by regime troops with his hands tied behind his back. The execution took place in an unconfirmed location between Noekoe and Yayyo villages in Loikaw Township, according to updates shared on social media by a Karenni youth online community. Four villagers were also killed and eight others were seriously injured when the junta’s forces fired artillery shells at Kayan Thaya Village Church in Loikaw Township at around 1 am on Monday. On Sunday night, local man Hla Htike was fatally shot in the abdomen by the army while driving a motorcycle on the Moebye-Loikaw Road, according to locals. The junta’s armed forces raided Yayyo village and Narnattaw quarter, both on the outskirts of Loikaw, on Monday morning, and there were also shootings in Shanpine and Mong Lone quarters, according to locals. “They stormed into Yayyo village first, and then Narnattaw. We had to resist the army. At around 3:30pm, they withdrew. Some of them were in plainclothes, but they were armed with guns,” a member of KPDF told Myanmar Now. He said that there were no casualties on either side of the mutual shootout in Narnattaw, and that the military council had deployed a small number of troops to the west of Narnattaw, while the rest of the troops had moved to downtown Loikaw. On Monday evening, residents described Loikaw as silent except for the sound of artillery shells, which were fired until around 6:30pm. Using loudspeakers early on Monday morning, the military urged residents of Loikaw not to leave their homes after 9am. Residents told Myanmar Now that they heard at least six flights land at Loikaw Airport, the last which arrived at 3pm. “The planes landed at Loikaw Airport. I saw soldiers coming down. We don’t know how many soldiers were on each plane. Security was tightened at the airport. They were also seen unloading things,” a local said. The junta’s forces attacked Moebye and Demoso townships with heavy artillery on Sunday, firing some 30 shells in the area from 5pm until 10pm, a resident told Myanmar Now. While residents remain in downtown Loikaw, tens of thousands of people outside of the town itself have fled their villages throughout Demoso, Loikaw and Moebye townships, according to Karenni youth who are assisting the displaced persons..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-05-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "Statement by the National Unity Government on the ongoing fighting in Kayah State - ကယားပြည်နယ်တွင်ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသည့် တိုက်ပွဲများနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2021-05-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 393.18 KB
more
Description: "ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက (၂၁) ကြိမ်မြောက် ကယန်းအမျိုးသားနေ့ သို့ ပေးပို့သည့် သဝဏ်လွှာ ======================= ၁။ ယနေ့သည် ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား ကယန်းအမျိုးသားများ၏ (၂၁) ကြိမ်မြောက် အမျိုးသားနေ့ဖြစ်ပေသည်။ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားနေ့ကို ကယန်းတိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများအားလုံး နှင့် အတူတကွ ဂုဏ်ပြု ကြိုဆိုလိုက်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားတို့သည် သမိုင်းစဉ်တစ်လျှောက်တွင် အာဏာရှင်တို့ကို ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား တိုင်းရင်း သားများနှင့်အတူတကွ လက်တွဲ၍ တွန်းလှန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ၃။ ယနေ့အချိန်အခါသည် ပြည်ထောင်စုတွင်း မှီတင်းနေထိုင်ကြသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများ အားလုံးက အာဏာရှင်ကို နည်းလမ်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေကြသည်ဖြစ်ရာ၊ ကယန်းအမျိုးသားတို့အနေ ဖြင့်လည်း ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွားတိုင်းရင်းသားများအားလုံးနှင့် အတူတကွ လက်တွဲတိုက်ပွဲဝင်နေသည်ဟု ယုံကြည်ပါသည်။ ၄။ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ တရားမျှတမှု နှင့် တန်းတူညီမျှမှုတည်းဟူသော လောကပါလ တရားတို့ ထွန်းကား၍ တန်းတူရေးနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဋ္ဌာန်းခွင့်ကို ဖော်ဆောင်ပေးနိုင်မည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စုကြီး တည်ထောင်ရေး အတွက် ကယန်းအမျိုးသားများအပါအဝင် ပြည်ထောင်စုဖွား တိုင်းရင်းသားညီအစ်ကို မောင်နှမများ အားလုံး အတူတကွ လက်တွဲကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်ကြပါစို့ဟု အလေးအနက်တိုက်တွန်းရင်း သဝဏ်လွှာ ပါးအပ်ပါသည်။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
2021-04-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 151.14 KB
more
Description: "၁။ ကရင်နီပြည်နယ်အတိုင်ပင်ခံကောင်စီ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက် - အမှတ် (၁/၂၀၂၁) ၂။ အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ် ကြောညာချက်အမှတ် ၂/၀၄/၂၀၂၁ ၃။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာဆရာဆရာမများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၈/၂၀၂၁)..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf pdf
Size: 154.79 KB 83.84 KB 37.92 KB
more
Description: "Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with ethnic Karenni youth in eastern Kayah state Wednesday to discuss local grievances there, the latest step to shore up her ruling National League for Democracy’s relations with ethnic groups as the party faces year-end elections. The visit, and a trip on Jan. 10 to Kachin state, follows the formation last September of a new committee dedicated to engaging with and promoting relations with ethnic political parties in the multiethnic country that has seen decades of internal warfare. Aung San Suu Kyi’s travel also comes as her government grapples with a sputtering peace process marked by ongoing warfare between national forces and rebel ethnic armies in its far-flung regions, producing hundreds of thousands of displaced villagers. She had made forging peace and creating a democratic federal union the primary goals of her administration after winning elections in 2015. It also came as the government faces genocide-related lawsuits in three international courts, including the U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice. The ICJ will issue a decision on Jan. 23 on a request filed by Gambia to order provisional measures to prevent further violence against Rohingya Muslims, 740,000 of whom were driven into exile in Bangladesh in 2017..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
2020-01-15
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: "This History Thread is about #Karenni people (in the news lately), their independence and resistance re Burma/Myanmar. Karenni is a name inclusive of several ethnic groups and is preferred by many activists and resistance groups. Kayah is Myanmar Govt's name for the state. Karenni (Kayah) St. borders Karen & Shan States w. Thailand on east; Salween River runs through it. Karenni (“Red Karen”) people migrated from north c. 700 BC. Governed by elected local “chiefs.” 1810 Burmese attacked (Ruby War) Karennis repelled Burmese invasions in 1823-45. Karenni diplomatic relations w. British 1826. British acknowledged Karenni independence 1857. British brokered recognition Karenni independence by Burmese King Mindon 1875. Conflicts w. British til 1892; Karenni independent but tributary to British, exploited (teak, minerals.)..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Project Maje"
2019-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
more
Description: Executive Summary: "Kayah State has experienced some important changes over the last few years that have a direct impact on the livelihood situation of its people. Since 2011, the hostilities between the Karenni National Progressive Party and its Karenni Army on the one hand and the Government of Myanmar on the other hand have gradually subsided, resulting in a cease fire agreement that was signed in June 2013 between the two parties. This contributed to a more peaceful situation in the State and led to an intensification of both economic activities and social services provided by the Government. During the same period the Government of Myanmar has made a start with its administrative reform with the objective of improving service delivery, engaging people more actively in governance processes and becoming a ?cleaner” government. This report outlines the results of the Local Governance Mapping conducted by UNDP in Kayah State. Based on the perceptions of the people and local governance actors, the mapping has tried to capture some key aspects of the current dynamics of governance at the frontline of state-citizen interaction and focuses in its analysis on participation in public sector planning, access to basic services and accountability in local governance. In consultation with the Kayah State government, it was agreed that the Local Governance Mapping would be conducted in three townships, namely, Loikaw, Hpruso and Mese between April and August 2014. Together, these three townships are representative for the diversity in economic activities and living conditions found in Kayah State. Loikaw is the capital Township of Kayah. It is more urban in character, it has by far the largest population of all townships in Kayah State, hosts most State government institutions, and is economically the best developed township in the State. Hpruso Township has a more rural character, is less populated as Loikaw, but since it is easy to reach and close to Loikaw it is relatively prosperous, and basic social services are still easily available. Mese Township finally is the most remote and smallest township in the State with a traditional rural character and a low population density. It has experienced more than any of the other townships the negative impact of the armed conflict in the past and has a result been rather isolated and experienced a backlog in services provided by government, which it is now trying to catch up on..."
Source/publisher: UNDP Myanmar
2014-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2 MB
more
Description: Executive Summary: "The people of Karenni State are living ghosts. Their daily survival is an achievement; however, it also signifies their further descent into poverty and a spiralling system of repression. Whilst this report documents the deteriorating situation in Karenni State over the past six years, this is nothing new for the ethnically diverse population of this geographically small area. They have been living in a protracted conflict zone for over 50 years with no respite from decades of low-intensity conflict and frequent human rights abuses. All the while both State and Non-State actors have marginalised the grassroots communities? voices, contributing to the militarisation of their communities and societies. Burmese soldiers oppress Karenni villagers on a daily basis. Villagers are isolated from members of their own communities, and other ethnic groups; they report daily to local Burmese troops about Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) troop movements and other activities in their areas; community members spy on one another, reporting back to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); and they are punished by the SPDC in retaliation for the actions of the KNPP. All of these strategies create an environment of fear and mistrust between ethnic groups, communities, and even family members. These tactics successfully oppress the villagers, as they are too fearful and busy to think beyond daily survival. Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that villagers face oppression not only from the Burmese army, but also ceasefire groups and the KNPP. Soldiers from both the KNPP and ceasefire groups physically maltreat villagers and undermine their livelihoods. While these occurrences are certainly less frequent and less severe than similar acts by the SPDC, they still oppress the civilian population and undermine their ability and capacity to survive. Additionally the presence of many different actors has resulted in the militarisation of Karenni State. Thousands of landmines have been indiscriminately planted throughout the state, without adequate mapping or markings to minimise civilian causalities. The SPDC, ceasefire groups and the KNPP all recruit and have child soldiers in their armies. The Burmese army has the largest number of child soldiers anywhere in the world, and approximately 20 per cent of the KNPP?s troops are under 18 (the minimum age for recruitment into the armed forces under Burma?s national law). The increased militarisation of Karenni State has resulted in increases in human rights abuses. However villagers are staging their own non-violent resistance movement. They have developed and implemented a number of early warning systems and household and village-wide risk management strategies so as to minimise the impact of the SPDC and other armed groups violence and abuses. These resistance strategies have become the biggest threat to local and regional authorities; consequently the villagers are increasingly becoming the targets of hostilities from the Burmese army. Most people in Karenni State rely on agriculture as their primary source of income and are living a subsistence existence. Despite the villagers? best efforts to secure their livelihoods, their ability and capacity to do so is constantly undermined by the SPDC and, to a lesser extent, ceasefire groups and the KNPP via crop procurement, forced production of dry season crops, arbitrary taxation and fines, theft and destruction of property and food, forced labour and land confiscation. This is further exacerbated by the drought that has been occurring in Karenni State for the past decade, which affects crop yields. When coupled with skyrocketing commodity prices, villagers? ability to ebb out a living is further eroded – to the point of impossibility in some cases. The abject poverty in Karenni State prevents villagers from accessing basic health and education services. Whilst the SPDC claims to provide free health care and education, in reality this does not occur. Health and education services provided by the state are extremely expensive and are well-below international standards. As a result, for most people education and medical treatment becomes a luxury they simply cannot afford. As a result of poverty some villagers are turning to illegal activities in order to survive - mainly poppy production. In Karenni State there are two areas where villagers are growing poppies with the permission of ceasefire groups. Farmers can earn a significantly higher monetary return on their poppy yields than for other crops using the same quantity of land. Poppy growers can earn up to 300,000 Kyat per 1.5 kilogram package of raw opium they produce (a 1.5 kilogram package of raw opium can be produced in four months). A teacher supported by the SPDC would have to work for 60 months in order to earn the same amount. Additionally amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) are being produced in Karenni State. Three factories producing ATS in Karenni State have been identified, again in areas controlled by ceasefire groups; however as it is difficult to distinguish between factories and ordinary dwellings it is possible that there are many other ATS factories in Karenni State that have not been identified. Each factory can produce between 250,000 and 300,000 pills per month. From the three known factories in Karenni State between 9 million and 10.8 million ATS pills are being produced and released into the international drug market each year. Today over a quarter of the population in Karenni State have been forced from their homes as a direct result of the actions of the Burmese military junta. Between 70 and 80 per cent of those displaced are women and children. Displacement has increased 42 per cent since 2002 and represents eight per cent of the total population in Karenni State. Karenni State has the highest level of displacement to population ratio in all of eastern Burma. When similar comparisons are made to the five countries with the largest displaced populations in the world (Sudan, Colombia, Uganda, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo) the percentage of displaced persons in Karenni State is alarmingly higher. Over 12 per cent of Sudan?s population is displaced – less than half that of Karenni State. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Burma receive very little assistance, if any at all, primarily due to the policies of the SPDC, which severely restrict humanitarian agencies accessing these vulnerable populations. The SPDC deems IDPs as enemies of the state and implements a shoot on sight policy, which includes children and the elderly. IDPs are vulnerable to human rights abuses, exploitation and violence from the SPDC, as well as food shortages and have severely limited access to education and health care services. The most pressing need of the people and the IDP population is physical security. Most people have the capacity to earn a livelihood mitigating food shortages, to educate their children, establish a medical clinic and develop their communities; however, they lack the security necessary to do so. There are humanitarian organisations working in Karenni State, including local community based organisations (CBOs), nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and international agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme. Despite this presence the humanitarian situation in Karenni State continues to deteriorate and people are finding themselves slipping further and further into the poverty abyss – with no foreseeable escape. The impacts from the situation in Karenni State are not confined to the State?s boundaries - they spill over into other states and divisions in Burma and also across international borders, especially into Thailand. These spill over effects in
Source/publisher: Burma Issues
2008-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 521.58 KB
more