Myanmar responds with force to ethnic rebel group meeting<\/p>\n
By Teena Amrit Gill<\/p>\n
BANGKOK: The Myanmar army has moved swiftly and with a strong
\nshow of force, to pre-empt a possible reunion of ethnic minority
\nrebel groups who have voiced support for popular pro-democracy
\nleader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n
The latest military offensive against the Karen National Union
\n(KNU) has sent thousands of refugees, located near Mae Sot, about
\n400 kms north-east of Bangkok, scurrying further into Thai
\nterritory in search of cover.<\/p>\n
"We will continue to attack them until they (the refugees)
\nall return to Myanmar," said Captain Htu War, of the Myanmar
\ngovernment backed Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).<\/p>\n
The DKBA commander acknowledged that Myanmar troops had
\nprovided arms and supplies for the operations against Karen
\nrefugees along the Thai-Myanmar border.<\/p>\n
The DKBA was formed in late 1994 by a splinter group of
\nBuddhist soldiers from the predominantly Christian KNU -- one of
\nthe few ethnic groups yet to sign a ceasefire with Yangon.<\/p>\n
Htu War accused the refugees of allowing the KNU to use their
\ncamps as bases to launch attacks on the DKBA.<\/p>\n
But Myanmar dissident groups in Thailand say the real reason
\nbehind the last month's offensive against the refugees is due to
\nthe KNU's role in organizing a meeting in the middle of January,
\nof 15 ethnic groups from across Myanmar to discuss the political
\nsituation in the country, and debate on directions for change.<\/p>\n
Among those present at the meeting, were representatives of
\nethnic Wa, or Karenni, Kachin and Mon groups with whom the ruling
\njunta has signed ceasefire agreements over the last few years.<\/p>\n
Significantly at the meeting of ethnic groups, there was
\ncommon support for Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for
\nDemocracy (NLD), and for the need for tripartite dialogue between
\nthe Myanmar regime, the NLD and ethnic groups, "for the
\nresolution of political problems by political means".<\/p>\n
The meeting also described efforts by the State Law and Order
\nRestoration Council (SLORC), as the ruling military regime calls
\nitself, to draft a new constitution, as a "sham".<\/p>\n
"Armed subjugation by successive regimes, practicing racial
\nchauvinism for the last 49 years has been a disastrous experience
\nof suffering, unprecedented in history, for ethnic nationalities
\n(in Myanmar)," said the ethnic groups in a statement distributed
\non Internet. "Brutal suppression of the ethnic nationalities
\nthrough the use of armed might is still continuing," they added.<\/p>\n
The regime, according to observers, is also upset over the
\nvery possibility of ethnic rebel groups getting back together.
\nThe SLORC has trumpeted its ceasefire agreements with a majority
\nof Myanmar's ethnic groups as a major achievement.<\/p>\n
"The military does not have the guts to attack the Mon, Wa or
\nShan groups because they are strong and well armed," says Zou
\nMin, of the Bangkok-based All Myanmar Student's Democratic Front.
\n"But the Karen are a weak target so its easier to attack them."<\/p>\n
Another reason for targeting the KNU, which has been fighting
\nfor an independent Karen state since 1948, is also seen to be the
\ngrowing impatience of the junta in persuading them to sign a
\nceasefire agreement, like 15 other ethnic groups across Myanmar.<\/p>\n
Just prior to the January attack, a SLORC delegation went to
\nthe KNU headquarters to negotiate a ceasefire. But reports
\nreaching Bangkok state that the KNU made clear it is unwilling to
\nlay down arms till some sort of political settlement is reached.<\/p>\n
In addition, by killing or forcing the approximately 100,000
\npro-KNU Karens back into Myanmar or into the folds of the
\nbreakaway Karen group, the DKBA, the military junta, say
\nobservers, hopes to break the back of the KNU.<\/p>\n
The military gained a strategic victory against the KNU in
\nearly 1995 when it sacked Manerplaw, the organization's
\nheadquarters near the Thai border.<\/p>\n
Since then, the U.S-based Human Rights Watch Asia estimates
\nthat some 200,000 Myanmar people, including thousands of children
\nfrom the Karen and Shan ethnic communities, have been displaced
\n-- many fleeing across the Thai border.<\/p>\n
What has shocked some political observers, has been the
\nabsence of any resistance by the Thai armed forces, despite the
\nfact that the DKBA has moved several kms into Thai territory.<\/p>\n
"This situation is most worrying and shows not just how weak
\nthe Thai government is but also their increasing and open support
\nof SLORC," said a senior Myanmar dissident in Bangkok.<\/p>\n
A recent indication of Thai government support for the Yangon
\nregime came earlier this month when Foreign Minister Prachuab
\nChaiyasan asked Western nations to tell Suu Kyi to tone down her
\nstance in order to help reach a compromise with the SLORC.<\/p>\n
The previous two democratically elected governments in
\nThailand have been much stronger in their condemnation of the
\nMyanmar regime's human rights abuses and failure to recognize the
\nNLD as the overwhelming winner of elections held more than six
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
The SLORC, which seized power after crushing pro-democracy
\nprotests in 1988, had refused to recognize the victory of Suu
\nKyi's NLD in the 1990 vote.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the SLORC has resorted to military force to crush
\nany opposition -- political or otherwise -- while cocking a deaf
\near to calls from the international community to enter into
\ndialogue with Suu Kyi to try to defuse the political tension.<\/p>\n
-- IPS<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/myanmar-responds-with-force-to-ethnic-rebel-group-meeting-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }