Myanmar: Karen People(克倫族)

The Karen (克倫族), self-titled Pwa Ka Nyaw Po or Kayan, and also known in Thailand as the Kariang (Thai: กะเหรี่ยง) or Yang, are some languages and many ethnic groups in Burma and Thailand. The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of 47 million people.

The Karen have fought for independence from Burma since 31 January 1949. Consequently, 31 January is recognized amongst the Karen as Karen Revolution Day. In 1938 the British colonial administration recognized Karen New Year as a public holiday.

When the Japanese invaded Burma in 1942, the Karen remained loyal to and fought with the British, and consequently suffered at the hands of the Burma Independence Army (BIA) under Gen. Aung San as well as the Japanese Army. Villages were destroyed and massacres committed in their areas, and among the victims were Saw Pe Tha, a pre-war cabinet minister, and his family. They were encouraged to believe that the reward for their loyalty would be their own state. But the promise was never fulfilled. The British failed the Karen people, who always want an independence.

To many outsiders, the Karen are best known for the neck rings worn by women from the Kayan tribe or Padaung tribe of Karen people from the border region of Myanmar and Thailand.

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Red Karen

Karenni, also known as Red Karen or Kayah, are a Sino-Tibetan people, living mostly in Kayah State of Burma. The largest and most widely scattered group.

Note: Some Black Karen are politically Red Karen. Many of the Black Karen in exile in Thailand are Red Karen.

Pwo Karen

Pho Pgho:East Pwo Karen live in western Thailand and Kayin State,Myanmar and West Pwo Karen live in Irrawaddy Division ,Myanmar

Paku Karen

Paku Karen live in Taungoo,Bago Division and east Kayin State, Thandong. They also have Paku Karen Baptist Association HQ in Taungoo.

Black Karen

In Shan States.

* Padaung (Kayan)
* Bwè, Bghai, Kayaw

Religion

Karens were Animists originally, but today the majority is Buddhist in conjunction with Animism. The Buddhist influence came from the Mon who were dominant in Lower Burma until the middle of the 18th century. Ko Tha Byu, the first convert to Christianity in 1828

Kayin State or Karen state


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Kayin State (also Karen State) is a state of Myanmar. The capital city is Pa-an. There are three districts, seven townships and 4092 villages. Kayin State has also one city and nine towns.

Three districts are

* Hpa-an District
* Myawaddy District
* Kawkareik District

The Karen National Union (KNU)

The Karen National Union (KNU)克倫民族同盟 is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army that represents the Karen people of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen State area is called Kawthoolei. KNLA has been fighting for an independent state, called Kawthoolei, to be located in eastern Burma near the border with Thailand and in other places with large Karen populations.

The KNU is a democratic organisation, and supports human rights and democracy in Burma.

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) is a breakaway group of Buddhist former soldiers and officers of the Karen National Liberation Army, one of the larger insurgent armies in Myanmar. Since shortly after their breakaway in 1994, the DKBA have enjoyed a ceasefire with the Myanmar army.The Myanmar army was quick to exploit the breakaway and soon agreed to a ceasefire arrangement with the DKBA, who have since profited from various sanctioned business arrangements, at the expense of the KNLA who long dominated trade and revenue extraction in the area.

Much fighting since 1994 in the Karen state have seen the DKBA closely allied with the Myanmar army against the remnant KNLA forces, who have gradually lost more and more territory and bases inside the country. This group was reportedly given territory inside of Burma to rule over in exchange. They played a significant part in the capture of Manerplaw, a rebel Karen stronghold headquarter.

Pado Mahn Shar, the secretary-general of the Karen National Union was shot dead in his home in Mae Sot, Thailand, on February 14, 2008. Many analysts claim that the assassination was possibly carried out by soldiers of the DKBA.(source: wikipedia)

克倫族，亦作甲良族，是一個居住在緬甸東部及泰國西部的民族，是著名的象伕民族，總人口約600萬人，其中40萬在泰國境內，其餘在緬甸克倫邦、克耶邦和撣邦。語言屬於藏緬語族克倫語支。

克倫族占緬甸人口的百分之七到百分之十。緬甸官方承認的135個民族中有23個屬於克倫族：

* 克倫族群的11個民族都屬於克倫族，人數較多的有斯高克倫族和波克倫族；
* 克耶族群的9個民族都屬於克倫族，如克耶族（紅克倫族，克倫尼族）；
* 撣族群的33個民族有3個屬於克倫族，如巴奧族（黑克倫族）。

泰國的克倫族主要是斯高克倫和波克倫

Japanese TV network TBS aired my video taken during the Karen-Burma war in 1994-95. It documented the fall of Manerplaw and Kowmoora.





Karen refugee Camps in Thailand Border

There are 7 Karen refugee camps, located in 4 border provinces, housing over 134,000 refugees. Most people explicit indicated that they came to the refugee camp in order to escape form the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC is the name for the junta/dictatorship). A significant number of people refer to e forced labour and forced relocation. Which in fact are the immediate consequences of SPDC presence in the respective areas.

The first Karen camp was established in 1984, not far from the border town of Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak Province. By 1986, there were 12 Karen refugee camps with a collective population of 18,000 people in Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces.

Nine refugee camps stretch along western Thailand's border with Myanmar, but Mae La, with a population of 43,000, is by far the largest.




North - Mae Hong Son Province

1. K1- Mae La Oon

Mae La Oo, Mae Hong Son Province. There are 15,943 refugee in the camp(2007); 16,090 in 2009.

2. K2 - Mae Ra Ma Luang

Karen Refugee Camp Mae Ra Moe Luang, Mae Hong Son Province. There are 16,274 refugee in 2007, 17,642 in 2009.

South - Tak Province-Mae Sot Area

3. K3- Mae La
Mae La is also known as ‘Beh Klaw’ in Karen, which means ‘cotton field’ due to the agricultural activities for which Karen leaders first negotiated permission for refugees to cross into the area in 1984.

The camp was originally established following the fall of the KNU base at the Thai village of Mae La on the border in 1984 with a population of 1,100. Shortly afterwards, due to security concerns, it was moved to the site where Zone C currently lies. After the fall of Manerplaw in January 1995, a number of camps were attacked in cross-border raids and the Thai authorities began to consolidate camps to improve security; Mae La was designated as the main consolidation camp in the area.

Mae La, which sits about five kilometers from the Myanmar border, is the largest refugee camp; the camp has been running for almost 25 years. The camp's population is mainly made up of families of farmers and low-income workers, while religious lines are more or less evenly divided between Buddhists and Christians. As in 2007,there are 45,477 refugee in the camp, and in 2009 there are 40,009 refugee.

The area of Karen State lying opposite Mae La camp is very rural with no large settlements or infrastructure. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) maintains its 7th Brigade Headquarters nearby, and there are several Burma Army and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army outposts in the area (the DKBA is a faction of the KNLA which split off and aligned itself with the Burma Army in 1994).

Myanmar army attacked Mae La in 1997. Since then, it's been peaceful, though according to TBBC, tensions rise every dry season -- the preferred time of activity by the Myanmar army.

While refugees may have escaped direct violence, other problems exist. There's little or no employment, education for children is minimal, and boredom is rife. Camp dwellers not only have to deal with the horrors of their past, but the grim outlook of their future.

4. K4 - Umpiem Mai

There are 22,816 (2007)refugee in the camp. IN 2009, there are 18,180

5. K5 - Noh Poe/Nu Po

Nu Po located in the Umpang district of Tak province, was established in 1997. There are 16,938 refugee in the camp in 2007, 16129 in 2009.

Kanchanaburi Province
6. K6 - Ban Dong Yang

Ban Don Yang Camp located at Three Pagoda’s Pass border crossing, in Kanchanaburi Province. There are 4,505 in the camp as in 2007, 4,397 in 2009.

Ban Don Yang Camp as refugees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2004. Ban Don Yang Camp is the same camp that currently shelters Luther Htoo, who lead the Karen rebel group “God’s Army” along with his twin brother Johnny Htoo until their surrender in 2001. The refugee were registered in the camp as political asylum seekers, and the majority were members and supporters of various armed rebel groups throughout Burma.

Ban Don Yang camp was founded by the Thai government in 1997, when it moved two small Karen camps, known as Thu Ka and Hti Ta Ba respectively, away from violence in Tenasserim Division and Dooplaya district. The two camps were combined and relocated to the Three Pagoda Pass borderline, near the New Mon State Party-run (NMSP) refugee camp known call as Hlockhani. Over 4,000 refugees from different areas of Burma currently live under the protection of the UNHCR and the Thai government in Ban Don Yang camp. The Mon National Relief Committee (MNRC) provided rations for Ban Don Yang between 1997-2002; the Thai-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) has handled the job for the last 7 years. The UNHCR started recognizing the camp’s residents as refugees in 2004.

Ratchaburi Province
7. K7 - Tham Hin

Tham Hin in Ratchaburi Province,there are 6,293 refugee in the camp in 2007,and 8,013 in 2009.

The Thai authorities planned to repatriate all 3,000 Karen refugees in Tha Song Yang District by Feb 15 2010. However, they suspended the plan after being severely criticized. Refugees would face health care problems, danger from landmines and human rights abuses by Burmese government and DKBA troops if they are sent back.



Useful Karen Websites

For more information about Karen:

* Karen website ; http://www.karen.org/
* Karen Women Organization ; http://www.karenwomen.org/
* Drum Publications ; http://www.drumpublications.org/
* Karen Teacher Working Group ; http://www.ktwg.org/
* Karen National Union ; http://www.karen.org/knu/knu.htm
* Karen Human Rights Group ; http://www.khrg.org/
* Kaw Thoo Lei ;http://www.kawthoolei.org/
* Karen News Letter ;http://www.kwekalu.net/
* Friends of Karen, http://www.friendsofthekaren.org/

Related articles/websites:

1. The Karen National Union (KNU), http://www.karennationalunion.net/
2. Thai border Refugee Camp as at Dec 2009, http://www.tbbc.org/camps/2009-12-dec-map-tbbc-unhcr.pdf
3. Thailand to kick out Burmese refugees, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thailand-to-kick-out-burmese-refugees-1889953.html
4. Thai-Burmese Border Camps Braced for New Refugee Flow, http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17759