{"id":11889,"date":"2021-01-22T21:57:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T21:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=153724"},"modified":"2021-01-22T21:57:45","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T21:57:45","slug":"karen-people-cut-off-from-help-in-myanmar-after-fighting-drives-them-from-their-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/22\/karen-people-cut-off-from-help-in-myanmar-after-fighting-drives-them-from-their-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen People Cut Off From Help in Myanmar After Fighting Drives Them From Their Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Around 1,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been cut off from help in Myanmar\u2019s Kayin state by renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, with relief groups now unable to reach them with badly needed food, blankets, and medical supplies, sources say.<\/p>\n

Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Karen National Union (KNU), the country\u2019s oldest ethnic rebel army, resumed in southern Kayin state in early December despite a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) the ethnic army signed in 2015.<\/p>\n

Clashes in the Kyauk Gyi township in the Nyaung Lay Bin district of the state\u2019s Bago region have now driven nearly 1,000 residents from six villages in KNU-controlled areas into remote areas where they wait to return home, one local villager told RFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the leaders of the two forces have not met for talks, the IDPs [internally displaced persons], are afraid to go home. It\u2019s not safe for civilians to return,\u201d RFA\u2019s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, there are anywhere from 850 to 1,000 IDPs coming from six villages who are taking shelter in the KNU No. 3 Division\u2019s territory,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Coming from Kyauk Gyi township\u2019s Ktookhar, Khopu, Sawmilu, Khae Kawkhu, and Khaedu villages, the residents fled their homes beginning Jan. 5 and are now sheltering at a location 30 miles east of Kyauk Gyi town, where they are in desperate need of food, medicine, and other necessities, sources say.<\/p>\n

Karen civil society groups wanting to deliver aid have meanwhile been blocked from travel by unsafe conditions in the area, members of relief groups say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t go there until the leaders of the opposing forces meet for talks,\u201d Saw SipI Tel from the Karen Social Group said, adding that Myanmar\u2019s government would then be able to control their troops, and the other side could do the same.<\/p>\n

Saw Kyaw Lin Oo from the Karen Youth Network said that at latest count nearly 1,000 displaced villagers are sheltering in the area now cut off from help. \u201cThey need food, medical supplies, and other essential items such as blankets and warm clothes for the winter. They also need tarpaulins and rain tarps for making tents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Supplies on hand, but undeliverable<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Jan. 20, Naw Pwe Say\u2014Karen ethnic affairs minister for the Bago region government\u2014provided aid to the Karen Social Group at the KNU liaison office in Kyauk Gyi for delivery to the IDPs, but a KNU spokesman said that both forces must withdraw from the area of fighting before supplies can be safely delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we now have many commodities, it will take people to deliver them, so I think it\u2019s best that both forces pull back. No troops should remain in the area,\u201d said Saw Sae Wah, secretary of the KNU\u2019s Kyauk Gyi township branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been armed conflict here for many years, so they should now use politics to solve these problems,\u201d he said. \u201cTop leaders from both sides signed the NCA earlier, agreeing that they would resolve problems through negotiations. So they should meet for talks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t think of any other way to resolve this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Efforts to contact Myanmar military spokesmen and Bago\u2019s Karen ethnic affairs minister for comment on Friday were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Over 170 social and civil society groups on Jan. 20 sent letters to Myanmar\u2019s President Win Myint and the country\u2019s state counselor and de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi appealing for help to end the armed conflict in Kayin state.<\/p>\n

Reported by Saw Nyunt Thaung for RFA\u2019s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 1,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been cut off from help in Myanmar\u2019s Kayin state by renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, with relief groups now\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11890,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11889\/revisions\/11890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}