According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, new attacks have been launched by Burma’s military regime against Internally Displaced People (IDP) in the predominantly Christian Karen community this month.
|TOP|
Hundreds had fled when the Burma Army battalions attacked Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) resistance forces in Nyaunglebein District, Western Karen State, on September 18. One civilian was killed in the attacks.

CSW reports that the Burma Army has also blocked off three main roads in Toungoo District, to block all assistance from villagers to Karen resistance forces in that area.

Following the attacks, three days later the Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) and Infantry Battalion (IB) 4 raided KNLA battalion headquarters in Nyaunglebein District. Many IDPs were sheltering in that area and the attack has driven over 400 IDPs to hide. One KNLA soldier was wounded during the raid.

Reports received by CSW from sources on the ground saying that the main roads being closed in Toungoo District is “an attempt to block all rice supplies to IDPs and assistance from the villagers to the Karen National Union/KNLA in that area.”

A loss of revenue has been reported by civilian villagers because they are not able to transport their crops, according to CSW.

“Rice also cannot be brought out from the plains of Toungoo and this is a serious problem as many IDPs rely on the purchase of rice from the Toungoo area,” sources claim. “This is a deliberate attempt to starve the IDPs in the mountains north and west of Toungoo. It is also an attempt to put pressure on the KNU.”

CSW’s Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: “These latest attacks demonstrate plainly that Burma’s military regime shows no intention of stopping its slow genocide of the Karen people. It is now high time these issues were put before the UN Security Council, since every other possible avenue has been tried and has failed.”

|QUOTE|Recently, a report entitled 'Threat to the Peace – A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma', commissioned by former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Bishop Desmond Tutu, had been released to call on the UN Security Council to address the situation in Burma immediately.

The report recommends that the UN Security Council should adopt a resolution on the current situation in Burma, outlining the major reasons for Security Council involvement, requiring the Government of Burma to work with the UN Secretary-General’s office in “implementing a plan for national reconciliation and a restoration of a democratically-elected government.”

Furthermore, the report requests the Secretary-General to remain “vigorously” engaged with the dispute resolution process, according to CSW. It urges the Burmese Government to allow the UN and international humanitarian organisations unhindered access to the country, and to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience.

CSW reported that Havel and Tutu wrote in the foreword: “In recent years, it has become clear that Burma's troubles are causing serious and possibly permanent problems that go well beyond human rights violations. Burma has now become a problem for the region and international community...Based on our review of this report and its recommendations, we strongly urge the UN Security Council to take up the situation of Burma immediately. Preserving peace, security, and stability in the region and world - as well as achieving national reconciliation in Burma - now requires nothing less.”

The report was prepared by a global law firm, DLA Piper Rudnich Gray Cary. CSW wrote that it supports this report prepared by DLA Piper Rudnich Gray Cary and Jared Genser, the American lawyer who led the team which prepared the report.

The report concludes: “As a result of the severity of the overall situation in Burma and in consideration of all of these factors, which are analysed in detail in this report, the situation in Burma constitutes ‘a threat to the peace,’ thereby authorizing Security Council action. Binding Security Council intervention is a necessary international and multilateral vehicle to restore the peace, promote national reconciliation, and facilitate a return to democratic rule.”