“Large demonstrations and other action are planned Tuesday, May 16, to respond to major attacks on ethnic minorities in eastern Myanmar,” said a press release issued last Saturday by the US Campaign for Burma.
Protests and rallies are planned at Myanmar embassies in the US, Canada, Britain, Japan, India, Belgium, Australia, Thailand, Norway, New Zealand, Korea, and Denmark.
An estimated 15,500 Karen villagers have fled their homes in eastern Myanmar over the past five months after the ruling military junta moved their headquarters to Pyinmana, 300 km north of Yangon, and launched a “cleaning up operation” against all Karen living in a five kilometre radius of the new capital.
Many of the refugees have fled to the Thai-Myanmar border, where more than 100,000 Karens have been languishing in temporary shelters since 1996 as a result of attacks on more than 2,800 Karen villages.
The Karen are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in Myanmar, residing primarily in the Karen State. They have been waging a guerrilla war against Yangon for the autonomy of their state since 1949.
The Karen National Union (KNU) is the only rebel group that has refused to sign a peace agreement with Myanmar’s ruling junta, the self-styled State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Attacks on the Karen over the past decade have resulted in well-documented atrocities and widespread human rights abuses.
