“The atrocities committed against the Kachin by the Burma Army may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity” said Trent Franks, co-chairman of the International Religious Freedom Caucus. The conservative Republican lawmaker's comments appeared in an opinion piece published by the Washington Times newspaper last Monday.

Franks's article highlighting the ongoing conflict in Kachin state coincided with US President Barak Obama's historic visit to Burma this week. “The plight of the Kachin is often overlooked by the international community, and humanitarian conditions are seriously deteriorating in Kachin State and in the Kachin refugee camps,” he wrote.

While noting the series of reforms put in place by Thein Sein's nominally civilian government Franks called for continued vigilance. The US “must be careful to take no action that could be interpreted as endorsement of any misconduct or human rights lapses by the Burmese government or President Thein Sein, particularly while the Burmese government is still dominated by a military with a very brutal past”.

Franks also called on President Obama to continue to advocate for the rights of Burma's ethnic minorities. “With the additional credibility and validation that a presidential visit gives to the Burmese government, specific reform agenda items should be on the table, including the cessation of violence against the Kachin, Rohingya and other minority groups”.

Franks's article appeared the same day a group of Kachin environmentalists and farmers handed members of Obama's entourage a petition to cease all funding to the Hukaung (or Hugawng) in western Kachin State. The government considers the area to be tiger reserve even though it’s doubtful there are any more tigers left.

The Hukaung valley also includes large-scale plantations operated by cronies of the previous military regime. Critics charge that the reserve is serving as a fig leaf to mask the environmental destructive agricultural and mining practices of crony controlled firms most notably the Yuzana Corporation. The firm is accused of illegally seizing more than 200,000 acres from farmers in 2006.

Since the reserve's creation in 2001, the US federal government's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has spent nearly $400,000 supporting efforts of the New York based Wildlife Conservation Society. This has included a $59,077 grant from FWS to support “anti-poaching patrols” in 2010. The patrols have been a source of controversy as the anti-poaching units have been granted the authority to shoot at sight any suspected poachers in the valley.