Acute food shortage is staring over 7,000 Karen in the face in Bu Tho and Lu Thaw townships,Karen State since early 2009.

Displaced Karen people hide in jungles because the Burmese Army patrols to control the area. So they don't have a permanent place to live in and cannot grow paddy and vegetables. In addition, insects are a major problem. As a result they face food shortage.

"They faced food shortage last year but it is worse this year. Locals are scared when the Burmese Army soldiers arrive in their village. They hide in the jungle and if the army establishes a base in their village, they cannot go back. If the army moves in their area, they move to another place repeatedly. So, they cannot grow rice and vegetables as they would like to. Besides, insects and mice destroy crops creating shortage. They are facing starvation this year," Padoh Saw Htoo Lal Wah, KNU's secretary of Pha Pun district, said.

Even though they attempt to catch mice by using traps, it is ineffective because the mice are very small. Locals are now asking for rat poison, " Saw Htoo Lal Wah said.

Saw Steve, Secretary of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), said that "it's true that people are facing a lot of trouble. Instead of having rice soup twice a day, now people have it only once. It has not reached starvation level because we are helping them."

CIDKP will seek assistance from overseas Karen and other international humanitarian organizations for Karen people from Bu Tho and Lu Thaw townships, Saw Steve added.

In Pha Pun district, there are 264 villages in Bu Tho and Lu Thaw townships. Local Karen have been moving from place to place because the army has been deployed in these areas since 1997. So, locals cannot live in their own village.

Now six battalions of the army are based in Pha Pun in Bu Tho and eight battalions under the tactical command 1 and 3 under the military operation command 3 (MOC 3) are based in Lu Thaw township.