The Karen Women Organisation (KWO) called for an end to fighting between the Burma Army supported by Border Guard Forces (BGF) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (Splinter DKBA) in ceasefire areas of Karen State.
The KWO said that there had been fighting along the Myaing Gyi Ngu to Mae Tha Wor Road in Hlaingbwe Township in the districts of Hpa-an and Hpa-pun, both of which are under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU).
The KWO Joint Secretary (1), Naw Ta Mla Saw, said on 28 September: “The skirmishes broke out in areas under [the control of] the KNU, which has signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement [NCA]. In other words, you can call them [those areas under KNU control] ceasefire areas, so [the skirmishes] shouldn’t have happened.”
She added that the Burma Army and the Splinter DKBA should solve their issues through non-military means.
According to the terms of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in ceasefire areas the ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that signed the NCA and the Burma Army must not carry out: reconnaissance, recruitment, armed attacks, mine laying, acts of violence or destruction of property. They are also forbidden from moving troops for territorial gain or launching military offensives.
Though the BGF claimed to have gained control of the Myaing Gyi Ngu to Mae Tha Wor Road on 19 September skirmishes are still breaking out along the road and according to the KWO people displaced from the area are still unable to return home due to security concerns.
Saw Way Lay, a Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) spokesperson told KIC News that local residents are concerned about human rights violations in the areas of the fighting.
He said: “In the past, human rights have been violated in areas where fighting broke out, so they [the local residents] are worried it could happen again. The war refugees [IDPs] will only receive temporary assistance. If the skirmishes continue to break out, they [local residents] are worried that their livelihoods will be affected.”
After fighting broke out in the Mae Tha Wor area on 11 September the KNU released a statement on 13 September that said the KNU objected to the resumption of military activities and conflict during this peace-building period.
Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
