As fighting continues between the Burma Army and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the government has come under fire from a senior Karen general for trying to “shut down the DKBA.”
Fighting between government troops and soldiers from the DKBA broke out on the morning of Thursday 2 July on the new Myawaddy – Kawkareik Asia Highway and has now spread to the DKBA controlled areas of Kawkareik, Myawaddy and Hlaingbwe townships.
Major General Nerdah Mya, head of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) in an exclusive interview with Karen News said: “The Burma Army want the DKBA off the highway, they want the money and control over it.”
He believes the fighting has nothing to do with security on the road, he explained: “It’s not about making the road safer. It’s about taking over Karen land, this is our homeland, our territory. We have the right to be here."
He said: “The DKBA are Karen, it is Karen land and they have the right to stay there. The Burma Army doesn’t have the right to tell Karen people what to do on their own land.”
Maj. Gen. Nerdah said it should not be difficult for international observers, to notice a pattern in what is happening in the ethnic territories.
He said: “The Burma Army is fighting in the north, using gunships, against the Kachin, the Kokang and the Shan and now they have moved their attacks down here to Karen State.”
He explained that the government had a strategy for Karen State and that it did not have the best intentions for its people.
“They want to control all our natural resources, it is part of an overall plan that has included land confiscation. Karen people have the right to control the road in Karen State, not the government or its armed forces,” he said.
He told Karen News that the Burma Army had to learn to talk and share with ethnic people instead of resorting to military force.
He said: “The Burma Army have the right to share, but not the right to take control and force the DKBA out – they have to learn negotiate, not keep resorting to violence to try to get their way.”
He has little hope that the fighting will stop soon unless the attitude of the Burma Army improves.
He said: “The fighting will continue, unless the Burma Army is willing to share and to negotiate. If it tries to kick the DKBA off their land it’s not a good sign for the on-going ‘peace-talks’ or building trust with ethnic people.”
Maj. Gen. Nerdah said that the conflict had the potential to escalate and involve other ethnic armed groups.
“The DKBA are our brothers and if the Burma Army continues the fighting it will drag other Karen armed groups into the conflict. They [the government] have to stop [fighting] if they want the peace process to continue,” he said.
He also insisted that the Karen did not want conflict and said: “We don’t want to fight, but if they [Burma Army] keep violating the rights of the Karen we will respond. I want them to stop fighting, if not the KNDO will get involved.”
He insisted that the KNDO had the right to become involved in the conflict because “Our responsibility is to protect the rights of the Karen people, if their rights are violated, we have the right to defend them.”
He warned that if the Burma Army is, “fighting one Karen armed group it affects all our groups.”
Maj. Gen. Nerdah urged the government to stop fighting and to get back to the peace process.
“If they are genuine about wanting a democracy they need to start a genuine political dialogue, not keep using these divisive tactics to take attention off a lack of commitment to share power with the ethnic people,” he said.
The Burma Army did not respond to phone calls from Karen News asking for comments on this story.
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
