People, living between Salween and Poon Rivers, have returned to their villages and are staying there without permission from the Burmese Army. They are reportedly unhappy despite returning, sources said.
They are not being disturbed by the Burmese Army because the military junta wants people's support for winning the 2010 elections and for help in military operations in ethnic areas, said a source in the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center (KSWDC).
Karenni people were forced to leave their villages and live in a combined village after the Burmese Army's four cuts military operations in 2006-07 in Karenni State. Now some of them have returned to their original villages.
Khu Gay, news in-charge of KSWDC, said that "even though they have returned to their villages they don't have permission from the junta authorities. They had proposed to the authorities about their return but they did not get permission from the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The authorities said that they could go back if they wanted to. It depended entirely on them. The authorities did not ban them either".
"The reason is that there is an election in 2010. It can be assumed that the SPDC are allowing people to return to the old villages to mobilize opinion for winning the election and continue with its stranglehold on the country," he added.
People returned from combined villages of Shardaw, Chitkal, Nwarlabo, Parlaung, and Daw Tahaung. These villages are located between Salween and Poon rivers. There are about 1,000 people.
The people are only concentrating on jobs for their daily livelihood. There is no health care centre and no schools for their children, said a member of the Free Burma Ranger.
An observer recalled that "they worked in their slash-burn fields (Taung Yar) and cleared plantation fields. Now their villages are the same as before. They grow rice. Now they have many cows and buffalos."
Locals were forced to leave their villages and were relocated forcibly into combined villages in groups near a town by the Burmese Army's four cuts military operations since 1996-97.
