Denouncing the junta’s scorched earth campaign in Shan State, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Burmese embassies in several countries, to urge the United Nations and ASEAN to take action regarding the junta’s crimes against humanity in Shan State.
On August 20, more than 100 people belonging to the Shan community gathered at the ChristianCenter in downtown Bangkok and urged the Thai Government as well as ASEAN leaders to pressurize the military regime to stop killing people and burning houses of the people in ShanState. They were referring to the recent Burmese Army’s campaign when more than 10,000 villagers were forcibly relocated and over 500 houses were burnt down by the military regime.
The elected representative of the ruling Democratic Party, MP Wachara Petchthing and famous singer Add Carabao were also reported to have participated in the gathering, according to a source.
Similarly, on August 18, over 100 Shan people led by the Shan Nationals for
Democracy-Japan (SND-Japan) and Shan State Nationalities Democracy-Japan (SSND-Japan) and other ethnic people living in Japan, gathered outside the Burmese embassy in Tokyo, for an hour and protested against the junta’s ill-treatment of the ethnic people in Shan State.
The protestors handed in their statement to the embassy, which urged the junta, “to stop killing and abusing people in Shan State and other ethnic areas”.
On the same day, a joint statement on the junta’s crimes against humanity in Burma, by the Ethnic Nationalities in Canada originally from Burma said, “the free and democratic world has the responsibility to intervene on behalf of humanity” while calling for the Canadian government to support and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take action on their demands without delay.
The organizations, which released the statement, were: the Karen Canadian
Community, Karenni State Youth (Canada), Vancouver Shan Community, Zo National Union, the Mon Community of Canada, Chin Human Rights Organization, Kachin Canadian Organization ofCanada and the Arakanese Canadian Society (Toronto).
The statement called on Canada and the UNSC to adopt the following resolutions: “the imposition of an arms embargo, the establishment of an inquiry commission in regard to crimes against humanity and to increase humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced people from Burma”.
Today, the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ also called on the ASEAN, despite its non interference policy in the internal affairs of a member state and the UN to investigate the charges leveled against the junta, according to its statement.
The campaign from July 27 to August 1, known as four-cuts (cutting food, funds, intelligence and recruits to the armed resistance by local populace), had cost the villagers in three townships a total cost of Kyat 936 million (USD 850,000) both in property and cash, said Sao Yawdserk, leader of the SSA.
