The Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a humanitarian group operating in eastern Burma, said the Burmese Army's Military Operation Commands 4 and 16 in March launched a fresh offensive in northern Karen State.
"This most recent attack is the largest against civilians in northern Karen State since the Burma Army completed the re-supply of its camps and the construction of roads at the end of 2007," the report chronicles.
As a result of these attacks more than 2,100 Karen villagers have been displaced and are now hiding in the jungles of eastern Burma, the FBR said.
These latest victims further swell the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) resulting from Burmese Army operations.
The FBR calculates that "Over 30,000 people remain displaced in northern Karen State, and are constantly prepared to flee any attacks."
Saw Hla Henry, a leader of the Karen National Union, an ethnic armed rebel group operating in eastern Burma along the Thai-Burmese border, said offensives by the Burmese army are escalating in eastern Burma and particularly in Karen State.
"The regime conducts operations very often in these places and whenever they see IDPs they fire at them. So the lives of IDPs are in great danger," Saw Hla Henry said.
Meanwhile, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a non-governmental organization endorsing the FBR report, said that Burma has over one million IDPs across the country, inclusive of the estimated 30,000 in northern Karen State, particularly in remote areas traditionally home to many ethnic communities.
Benedict Rogers, CSW's Advocacy Officer for South Asia, who has visited the Thai-Burma border several times, told Mizzima, "It shows the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] is not responding at all to what the international community is saying. It shows that further international pressure is significantly needed."
CSW calls on the United Nations Secretary General to pay additional attention to the problems in Burma and to pay a personal visit to the troubled Southeast Asian country, as his Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, failed in his mission to facilitate political reforms through a process of dialogue.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, in a press statement said, "The regime has proven that it is not interested in dialogue or reform, and so it is imperative that the international community now act."
"…the time has come for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take personal charge of efforts to address the crisis in Burma. He should visit Burma as a matter of urgency to facilitate meaningful dialogue between the regime, the democracy groups and the ethnic nationalities, with the backing of a binding Security Council Resolution," Thomas elaborated.
