Sao Yawdserk, the leader of the Shan State (SSA) South, at war with Burma’s military rulers, has warned Thailand of more asylum seekers unless the regional grouping ASEAN gives a down-to-earth interpretation of its cardinal policy of non-interference.
He was speaking in connection with the Burma Army’s 5-day scorched earth campaign, July 27 to August 1, that left in its wake more than 10,000 people homeless in southern Shan State, according to a statement by Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) on August 13.
His own statement issued today also put the loss of the villagers at K 936 ($ 850,000).
“The RCSS (Restoration Council of Shan State, the political arm of the SSA) calls on ASEAN, in spite of its policy of non interference in the internal affairs of a member state, and the UN to investigate and help resolve the problems of the Union of Burma,” he said. “We beg of you not to allow the Burmese military regime to continue killing its own people and engaging in ethnic cleansing. Otherwise more and more refugees will be flocking to Thailand.”
The SSA leader also accused the regime of instigating a racial war. “We have never killed ordinary Burmese civilians because we regarded them as human beings,” he said. “What the Burma Army is doing is tantamount to inciting an inter-racial conflict".
Sai La, son of Long Kham and Pa Sway, Mongkeung, for instance, was shot while he was begging the soldiers not to burn his house and his body thrown into a latrine pit, reads the statement.
Even Lahu villagers, whom the Burmese Army is using as anti-insurgency militias, are not spared, it says. Many of them in Mong Leum village, Mongnawng sub-township, Kehsi Township, were reportedly detained and tortured during the campaign.
According to the latest information, the Burmese Army has allowed the villagers, who were forcibly relocated to Laikha, Namlan and Mongnawng to return to their villages, many of which were razed to the ground. “They are also checking and stopping the people from fleeing to Thailand and telling the international media of what’s happening back home,” said a young Shan activist to SHAN.
