(1 Feb 1996) Eng/Thai/Nat
The leader of the last major rebel group holding out against the ruling military government in Burma has vowed to unleash an urban guerrilla campaign in an attempt to dissuade foreign investors from supporting the regime.
The President of the Karen National Union gave his warning during the Revolution Day ceremony when the Karen remember their dead from nearly 50 years of fighting.
In a heavily guarded section of Burmese jungle called Teakaplaw, the Karen Army gathers to remember the dead of their 47 year struggle. Up to 50,000 ethnic Karens are thought to have died in the generations long battle with Burmese rulers.
As the last remaining group not to have surrendered to the military rulers in Rangoon, they expect more bloodshed very soon. They seem to accept the price.. and the cruel odds.
Children as young as ten are armed and ready to go to war.
Although cut off in these remote jungle enclaves they are aware that the world has little interest in their struggle.
SOUNDBITE: English
"We are fighting for democracy and we don't get any sympathetic support or help from democratic countries around the world.
SUPERCAPTION: Nerdah Mya, Foreign Relations negotiator, KNU
As Burma's ruling military embraces the market economy, new investment is helping secure their position.
This, is seen by the Karen, as providing the military with cash to buy Chinese weapons weapons that most believe will soon be unleashed on the few remaining Karen base camps within Burma.
Now, the 69 year old K-N-U President seems ready to turn some of his estimated 5,000 rebels to urban guerrilla warfare.
SOUNDBITE: Thai
"We have to use many tactics: conventional warfare, we have to use guerrilla warfare. We are now going to make attacks in the cities."
SUPERCAPTION: General Bo Mya, President of the KNU
For years Bo Mya has pleaded with countries not to invest in Burma. Not one has responded with a trade embargo. Instead, new international contacts are signed daily. The President says the attacks on Burmese cities should start soon.
This has divided opinion within the Karen. Many fear it will provide the Burmese Army with an excuse to wipe out all the remaining KNU strongholds in Burma, adding to the estimated 70,000 refugees living across the border in Thailand. Others say there is
no alternative.
SOUNDBITE: English
"If we are considered to be terrorists then so be it. Right now we are fighting for our freedom, democracy and liberty. Not just for our Karen people but all of Burma.
SUPERCAPTION: Nerdah Mya
Celebrations went on into the night. The Karen have waged one of the world's longest running insurgences. Now in its fifth decade the unashamed display of children armed and ready for battle best illustrates the lasting faith in the KNU motto: 'freedom is for
those who dare to fight'.
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