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Karen Refugees have ‘window on the world’, Conference told
By Yeni, November 17, 2004, Arriwaddy

Despite their lack of access to modern technology, Karen refugees along the Burma-Thai border had a “window to the outside world”, an international conference in Chiang Mai was told on Wednesday.

Lee Sang Kook, of the National University of Singapore’s Department of Sociology, described the Karen as a “scattered but connected people.” They had a network within Burma and also overseas links, he said.

Lee was speaking to a three-day conference on the “Impact of Globalization, Regionalism and Nationalism on Minority Peoples in Southeast Asia.” About 300 representatives from Thailand, Laos, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and some western countries attended the conference, which ended Wednesday.

The event was also attended by a number of border-based Karen social organizations: the Karen Teacher Working Group, the Karen Women’s Organization, the Karen Office for Relief and Development and the Karen Environment and Social Action Network. They held a roundtable session entitled “Indigenous Self-determination under Burma’s Military Regime: Karen Organization on Land, Knowledge, Women and Community.”

K’nyaw Paw, of the Karen Women’s Organization said she believed international participants in the conference were aware of what was happening in Burma and sympathized with the “suffering of the Karen people.”

On Tuesday evening a documentary film on the plight of Karen refugees was shown. Entitled “Ceasefire”, the Karen-made film documented instances of forced relocation and acts of violence against the Karen.

“The film is a strong advocate of the truth behind the so-called ceasefire between the junta and the Karen National Union,” said one member of the audience.