...Over the past ten years the SPDC has undertaken numerous 'development projects' across Karen State, consistently claiming that these are purely for the good of the people. Such projects however are anything but, invariably bringing with them an increase in human rights violations in the area surrounding the development site. Villages are typically forcibly relocated and their inhabitants are used as forced labour. One such project is a hydroelectricity power plant that is to be built on the Day Loh River in Toungoo District.

Articles on this category from BurmaNet News

Testimony by a refugee from central Karenni (Kayah) State and List of Villages Relocated in March 1992."

"(Northwest Karenni State) List of 76 villages relocated in March 1992. Deemawso and Pruso Townships March, July 92. Karenni men, women: Rape; forced labour incl. portering and work on the Loikaw-Aung Ban railway -- 91); extortion; forced relocation; religious intolerance (the villages were Christian)..."
ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced

Die Armee der SPDC Militärdiktatur ist mittlerweile auf eine Truppenstärke von 500.000 Soldaten angewachsen und jetzt selbst nur noch durch ein System der Angst zu kontrollieren. Fast jeder hat einen Vorgesetzten und die Exekution ist nur einen Schuß entfernt. Der militärische Geheimdienst ist überall und selbst die höheren Ränge werden oft ‘Reinigungen’ nach sowietischem Vorbild unterzogen. Karen; Flüchtlinge; Burma Army; Refugees

Articles from this category from BurmaNet News)

There are an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants from Burma and other neighboring countries working in Thailand. Migrant
workers from Burma come from a variety of geographical locations and ethnic groups and work in several different industries
and service sectors in Thailand. There are both push and pull factors at work when people make the decision to migrate to
Thailand. The pull factors include the close geographical location of Thailand to Burma as well as the demand in Thailand for

Migrant artist shares his earnings with the refugees who people his canvases...

"Suffering from depression and weighed down by the hardships of life in Burma, Maung Maung Tinn finally decided to leave his home town, Moulmein, capital of Mon State. That was in 1994.

As the rainy season nears its end, SPDC operations in northern Papun District persist. Civilians living in Lu Thaw township in northern Papun District who fled from military attacks on their villages earlier in the current offensive have been joined by those more recently displaced. So long as military forces remain active in the area of their abandoned homes, these villagers are unable to return to tend their crops, collect possessions and reclaim their land.

...There are currently more than 135,000 refugees living in Thailand. Refugees from Burma are also in refugee camps along the
Bangladeshi and Indian borders, as well as working and living in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Malaysia. The line between
refugee and migrant is a thin one and there are also an estimated 1 million migrant workers living in Thailand who have fled from
their homes for many of the same reasons that official refugees have. (The topic of migrant workers from Burma is covered in

Correspondent Anne Fletcher meets former activists of the 88 Generation who made new lives o­n the other side of the world...

"The menacing group of five soldiers emerged from Rangoon’s city hall, knelt down and aimed their guns at the protesters. Tin Maung Htoo, a 16-year-old high school student, sat tight, linking arms with others in the front row.

The first shots Tin Maung Htoo heard, however, sounded like machine gun fire from armored cars sweeping round both sides of the Sule Pagoda o­n that August night, 19 years ago.

Trafficking and Militarized Femininity on the Burma-China Border

The situation of Internally Displaced People (IDP?s), in Burma remained critical throughout 2001. The US State Department
estimates that there could be up to1 million members of ethnic minority groups who the SPDC has forcibly relocated from their
villages and districts, and who are currently living along the Thai border. Reports from NGOs also estimate that an additional 1
million IDP?s are living a precarious existance in other locations throughout the country...