Ethnic Karen in Myanmar fight for survival

Apr 29, 2008, 11:58 GMT

Kaw Poe Kee, Myanmar - Wah Wah Mu, 38, has dressed up her little daughter with a pink chiffon dress, a rare sight in this jungle region of Myanmar (Burma).

But two-and-a-half-year-old Yaung Naing Oo doesn't smile. She has a high fever and apathetically lies in her mother's arms.

'It has gotten worse since yesterday evening,' says Wah Wah Mu, who trekked through the jungle for an hour to reach the clinic.

Tests show the girl has malaria. Treatment and medication is free at this clinic, build with the help of the South Tyrol-based non-governmental organization Help Without Borders.

Wah Wah Mu is a member of the Karen, an ethnic group that has refused to submit to the Myanmar's military junta's yoke. So the regime has waged a merciless war against the Karen.

Like all her neighbours, Wah Wah Mu fled to Myanmar's border area with Thailand to escape government soldiers who regularly invade Karen villages, demand money and food, burn down houses, force Karen males to work as army porters and chase women and children across mined fields.

The good Samaritan of Kaw Poe Kee is Nana, who lives across the border in Thailand and works for the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) run by the Karen government-in-exile.

The clinic consists of a single, large room with mosquito nets instead of window panes. Some 16 wooden stretchers are lined up against the walls.

'We are seeing between 10 and 20 patients every day, up to 40 during the rainy season,' says Nana.

That is the time of the year when mosquitoes proliferate while flooding provides the perfect condition for all kinds of germs.

Before the clinic was build in 2007, patients had to travel in emergencies into Myanmar's interior to seek treatment at government hospitals, but most of them could not afford the high cost.

On a recent morning, the clinic was very busy.

Two mothers were breast-feeding their babies. Three of the stretchers were occupied by men receiving infusions. They had just gone through particularly violent malaria attacks. The infusion bottles hang on a nail that has been driven into the wooden wall.

Nana has also implemented prophylactic programmes against tuberculosis and malaria.

'When we started out last year, 60 out of 100 patients suffered from malaria; today we are down to seven,' she says proudly.

The village of Kaw Poe Kee has only existed for the past seven or eight years. All its 320 inhabitants are refugees in their own country, just like another estimated 250,000 members of the 7-million-strong Karen ethnic minority.

In addition, Thailand houses thousands of refugees in camps along the border.

One hour from Kaw Poe Kee lies Nya Pel Hta, which is even newer. This is where Wah Wah Mu and her neighbour Ma Chit Tu, 39, live.

'Each time the soldiers arrived, they stole all our belongings. We just couldn't live like this any longer,' recalls Ma Chit Tu. But we also couldn't flee across the border into Thailand, because the Thai authorities would have arrested us.'

That was when the families decided to leave their village and built a new one in this jungle clearing. Today, the population of Nya Pel Hta already includes 25 families.

Karen soldier Thaw Thee, 39, has been assigned to sentry duty in the village. His uniform comprises rubber sandals, a t-shirt, camouflage pants and a cap. His rifle dangles from his shoulder.

'The enemy lurks about 10 kilometres from here,' he says while pointing into the jungle. The Karen rebels control a strip between 5 and 10 kilometres wide along the Thai-Myanmar border, but safety within this area is never guaranteed.

'I will continue fighting until the Karen have gained their freedom,' he asserts.

Thaw Thee's commander is Ner Dah, 41, who once studied liberal arts in California.

'The Karen must become free and independent, only then can they decide if they want a federation with Myanmar's other ethnic groups,' he says.

No-one here has any trust in the junta and its so-called roadmap to democracy. No-one cares about the referendum in Myanmar on the new constitution that is supposed to lead to elections in two years.

'We know that there will be no future for us as long as the junta holds on to power,' says Chaung Khu, 24, a Karen refugee who works for Help Without Borders.

Many Karen want to migrate abroad. Australia, Canada and New Zealand are popular choices.

But this poses a problem for those who want to build a viable Karen state one day. Education is a priority for the government-in-exile but often people trained as teachers leave for third countries.

Help Without Borders currently supports schools for 6,000 pupils in the Karen area and in Thailand.

Next to receive a school is Nya Pel Hta, to accommodate 25 pupils in the near future. It is being paid for with donations from Europe.

One of the pupils is Mu La Thee, 6, who says he originally wanted to become a soldier just like his father.

During a previous visit to Kaw Poe Kee he admired the colourful posters pasted on the school walls there and was mightily impressed.

'If I'm good, perhaps I can become a teacher instead,' he says.