HEART OF DARKNESS 2012: Northern Myanmar, aka Burma, where people are being driven from their lands and exterminated, a kind of jungle genocide. And behind it, our inscrutable capitalists, the Chinese. According to the Aljazeera account by Jason Motlagh, "Blood and Gold: Inside Burma's Hidden War", the horror shows no signs of stopping.
So far, more than 75,000 ethnic Kachin civilians have been driven from their ancestral lands. Human rights groups allege the Burmese army is intentionally attacking civilian areas, with wide-spread evidence of torture, rape, forced conscription and summary executions. Both sides employ child soldiers and continue to sow the ground with land mines.
According to a June report by Human Rights Watch, at least 10,000 additional Kachin refugees are stranded in make-shift camps across the border in China, where authorities still refuse to grant the United Nations and relief agencies access. Thousands have reportedly been forced back across the border, into harm’s way.
According to a June report by Human Rights Watch, at least 10,000 additional Kachin refugees are stranded in make-shift camps across the border in China, where authorities still refuse to grant the United Nations and relief agencies access. Thousands have reportedly been forced back across the border, into harm’s way.
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| Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the KIA depends on a steady stream of recruits to fill its ranks [Jason Motlagh] |
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As western businesses beat a path to her homeland, Burma watchers are concerned that ongoing rights abuses against the Kachin and other ethnic minorities could be further marginalised.
"The international euphoria about the reform in Burma is definitely premature, especially with the crimes against humanity we're seeing in Kachin state," says Matthew Smith, a field investigator with Human Rights Watch.
Outmanned and outgunned, KIA guerillas have fought the Burmese military on and off for decades in their bid for greater political rights and control over lands rich in minerals, timber and, more recently, Chinese-funded hydropower projects that were brokered during the ceasefire period.
While other rebel movements in Karen and Chin states have inked deals with the government, KIA officials insist the Burmese used the truce as a cover to broker multi-billion dollar energy deals with China without their input. The current fighting was touched off when the Burmese Army advanced on KIA outposts near the Taping River.
"The international euphoria about the reform in Burma is definitely premature, especially with the crimes against humanity we're seeing in Kachin state," says Matthew Smith, a field investigator with Human Rights Watch.
Outmanned and outgunned, KIA guerillas have fought the Burmese military on and off for decades in their bid for greater political rights and control over lands rich in minerals, timber and, more recently, Chinese-funded hydropower projects that were brokered during the ceasefire period.
While other rebel movements in Karen and Chin states have inked deals with the government, KIA officials insist the Burmese used the truce as a cover to broker multi-billion dollar energy deals with China without their input. The current fighting was touched off when the Burmese Army advanced on KIA outposts near the Taping River.
And total silence from Western media and governments.
H/T — Daniel
2 comments:
If the western country's are silent, about those abuses? This must mean, there is no oil involved.
Because, there is oil sales involved with China....Harper approves China's Human Rights, their people don't have any. Harper has permitted company's to hire, cheap Chinese labor to exploit. China has been found guilty, for Chinese workers deaths at the tar sands.
A fellow from the Sudan, only earned, $2,100 for a years wages. Foreign workers are frequently abused by their employers. Especially those who work for wealthy family's. Some of them say, it is like being in prison. Harper has permitted this.
Harper has also permitted these abuses of Chinese laborers, at the tar sands. If they get killed, that's just T.F.B.
No word from Aung San Suu Kyi either.
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