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An Open Letter to World Leaders on the Fourth Anniversary of The Resumption of War Calling Urgently for Humanitarian Aid for The Internally Displaced People of Northern Burma

By 80 Solidarity Organizations  •  June 9, 2015

On this fourth anniversary of the resumption of war against the Kachin people, the undersigned organisations call upon world leaders to strengthen their commitment to promoting peace and saving the lives, dignity and well-being of the Infernally.

Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in the ethnic areas of entire country including the forgotten Kachin IDPs of Northern Burma.

Four years ago today, the Burma Army broke a 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and unleashed a major new military offensive against the Kachin people. Since 9 June 2011, over 120,000 Kachin and Shan people have been displaced after being forced to flee their homes. Since then, the Burma Army and the government of Burma have committed multiple human rights violations that break international law. These include the deliberate targeting of civilians, rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and restrictions upon the delivery of humanitarian assistance. These violations constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. A humanitarian emergency has unfolded, and a desperate need for shelter, food and medical care now exists.

Despite several rounds of peace talks and the signing of a draft Nationwide Ceasefire Accord, the Burma Army has continued to carry out military offensives against the ethnic armed groups including KIA. The situation remains too dangerous for the IDPs to return home. UN-led convoys resumed in March 2015, which tried to reach areas beyond government control after a six month period of interruption. However, there are still restrictions on access to Laiza and other KIO controlled areas where the majority of the IDPs are located. The security situation continues to deteriorate throughout Kachin and northern Shan States with sporadic clashes being seen. This has resulted in approximately 20,000 people being newly displaced. There has been no UN Food Convoy since last September 2014 in the Kachin (KIO) controlled areas.

We are extremely concerned over the lacked of funding and commitment to resolving this problem from the international community. There will be further funding cuts from June 2015 according to the Humanitarian Response Plan of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). This will result in a family of Kachin IDPs having to live on less than 20 cents (200 kyats) per day. A family of three of four cannot survive on this amount. Furthermore, some IDP sites, such as Hpare Kyet camp which is home to more than 870 IDPs, have never received humanitarian aid and are in a desperate situation.

We want to speak for the thousands of voiceless Kachin people who are suffering in this situation: the desperate mothers crying for help for her chronically malnourished

children; the thousands of young children who have been left without education; the small children who are now entering their teenage years as residents of IDP camps; the old men who feel they have lost their dignity to live.

We call for immediate steps to build trust and strengthen dialogue, and a commitment to constitutional reform to establish a genuine federal democratic system of government.

We hope that four years of war will be brought to an end soon and that the people of Kachin and Northern Shan States will be able to live in genuine freedom with lasting peace.

Please help us to save lives, dignity and well being of the forgotten IDPs in Kachin and the entire country!

Yours,

Tags: Burma Army, Humanitarian Assistance, Internally Displaced People, Kachin, Kachin Independence Army, Kachin State

This post is in: Displacement, Ethnic Nationalities, Human Rights

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