We are hearing some reports out of the Irrawaddy Delta that some Karen Villages have apparently been excluded from receiving much assistance so far. In some areas the Karen make up more than half the population, so some areas may simply still be waiting for aid or resupply. Could this be some misunderstanding and oversensitivity due to the history (see below) or is this an active campaign to exclude? We must note that these are still very sketchy reports but our source on this has heard about this situation from two separate sources already. We would like to hear from anyone who can provide further information on this, through our contact page.
Nothing is going on along those lines in Bassein (Pathein) however, according to Metta:
Metta is also taking care of 3 camps in Pathein – at the Sagaw and Poe Karen Baptist Churches and at the Koe-thein Sport Centre run by the government. We are now supporting them (391 female and 501 male) with blankets, sarongs, towels, soap, drinking water, footwear, toothpaste and toothbrushes for 937 people, of which. Metta is also running the Farmer Led Extension Center near Pathein and the team is now conducting relief work along with area churches and local communities. Moreover, Metta also supports fuel for the Sagaw Karen Baptist Church’s rescue team for their transportation.
While we can’t confirm the above mention on excluding aid to the Karen, it is apparent from reports that the military has established more control over some of the outlying towns in the Delta, to the point of maintaining evening curfews in some hard-hit areas. To provide some context to this report, …the Karen are an ethnic group with a long history in the region that is Myanmar today. They are stretched out in communities from the Irrawaddy Delta up through Karen State (along the central eastern border) and then up through northern Thailand and the environs around Chiang Mai. Many ethnic groups have had a tenuous relationship with the successive governments since the country gained independence in 1948. For decades there has been open conflict with various ethnic groups. While many groups signed truce agreements with the government in the 1990s, some groups of the Karen in Karen State are still resisting. While the Irrawaddy is a so-called “white area” (no insurgency) many ethnic and religious strains apparently still remain. With aid limited and the increasingly desperate situation for food and water, given the history, it wouldn’t be surprising if lines were being drawn along such differences.
Tags: ayeyarwaddy, Baptist church, Bassein, Burma, Cyclone, cyclone relief aid, Irrawaddy, Karen Church, Karen State, Karen Village, Metta Development, Myanmar, Nargis, Pathein, Pwo Karen, relief aid, Sgaw Karen
