Karen National Union

Official flag of KNU

The Karen National Union (KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army that represents the Karen people of Burma. It operates in Eastern Burma, and has underground networks in other areas of Burma where Karen people live. In Karen, this Karen State area is called Kawthoolei.

The KNU is a democratic organisation, and supports human rights and democracy in Burma.

The KNU was dominated in the last three decades by Bo Mya, who was president from 1976-2000. The KNU was for many years able to fund its activities by controlling black market trade across the border with Thailand, and through local taxation. After the failed 8888 Uprising of the Burmese people in 1988, the Burmese military government turned to China for help. Various economic concessions were offered to China in exchange for weapons. The Burmese Army was massively expanded and began to offer deals to groups fighting the government. The groups were offered the choice of cooperating with the military junta or being destroyed.

The KNU's effectiveness was severely diminished after the fall of its headquarters at Manerplaw, near the Thai border, in 1995.

Also in 1994, a group of Buddhist soldiers in the KNLA, citing discrimination by the KNU's overwhelmingly Christian leadership against the Buddhist Karen majority, broke away and established the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army or DKBA. They were led by a monk widely thought to be an agent of the Burmese dictatorship. The DKBA quickly agreed to a ceasefire with the Burmese army and was granted business concessions at the expense of their former KNU overlords. The KNU and DKBA have since been in regular fighting, with the DKBA actively supported by the Burmese army.

Pado Mahn Shar, the secretary-general of the union was shot dead in his home in Mae Sot, Thailand, on February 14, 2008, possibly by soldiers of the DKBA. ^[1][2][3]

Since then, the KNU and KNLA have continued to fight the Burma state military (Tatmadaw) by forming guerrilla units and basing themselves in temporary jungle camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Following its principle of no surrender, the KNU continues despite a precarious state of existence. Nonetheless, their fight continues to garner the sympathy of the international community since the KNU represent the Karen people, one of the many ethnic nationalities of Burma that are experiencing ethnic cleansing under the military regime's Four Cuts campaigns (Pya Ley Pya), a strategy where intelligence, finances, food and recruits are eliminated through a scorched-earth policy.^{[citation needed]}

Several attempts have been made to conclude a form of peace with Burma's military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but with little success. The 2004 peace talks yielded only an informal ceasefire which the regime used to reinforce their frontline troops. Analysts realized this was a ruse, and sure enough, offensives against KNU held areas have resumed in earnest.

The Karen conflict is the longest internal war in the world, having been waged since January 31, 1949. The KNU wants a political settlement and supports a federal Burma.

Following the assassination of Padoh Mahn Sha elections were held and the current Secretary General of the KNU is Naw Zipporrah Sein.[1] She was formerly head of the Karen Women's Organisation.[2]

References

See also

• Kayin State
• Internal conflict in Burma

External links

• Karen National Union

• http://www.karenwomen.org/

• Revolution Reviewed: The Karens' Struggle for Right to Self-determination and Hope for the Future Saw Kapi, February 26 2006, retrieved on 2006-11-30
• Fifty Years of Struggle: A Review of the Fight for the Karen People's Autonomy {abridged) Ba Saw Khin, 1998 (revised 2005), Retrieved on 2006-11-30
• Determined Resistance: An Interview with Gen. Bo Mya The Irrawaddy, October 2003, Retrieved on 2006-11-30
• Karen Heritage Karen History and Culture Preservation Society
• Karen National Union Homepage
• Karen Martyrs' Day Marked by Calls for Unity Saw Yan Naing, The Irrawaddy, August 13, 2008
• Remembering our heroes and rethinking the revolution Saw Kapi, Mizzima, August 13, 2008