Country: Myanmar

Group: Kaya/Padau

Date Finalized: 9/27/2021

Team: Johanna McCombs (lead), Ash Pessaran, Deneb Bobadillo

Content Warning: forced labor, lethal violence

Approximate Time Period: 1987-present

The Kaya in Myanmar go by many names such as the Paduang or the Karenni and represent many smaller ethnic groups that mainly live in the Kayah state but also in the neighboring Shan state (Minority Rights Group, 2015). The fight for independence of the Kayah state has caused violent conflicts between government troops and the Karenni National Defense Force (Lipes, 2021). In 1996, the State Law and Order Restoration Council and State Peace and Development Council forced the mass displacement of 20,000-30,000 Karenni people to government relocation sites under threat of execution, imprisonment and forced labor (Amnesty International, 1999; Kramer, Russell, Smith, 2018). The Myanmar military deprived these refugee camps of sufficient food, water, shelter, and sanitation measures, further complicating the process for relocation and intervention with the UN (Minority Rights Group, 2015). The number of Karenni refugees that arrive in surrounding countries in order to avoid the ethnic persecution have overwhelmed surrounding countries, including Thailand, Bangladesh, and India (United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2008; Amnesty International, 1999). In the early 2000’s the Burmese government also began many mega projects such as dams and mines that displaced many Kaya. This issue of government financed megaprojects continued into the late 2000’s. In 2001 these dams flooded 114 villages, and displaced 12,000 Kayan (Minority Rights Group, 2015).

The data quality for the Kaya experiencing displacement in Myanmar is a 3 of 3, because there is clear evidence that is supported by numerous sources.

Sources

  1. Amnesty International, Aftermath: Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State, 1 June 1999, ASA 16/14/99, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a9ca10.html [accessed 28 September 2021]
  2. Minority Rights Group. 2015. Karenni. (2015, February 5). Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/karenni/.
  3. Kramer, T., Russell, O., & Smith, M. (2018). From War to Peace in Kayah (Karenni) State A Land at the Crossroads in Myanmar. Transnational Institute.
  4. Lipes, J. (2021, July 15). More than 700 Refugees of Fighting in Myanmar’s Kayah State in Dire Need at Thai Border. Radio Free Asia.