Kachin Refugees Need Clothes, Blankets

War refugees from Kachin State who are currently living in makeshift camps along the Sino-Burmese border are urgently in need of blankets, clothes and other supplies as wintry cold weather begins to affect the mountainous high-altitude region.

“Many of the refugees do not have adequate clothing or blankets,” said Awng Wa, the chairman of the Kachin Development Network Group. “Most of them are sleeping on the naked floor of small wooden huts.”

Awng Wa said that health problems will be exacerbated in the coming months, especially by December when conditions can be freezing.

Refugees began fleeing to the camps due to the outbreak of hostilities in June between Burmese government forces and Kachin Independence Army rebels in Kachin and Shan states.

Moon Nay Li, a spokeswoman for the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT), echoed the call for aid, and said that since Burmese government troops launched further offensives against Kachin rebel positions last week, more refugees have fled to the border camps.

The total number of refugees at the Sino-Burmese border, including the 15 refugee camps in the main Kachin towns of Laiza and Maija Yang, is estimated at nearly 30,000 people, she said, adding that only one month's budget of food and aid remains with the local Kachin community groups which supply the refugees.

International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement on Oct.18 saying that Burmese government forces have committed serious human rights abuses against ethnic Kachin civilians since renewed fighting broke out in the northern state in June.

The HRW statement said that the Burmese government armed forces have been responsible for killings and attacks on civilians, using forced labor, and pillaging villages.

No less than 37 women and girls were raped during the first two months of the conflict. Thirteen of those were killed, according to a report from KWAT.

Shirley Seng, another spokesperson for the KWAT, stated in the report: “Our documentation team was deeply shocked at the details of these crimes. Some women were gang-raped in front of their families. In one case, soldiers slaughtered a woman’s grandchild in front of her before raping and killing her as well.”