Since 1975, Thailand has provided asylum to hundreds of thousands of Indo-Chinese refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Fleeing an internationally condemned occupation of their homelands and the ensuing genocide, they crossed the Mekong River, risked assault by current-day pirates, and navigated the Gulf of Thailand to arrive there. In doing so, they have properly received substantial media attention and a massive international humanitarian response.
The situation of Karen refugees in Thailand is different. Despite the continuation of the nearly four-decade-old military conflict in Burma that spawned them, their numbers are smaller, their dream of an autonomous state little understood, and their situation generally unknown to the rest of the world. They are Thailand's other refugees.
The characteristics of many of the Karen refugees in Thailand today immediately convey traces of their history. Their names are often unusual for Southeast Asia - George, John, Julia - and English is commonly spoken among them. Although most are Buddhists, Christianity is also common, particularly among the leadership. Nationalism is strong; their focus is not on refugee problems, but on the struggle back in Burma. They are "well organized" in a Western sense; the Karen Refugee Committee invites visitors to see a videotape about the Karen national movement before discussing how the refugees came to be in Thailand.
Background of the problem
Burma, a land of some thirty-five million people, features an ethnically and culturally diverse population. Although dominated by ethnic Burmans, it also serves as home to a number of other groups, including Kachins, Chins, Mons, Karenni, Shans, Arakanese, Karens, and others. In fact, the Karens, who number over three million in Burma, probably entered the area (including present-day Thailand) before the Burmans did, some one thousand years ago. Historically, friction between ethnic groups in the area has been characteristic.
Christian missionaries found a receptive audience among the Karens in the late 1800s. Perhaps a fifth are now Christian. The Karens aligned themselves with British colonialists and fought on the side of the British from the early 1800s through World War II. At times, this alliance inflamed their relations with other ethnic groups, particularly the Burmese. Thousands of Karens were allegedly massacred resisting Burmese-Japanese collusion during World War II. As Burma approached independence in 1948, the Karens, the country's second largest ethnic group, sought British support for a separate Karen state. Neither British support nor an acceptable separate state ever materialized.
After Burma became independent in January 1948, Prime Minister U Nu attempted to build a democratic society based on Buddhism and socialism. Conflict between the Karens and the new government escalated rapidly, finally breaking out in open rebellion. Over the last thirty years, the territory inside Burma controlled by the Karen national movement has been diminishing.
In 1954, U Nu did help establish a small Karen state of Kawthoolei in Burma, but its size, resources, and political functions were too restricted to be acceptable to the Karen leadership. In particular, the central government
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