***Thanks for my friends working diligently with human rights organizations in Mae Sot and Sangklaburi for sharing this information and fighting for the cause.***
I'm not sure what news if any has been shared over there about the Burmese election this past week, so I want to give you an update since it's been a really intense time felt all throughout the Thai/Burmese borders. About to get even more intense, since for the first time in a year the Burmese democratic activist Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from her house arrest by the military government---the same woman who has been under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years.
SHAM ELECTIONS...
The elections have been recognized internationally as a fraud, to say the least. There have been reports of bullying and threats of violence towards civilians and democratic politicians throughout the country. People were forced to vote for the junta or risk being shot. Dead names loaded the voter registry and people feared mortar and bomb attacks at the polling stations, so most of the countrymen stayed at home and didn't vote. Only a few voting stations were open, making it impossible for citizens from the remote countryside to place a vote. I've been told the citizens were visited by the military guards days before the elections and had their names put on a list; they were then told they didn't need to vote the next day since their vote was automatically counted for.
Little information is coming out of Burma since they haven't had internet or phone lines for weeks and journalists have been prohibited from entering this month. Since border control has tightened so much, activists have been unable to smuggle much information out through their usual channels. And yet, an overwhelming win for the military government has been counted---surprise, surprise. The military now control 25% of the parliament, and the civilian wing that holds the rest of the seats are ex-military officers who retired from the service just days before the election actually took place. Basically, a puppet regime for the military has been installed.
FIGHTING BREAKS OUT ALONG THE BORDERS...The big news lately has been about the Myawaddy region, along the Thai border. The DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) is a breakaway faction of the military who has been fighting in resistance to the junta for years now on behalf of the Buddhist Karen population in Burma. In Myawaddy, they took control of a strategic polling station, shooting and launching grenades and bombs against the Burmese military. There are verified reports that bullets and grenades landed on the Thai side too; counting 4 injuries and 1 death of innocent Thai civilians caught in the overspill. It is unknown how many Burmese people are dying behind those closed borders.
REFUGEES STORM THE THAI BORDERS...There has been a mass exodus of Burmese crashing into the Thai borders all along the central region seeking refuge. The numbers jumped from 5,000 to 15,000 refugees in one day, just hours after the elections. All of the borders have been shut down, and all traffic is being heavily monitored on the Thai side. My friends in Mae Sot (Thai side opposite Myawaddy) are working non stop, loading trucks from the International Organization for Migration carrying Burmese people away from the border. They are loaded with beds going to hospitals, schools, emergency shelters and even military complexes trying to help these people. Thai police have been stressed to the max trying to restore order and control the influx of refugees and supply trucks. There's been news traveling by word of mouth mostly, and a heads up has been given that the DKBA are warning the Burmese civilians to get out, preparing for an intense counter-attack against the military government. The refugees were also provided temporary shelter by the Thai military. The Thai Red Cross, UNHCR, international non‐governmental agencies and local community‐based organizations were providing emergency food, water, sanitation, shelters and health care. As of 9 November, Thai military authorities began organizing the refugees in groups and preparing for their return to Burma despite the war zone that's still active there...
ETHNIC RESISTANCE GROUPS UNITING FOR A FIGHT...The DKBA are one of the strongest resistance groups in Burma and their guerrilla warfare tactics are known to be particularly nasty. They also have massive support from Buddhists and Karen alike throughout the country, so their areas of control are readily growing these days. There's talk now that militias all along the borders are inspired and seeking alliances in an attempt to overthrow the Burmese military control. A lot of the ethnic minority militias (like the DKBA) had cease-fire agreements with the Burmese government, which expired September of this year. Where I am now, in Sangklaburi, the Mon people are rumored to be gearing up for a fight: they've been stockpiling weapons, training and recruiting soldiers, preparing for the time when the government will surely turn its attention to them again.
WHERE I AM NOW...Just outside of our town is 3 Pagodas Pass, a known high level war zone in Burma. Fighting broke out on the Burmese side on the 9th of November, and since then the DKBA influence has gained control. From the 3 Pagodas land mark you can clearly hear gunfire and explosions in the jungle. In just one night 10,000 refugees came across our border and overwhelmed the handful of refugee camps available in this area. Some of them walked for miles to get here, and fear they will only be turned back.There have been victims of shootings, raids, landmines and all sorts of tragedies coming in search of aid. Today, the 14th November was a particularly bad day on the Burmese side, since fresh waves of fighting broke out and after a few days of calm it seems the violence is escalating again.
Please tell people about what's going on here....people need to know since little to no information ever gets out of Burma.
I will do my best to continue updating...
Are you in this area too? If there are any more news or stories to share, please post them here.
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