Thousands of civilians flee conflict between Burmese army and Shan rebels

ICC Note:

Please continue to pray for Christians in Burma as there have been reports that thousands of civilians have fled across the border between Burma and China to escape an ongoing conflict between the Burmese army and the ethnic Shan. In regard to the massive exodus on August 25, a source said that he had seen “nothing like that in at least 10 years.”

8/27/09 Burma (AsiaNews) Thousands of civilians have crossed the border between Myanmar and China, to escape an ongoing conflict between the Burmese army and rebel groups of the ethnic Shan. Chinese media speak of 10 thousand people since the beginning of August, local sources are describing “a mass exodus.” Hundreds of Government troops, meanwhile, have reached the area to eradicate the resistance.

The military junta in power in Myanmar – the nation consists of majority Burmese and many ethnic minorities – has launched an offensive to quash ethnic rebels; the military means to force them to surrender in view of the 2010 general elections and to compel them to cooperate with the government in defence of national borders.

An eyewitness in the Chinese town of Nansan reports that “a large group of refugees” crossed the border on August 25, through the Burmese town of Kokang, in Shan. A second source says that he has seen “nothing like that in at least 10 years”

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The ongoing battle has caused “shock and frustration” throughout the region and along the border. The rebels add that the fight “casts a dark shadow” on the possibility of relations and dialogue between the ethnic groups and the Burmese government.

The internal struggle of the Burmese ethnic minorities is a problem that has dragged on for decades.

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