More than 80,000 Karenni people have become Internally Displaced Persons, currently hiding in new villages, rebuilt villages and forced relocation sites, following Burmese army operations, according to the surveys of field sources in Karenni State.

The survey said that those IDPs were from Mawchi and Pasaung villages in western Karenni State, as well as urban areas such as Bawlake, Demawso, Pruso, Loikaw and Lawpita in Karenni State, according to field relief teams.

Khu Oo Reh, Joint Secretary of Karenni National Progressive Party, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday: “Those IDP are from all over Karenni State, not only in the jungle, but also in the urban areas. They [the civilians] have been surviving as IDPs for years. Some are still hiding in the jungle and some have escaped to the Thai-Burmese border,” said Khu Oo Reh.

The coordinator of the Karenni Social Welfare and Development Centre, Khu Daniel, who is also member of the relief team, Free Burma Rangers, said that about 30,000 displaced persons are still hiding in the jungles in Karenni state, aided by internal relief teams, humanitarian organizations and Karenni rights groups. “We help them by offering food. Some relief groups help them with education as well,” said Khu Daniel.

Khu Oo Reh also said that fighting between Burmese and KNPP armies has broken out at least six times in the past month and more than 150 clashes have occurred since the beginning of 2007.

Meanwhile, Pasaung-based Burma army units, such as infantry battalions 134 and 135, and Light Infantry Battalion 530, are currently operating in southwestern Karenni State, according to a report by the internal relief team, the Free Burma Rangers.

The Burmese troops are providing security for the construction of the Mawchi—Pasaung Road and the Mawchi goldmines, as well as patrolling north from Pasaung and Bawlake in Karenni State, added the report.

A curfew in those areas has been enforced and villagers are not allowed to move at night or stay overnight in their farm huts, said sources.

According to the FBR report, the Burmese army also uses two proxy armed forces, the Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front and the Karenni National Solidarity Organization, to control local trade and civilians, and attack the KNPP.

There are a total of 28 Burmese army battalions presently operating in Karenni State, says the report.

Meanwhile, more than 3,200 villages in eastern Burma—mainly in Karenni and Karen states—have been documented as being forcibly displaced between 1996 and 2007, according to a survey by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.

An estimated 81,000 people are currently displaced within Karenni State, the majority of those living in chronic poverty in ceasefire areas administered by Karenni ceasefire groups, including the KNPLF.

The most vulnerable of the internally displaced civilians are about 10,000 villagers who are hiding from joint-Burmese -Karenni ceasefire groups in Shadaw, Pruso and Pasaung townships, according to the survey.