Hostilities have been escalating in Burma’s northern Kachin State since early this week with community-based organizations saying that at least 90,000 civilians have been displaced so far.
More locals have been fleeing their homes this week and the population of displaced people in Hpakant Town has now reached 8,000. Farmers from 23 villages in Hpakant Township have fled the fighting since Aug. 18 while others are heading to the Kachin state capital Myitkyina to seek refuge, said Tachi Hla Sai.
A statement said that around 80 battalions of Burmese government troops separately launched attacks against the KIO and local people in Kachin and northern Shan state. The Kachin organizations also called on President Thein Sein’s government to end military offensives and take action against those forces that do not obey direct orders to cease hostilities. The government must withdraw all its troops from KIO-controlled regions as the escalating conflict risked damaging the peace process with other ethnic armed groups as well as with the KIO, said the statement. The community-based organizations also condemned China for forcing refugees to return home despite the worsening situation in Kachin State.
More than 2,000 Kachin civilians who sought refuge in China’s Yunnan Province have been sent back over the border since mid-August due to pressure by the Chinese authorities, claim aid workers.
2012.08.30 The Irrawaddy - More Displaced as Kachin Fighting Escalates