Thai/Burma Border Region
The conflict in Burma (or Myanmar) is one of the world’s longest-running civil wars and began after the country’s independence in 1948. Fighting between armed resistance groups and the Burmese military is ongoing in many areas, including the eastern Karen state, now only second to Afghanistan for land mines.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes during decades of war, living in camps on the Thai side of the border. The district of Sangkhlaburi in Northern Thailand has a population of 47,000 of which half are from ethnic groups including those displaced from the neighbouring Karen state.
The Burmese army has a history of widespread summary executions, looting, torture, rape and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, forced labor, recruitment of child soldiers, and the displacement and demolition of entire villages as part of military operations against ethnic minorities. Civilians bear the brunt of this ongoing conflict.