Perrenially-Displaced

Villagers in this area have suffered numerous repeated displacements over the past 30 years. As part of their strategy to consolidate their control over the area and all those who live there, Burma Army soldiers first burned Ler Wah and other nearby villages to the ground in 1975 during the Four Cuts Campaign. Over the next ten years many villages were abandoned as a result of repeated Burma Army attacks. Since the late 1990s when the Burma Army launched one of its most intensive military offensives against the Karen population in history, these villagers have experienced recurrent displacements as Burma Army soldiers repeatedly returned to burn homes and shoot villagers. Over the past ten years, the soldiers have returned to the area on average two or three times per year, prompting the villagers to flee into the forest for up to a month each time. As a result, the villagers live in semi-permanent bamboo houses, many of which lack walls and/or complete roofs. This presents a considerable problem, particularly during the annual monsoon as the heavy rains pour into their homes increasing the risk of sickness and disease. This family from Tee Thu Kee village has lived in this area for years, albeit in a makeshift home missing half of its roof.