UN's Nambiar fails to help Kachin trapped by army

Mr. Nambiar

At an October 11th meeting several senior officials from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) sat down with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, to discuss the fate of a group of villagers trapped in the far north of the state. During the meeting the KBC representatives asked Nambiar and the UN to assist in the evacuation of 53 villagers from Putao District's Nhka Ga village, according to KBC officials.

At the time of the meeting Nambiar was visiting Kachin state to observe peace talks between the government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Since mid-September the remaining residents of Nhka Ga village have been blocked by the military from leaving their village, causing great concern for KBC, which has been active in arranging humanitarian relief for the Kachin refugees.

The KBC representatives asked the UN to become involved after military and civilian officials repeatedly ignored all requests to let the villagers leave from Nhka Ga, according to the KBC's Rev. Lama Yaw.

Nambiar is reported to have responded to KBC's requests to intervene by telling the church representatives to raise the issue with the relevant Burmese officials. Despite the fact that KBC has asked on several occasions for the villagers to be allowed to leave Nhka Ga, the military has yet to allow this to take place, according to KBC officials.

Troops from the Burma army's Infantry Battalion No. 137, took control of Nhka Ga in September after heavy clashes in Putao district with the armed wing of the KIO, the Kachin Independence Army. Troops who took control of Nhka Ga confiscated ID documents from village residents to prevent them from leaving the area, according to Rev Lama Yaw. The troops also warned the villagers not to leave Nhka Ga and they have been stuck in their homes with little food and supplies ever since, added Rev Lama Yaw who visited the area last month.

It is widely assumed that the troops are barring the villagers from leaving in order to prevent a KIA counterattack against their newly constructed base at Nhka Ga.

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