Kachin civil society groups demand justice from peace process

The delegations from government and KIO talked in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state on May 13. Photo by Jinghpaw La / Kachin News Group

A statement issued following last week's meeting of 17 Kachin civil society groups called for civil society to be included in the ongoing Kachin peace process, something that has yet to really take place. The joint statement noted that the participation of civil society was vital in order to have “genuine political change”. The meeting took place in the Kachin Independence Organizations (KIO) controlled town of Mai Ja Yang, located on the Chinese border.

So far there has been very little participation from civil society groups in either the Kachin peace talks or the national ceasefire talks that have both been conducted by the government's chief negotiator Aung Min. Something that the Kachin civil society groups want changed. “We Kachin civil society organizations want to get justice for our communities”, the statement explained.

The Kachin civil society groups said they worried about the deteriorating humanitarian conditions for refugees in northern Burma where more than 120,000 people have been displaced since the Kachin conflict erupted in June 2011.

“We are very concerned at the recent military build-up and escalation of fighting by Burmese government troops, and attacks and abuses against civilians, which have displaced a further 4,000 IDPs in southern Kachin State and northern Shan State since early April”, said the statement which was released on May 23.

In their statement the Kachin groups called for the Burma army to “withdraw their troops from all Kachin conflict areas”. The statement also called on the Burma Army to respect the rights of internal displaced people (IDP).

The statement's call for a freeze on foreign investment “in Kachin areas while peace negotiations are ongoing” is a reference to large scale project that include the Myitsone dam project, the first in a series of dam's set to be built on the upper Irrawaddy in Kachin state by China's state-owned CPI company. The Myitsone dam project was suspended in September 2011 by Presidential decree but has yet be outright cancelled.

The following groups signed on to the statement

1. All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU), 2. BRIDGE, 3. Community Health and Development, 4. Htoi Gender and Development Foundation, 5. JLH Ram Care (Youth Rescue), 6. Jan Lata Ni Foundation, 7. Kachin Women Association (KWA), 8. Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), 9. Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG), 10. Kachin Legal Aid Network Group, 11. Kachin Urban Rural Mission (KURM), 12. Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), 13. Kachin Women Union (KWU), 14. Myitkyina Students Union, 15. Mungchying Rawt Jat (MRJ), 16. Wunpawng Ninghtoi (WPN), 17. Youth and Drug.