Asia Pacific
China Forces Ethnic Kachin Refugees Back
to a Conflict Zone in Myanmar’s North
By EDWARD WONG
Published: August 23, 2012
KATMANDU, Nepal — The
authorities in southwestern China are forcibly evicting thousands of
encamped ethnic Kachin refugees who fled a renewed civil war in neighboring Myanmar, pushing them back into the conflict
zone in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, according to foreign human rights
researchers, political analysts and two people in Kachin State.
The forced
repatriation appears to be happening in large waves this week. The refugees
fled to China after a 17-year cease-fire agreement between the Kachin Independence
Army and Myanmar’s government broke down in June 2011. The civil
war with the Kachin is one of many occurring in Myanmar, formerly
Burma, and the renewal of the Kachin conflict has cast doubts on the sincerity
or ability of President Thein Sein to carry out deep political reforms.
A researcher for Human Rights Watch said the repatriations appeared to
have begun en masse on Tuesday. He estimated that 1,000 refugees had returned
to Kachin State and that an additional 4,000 were projected to return by the
end of the week.
In June, Human Rights Watch reported that 7,000 to 10,000 Kachin
refugees were in China and subjected to squalid conditions and harsh treatment
by officials. It also said there had been some instances of forced repatriation
by Chinese officials, though apparently not as systematic or widespread as now.
“All the refugees
in China now are being pushed back,” said a resident of Laiza, the capital of
the rebel-held part of Kachin State. “Many of them are back already.” On
Wednesday, he added, Chinese border guards expelled a group of refugees from an
area called Nong Tau and destroyed refugee huts even before the refugees had
left the site.
Ryan Roco, a
human rights researcher who has documented the plight of the war’s displaced,
said he had learned that at least 4,200 Kachin were being forced out of six
camps in Yunnan Province, China, and back into Myanmar. He said the process,
begun last week, appeared to have intensified since Tuesday. A further 700 were
living with family or friends in Yunnan after being forced from the camps, he
said.
Those who have
returned to Kachin State are living on both sides of the conflict zone. Part of
Kachin State is controlled by the Kachin Independence Army, though the rebel
group has lost significant territory since the civil war restarted.
“The actions of
the Chinese against vulnerable Kachin demonstrate a wanton disregard for human
dignity and international humanitarian law,” Mr. Roco said.
Officials in
Yunnan and Beijing had been tolerating the presence of the Kachin refugees for
more than a year, although Yunnan officials had threatened to evict them.
It is not clear
why the refugees are being expelled now. An employee at the Chinese Foreign
Ministry said the ministry had no immediate comment after it was sent a list of
questions on Thursday. Calls to the Yunnan propaganda office went unanswered,
as did calls to the propaganda office of Dehong Autonomous Prefecture, the
location of the camps.
The Kachin are
Christians, and Chinese religious organizations and some other aid groups have
been allowed by local Chinese officials to help refugees and internally
displaced Kachin.
China has not
taken an official position on the Kachin conflict. Kachin State is rich in
jade, timber, mineral wealth and water resources, all coveted by the Chinese.
Several large Chinese dam projects are in the region, including the Myitsone
Dam, which aroused local protests.
China is also a
major patron of the Burmese government, though many Myanmar citizens are wary
of or hostile toward growing Chinese influence.
On Monday, The Irrawaddy, a newspaper based in Thailand that reports on
Myanmar, said
Chinese officials had pressed the Kachin Independence Organization,
the civilian counterpart to the Kachin Independence Army, to accept 4,000
refugees back in Kachin State.
Patrick Zuo contributed research from Beijing.
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