JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Lu Lu Aung and other farmers living in a camp for internally displaced people in the northern Kachin state of Myanmar have returned to the town to which they fled and planted crops that would help feed them. to keep for the time to come. year.
But this year, after the military coup of February, with the rain not far off, the farmers rarely walk out of their temporary homes and do not dare to leave their camp. They say it is simply too dangerous to run the risk of encountering soldiers from the Myanmar army or their military civilians.
“We can go nowhere and can do nothing since the coup,” Lu Lu Aung said. “Every night we hear the sounds of jet fighter flying so close to our camp.”
The deadly repression of the army against protesters in major central cities such as Yangon and Mandalay has received much attention since the coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. But far away in the border areas of Myanmar, Lu Lu Aung and millions of others from the ethnic groups of the minority groups in Myanmar face increasing insecurity and declining security as protracted conflicts between the military and minority guerrillas flare up again.
This is a situation that came to the fore last week when the army launched deadly airstrikes on ethnic Karen guerrillas in their homeland on the eastern border, displacing thousands of people and fleeing civilians to neighboring Thailand.
Several of the rebel armies have threatened to join forces if the killing of civilians does not stop, while a group made up of members of the ousted government has the idea of creating a new army that includes rebel groups. The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar has meanwhile warned that the country faces the possibility of civil war.
Ethnic minorities make up about 40% of Myanmar’s 52 million people, but the central government and military leadership have long been dominated by the Burman ethnic majority in the country. Since Britain’s independence in 1948, more than a dozen ethnic groups have sought greater autonomy, while some maintain their own independent armies.
This brought them into conflict with the ultranationalist generals of Myanmar, who had long seen the secession of territories – especially those in border areas often rich in natural resources – equal to treason and fought relentlessly against the rebel armies, with only occasional periods of ceasefire.
The violence has led to accusations of ill-treatment on all sides, such as arbitrary taxes on civilians and forced recruitment, and according to the United Nations, about 239,000 people have displaced since 2011 alone. That does not include the more than 800,000 Rohingya minority who fled to Bangladesh to escape a military campaign called the UN ethnic cleansing.
Since February, anti-coup protests have taken place in every border state, and security forces have responded much as elsewhere with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. According to residents and observers, the situation after the coup in geographically isolated border areas has been exacerbated by increasing skirmishes between the military and armed ethnic organizations seeking power and territory.
Lu Lu Aung, from the Kachin ethnic group, said she took part in protests but stopped because it was too dangerous now. She said Myanmar’s security forces and military militants had recently occupied their old village where they had planted crops and no one had left the camp because they feared they would be forced to work for the army.
“Our students can no longer continue with their schooling and for adults it is so much difficult to get a job and earn money,” she said.
Humanitarian aid for civilians in the borderlands – already plagued by the pandemic, as well as the inherent problems experienced by outside groups in many areas – has also been difficult since the coup.
Communication has been paralyzed, banks have closed and security has become increasingly insecure, the director of an organization in Myanmar said they support displaced persons who spoke for security reasons on condition of anonymity.
“There is no more humanitarian aid and support,” she said.
In the eastern state of Karen, where the airstrikes have displaced thousands of people, there are concerns that the coming of the rainy season could exacerbate a humanitarian situation already hampered by reports that Thailand has sent back many civilians who fled. Thailand said those returning to Myanmar did so voluntarily.
Yet there are parts of the country’s border areas that have barely been affected by the coup.
In the state of Wa, a region bordering China and Thailand, which has its own government, military and ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar army, videos shared online show how life goes on as usual, including launching a coronavirus vaccination campaign.
Near Bangladesh, on the coast of Rakhine, where the Rohingya have been driven out and where violent clashes with the Arakan army have been going on for years, the junta removed the group from its list of terrorist groups last month, giving up hope of fighting the hostilities. lowered. The Arakan army, unlike a number of other armed groups, did not criticize the coup.
However, the group has since issued a statement declaring its right to defend its territory and civilians against military attacks.
Other armed groups have issued similar statements. Some, such as the Karen National Union, have provided protection to civilians marching in protest against coup d’etat.
Such actions have contributed to a “federal army” bringing together armed ethnic groups from across the country. According to analysts, it would be difficult to achieve such a vision due to logistical challenges and political differences between the groups.
“These groups are not in a position to support the Myanmar army needed in urban centers with large populations, or really too far outside their own regions,” Ronan Lee, a visiting scholar, told the Queen Mary University of London’s International, said. State Crime Initiative.
Despite the uncertainty about what is to come, some minority activists say they have been encouraged since the coup by the increasing focus on the role that ethnic groups may play in the future of Myanmar. They also say that there seems to be a greater understanding – at least among protesters against coup d’etat – of the struggle that minorities have been facing for so long.
“If there’s a silver lining in all of this, it is,” said one activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety.