A Federal Burma Under The Existing State Boundary Would Disadvantage Karen State and Exclude the Majority of Karen People From Local Autonomy

It is commonly agreed by experts, political analysts, ethnic communities and foreign leaders that federalism will be the best political system in Burma to resolve the country’s decades old armed conflict between the central government and various ethnic minority groups.

In a genuine federal system, individual ethnic groups within a defined territory and state will have the right to manage their affairs politically, economically, and culturally while maintaining unity with the central government and preserving the territorial integrity and cultural fabric of the country.

The Karen National Union, along with other ethnic armed groups and democratic activist groups in the country, understand the importance of federalism and have worked together to advocate for and promote its creation in an effort to bring an end to the country’s brutal armed conflict.

The current NLD-led government under the leadership of its de facto leader Aung San Su Kyi is receptive to the idea of federalism and is more inclined to work with ethnic leaders to make it a reality, granted that she has the support of the country’s military leaders.

But while federalism may be a cure to Burma decades-old armed conflict and offer self-rule and local autonomy to ethnic communities, the Karen people still face a unique and practical challenge in applying this system.

A Dispersed Community

Unlike most ethnic minority groups in Burma, who inhabit particular regions and states, Karen communities are spread across lower Burma in Irrawaddy, Yangon, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions and Mon and Karen states. Indeed, unknown to many Karen people, most Karen in Burma reside outside the Karen State.

Despite lacking any reliable population data, it is estimated that the Karen population in Burma is somewhere between 6-7 million, the third largest national groups in Burma after and Shan.  While a large number of Karen reside in other parts of the country such as the Yangon, Bago, and Tanintharyi  regions, a majority of them are to be found in the Irrawaddy region

In fact, the current population of the Karen state is estimated to be somewhere around 1.2 million, and according to this estimate, possibly only half of this number may identify themselves as Karen. With this in mind, if federalism becomes a reality and the Karen state is accorded regional autonomy based on the existing state boundary, a majority of the Karen people will be left out of self-governing and local autonomy.

Therefore, an overriding question is how would the Karen communities outside the Karen state  enjoy political and cultural autonomy as do their peers in the Karen state? This is one of many concerns that Karen community leaders have expressed if federalism is introduced in Burma.

While the Karen National Union and Karen political parties in Burma make it their official policy to stand for the interest of all Karen people in the country, they have yet to articulate and argue for a way to achieve this. The KNU has seven administrative areas under its control that span the Karen state and part of the Bago region, Mon state, and Tanintharyi region. It considers these areas traditional Karen communities because they are inhabited largely by Karen people.

But while the KNU may recognize these seven administrative areas as the natural and rightful Karen communities, some of these areas are outside the official Karen state. For instance, the KNU’s Brigade 2nd and 3rd are in Bago region while its Brigade 4th is in Tanintharyi region. This means that if federalism is negotiated based on the current Karen state boundary, a large number of Karen communities who reside under the KNU’s seven administrative areas will be excluded from any future arrangement for local autonomy. As a result, the Karen state will also have less political voice for the Karen people in a federated Burma.

Renegotiation for A New Karen State Boundary Is Needed

For a federal system to serve the interest of all Karen communities in Burma, the Karen National Union and Karen political parties need to negotiate with the government and advocate for a new and fairer state boundary that would incorporate excluded Karen communities into the new Karen state. This means that part of the Bago and Tanintharyi  regions where large number of Karen communities exist have to be redistributed and incorporated into the Karen state.

Under the existing order, although a large number of Karen communities in Bago and Tanintharyi  regions are connected to Karen communities in the Karen state through geographical proximity, they are not deemed citizens of the Karen state as these communities reside in regions outside the official Karen state. As a result, these communities will not be able to vote for any Karen state government and be part of the Karen state community. In addition, unless these communities are incorporated into the Karen state, the Karen community will never be a majority in their own state and form a government dominated by the Karen people.

Besides negotiating for a new state boundary and communities redistribution to incorporate excluded Karen communities into the Karen state, KNU and other Karen political leaders will also need to advocate and negotiate for a special arrangement for Karen communities in Irrawaddy and Yangon regions. It is important to remember and understand that the majority of the Karen people in Burma reside in these regions and their political and cultural rights cannot be ignored and forgotten.

It may be both challenging and politically impossible for Karen people to ask for two states, one in the east and one in lowland Burma. But it is not impossible and unreasonable to demand political, economic and cultural rights for Karen communities that, for geographical difficulty, cannot be incorporated into the Karen state. This means that when a federal system is introduced in Burma, Karen communities in Irrawaddy and Yangon regions must have the rights to learn the Karen language, practice Karen culture, and enjoy equal political and economic opportunities in their local communities.

As the “21st Century Panglong Conference” gets underway, it is important for the KNU and Karen political leaders to keep this firmly in mind and demand for a new Karen state boundary that would incorporate previously excluded Karen communities into the Karen state. Failing this, any federal system in Burma that exclude the majority of Karen people from self-rule and local autonomy would not make sense for and be in the interests of the Karen community.