Saw O Moo: Defender of Indigenous Karen Territories, the Environment and Way of Life

Karen News | May 6, 2018

Saw O Moo was a Karen Indigenous man born in 1975 in T’ Ri Plaw village, located lin the Ler Mu Plaw area. After he graduated from Ler Mu Paw Middle School in 1991, Saw O Moo helped his parents with their agricultural work. When the Burma Army launched a military offensive in Ler Mu Plaw in 1997, He and his family fled to the jungle to protect their lives. On January 15, 2003, He married Naw Paw Tha and together they have 7 children. Since getting married, He has been actively engaged in community work and development, in particular in education, traditional culture, and environmental conservation and wildlife protection

Saw O Moo was a community leader who was passionate and committed in the Salween Peace Park initiative that will fulfill Karen peoples’ desire for genuine peace, sustaining environmental integrity, and preserve cultural identity

In October, 2017, Saw O Moo along with other Indigenous Karen leaders from the Salween Peace Park had a chance to participate in an exchange visit to the Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Conserved Areas (ICCAs) in the Philippines

This year in March 2018, the Burma Army violated the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) by going beyond the agreed-upon designated military lines. This provoked armed clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) that forced over 2,000 to become internally displaced persons.

Saw O Moo along with local peoples and IDPs performed a peaceful gathering to request that their divine spirits provide a safe return to their abandoned villages and peaceful resumption of their lives.

Saw O Moo was shot and killed by the Burma Army on April 5, 2018 while returning to the area where his family was hiding in the forest. Until now, the location of his body or his remains is still unknown.
In memory of Saw O Moo for his dedication in defending Indigenous Karen peoples’ rights, ancestral territories, traditions, cultures, and environment