Burma Link | September 22, 2016
Shirley Seng is an Executive Committee and founding member of the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), an organisation which works to empower women and advance women’s participation in decision making and in the peace process. Despite the new NLD-led Government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s peace efforts, attacks against civilians and Burma Army offensives have recently intensified in the Kachin State. “In the Kachin area, more Q: Could you explain shortly why and when did you found KWAT? A: In 1999, we founded this organisation. Before that we had church groups in Kachin, in Chiang Mai, Kachin women. We saw that many Kachin women here had problems with their bosses. They are migrant workers and some have illegally come in so they [were] arrested and [there was] some [human] trafficking by brokers. All these problems, so we thought that we need an organisation. And also at the time here, many ethnic women found organisations already. And also Women’s League of Burma (WLB) started to form up so we needed the Kachin Women’s Association — should form for the people — that’s why we founded [KWAT]. Q: How has the work changed over the years? A: We started to have a report book on [human] trafficking issue first in 2000, we conducted research in 2002 and 2004, and 2005. Until this report book, we went to UNGA meeting to New York and we carried this report book and many people were interested about this report — the donors and the audience. We got started with these trafficking issues. And then we have our mission to develop our women to be leaders in the community and in every department. We want to women to participate. That’s why we founded [KWAT]. Q: What is the current focus? A: Current focus is still the same; women’s participation in the peace process. Q: How would you describe the current situation now in the Kachin area? A: In the Kachin area, more [and] more fighting is coming, so I feel confused myself now how to go on in this situation. Here, they call peace ceasefire and the 21st Century Panglong [Conference], but still fighting in Karen, Shan and Kachin area so I don’t know what kind of peace they are building. So I have a question mark there. Q: How have you seen the situation change since the NLD-led government came to power? A: Yeah, actually inside this 2015 election, Burma’s people think they want to change, they want to take out the military government, so they supported, even the ethnic people, they supported the NLD because they don’t want the military government. Not because they want the NLD; they just want to change the government to be a public government, democratic government, hoping that ethnic people have the chance to play in the political games, more chance. But still Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not controlling the military or the security or the three important positions [Defence, Border Affairs and Home Affairs Ministries]. We still need to balance play between the military and the ethnic groups. Q: Has anything changed for the Kachin people since the NLD came to power? A: No, nothing’s changed. Even for the IDPs, [there is] less support, less aid. All the international donors or international governments are giving pressure to the border groups that ‘they already changed, you have to go back inside and work inside,’ but for our Kachin area it has not changed so we cannot do it yet. We have to be based on the border, do cross border aid. Our organisation has been working cross border since we started already, we just have here the capacity building program in Chiang Mai, and then we work inside for all our programs. All the staff are working inside. We do awareness to grass root people and try to organise the women and the youth, boys and girls, for future leaders. Q: Recently there’s been reports of more Burma army expansion and more attacks in the Kachin areas. Why do you think Burma Army has recently intensified their attacks? A: Because they want our resources. We have gold, we have teak, we have many precious things. Maybe they want to control our area. And they want to make pressure to the armed groups to become militias or BGF (Border Guard Force) or something. Q: How have these attacks affected the Kachin civilians recently? A: Now they feel that instead of supporting peace process, they don’t support anymore. More, how to say, they give pressure for KIO, not to talk peace, ‘fight back!’ — This is the way Kachin people are feeling. Q: For the human rights violations, what is the situation in the Kachin areas? A: Still happening. This fighting started from 2011. Many human rights abuses still happening to the Kachin men, and to the Kachin women. Where ever the Burmese military goes, the women are raped. They [Burmese military] have systematic [abuse] and impunity; they [civilians] have been raped, killed and tortured. Q: Has this changed at all since the NLD-led Government? A: Not changed. No, we don’t see any change yet. Q: What has been the response of the NLD government to these ongoing and intensified attacks and human right violations? A: I saw in the news that Aung San Suu Kyi said that ‘you should do give and take, if you want peace’. But our leaders say they don’t have anything to take or to give. This is our position since Aung San agreed that we should live together, and federal system when there was independence from the British. Q: Do you know the number of IDPs in the Kachin area? A: For a few months I haven’t seen any figures, but before they already sent the report that there are over 100,000 IDPs under the control of the Burmese area, and the KIO control area. Q: Has that number changed recently? A: The number maybe not changed. Because in the western part the Burmese [military] try to clear for investors, so from 5 villages, they ran away from the area so it [the number] is getting more. In the Shan State also is getting more, because the Palaung [also called Ta’ang], they are fighting. Very complicated. Q: How is the situation in the Kachin IDP camps, right now? A: Right now, they got only rice, I think. They got only rice. Before they [aid organisations] gave some money and some oil, but now, they get only rice. [They reduced the aid] since last year, I think, as far as I know. Q: Do you know why they are getting less aid? A: Because the Burmese military, they are just telling that some already went back to their homes. But actually no, they cannot go back. Because all the mining areas are not clear yet, you cannot go. And some of the villagers’ houses have been occupied by the military and they put their posts there and they live there. So they cannot go back. Q: There were news that the Burma Army seized medicine from the KBC (Kachin Baptist Convention), they were taking medicine to the IDPs. Why would the Burma Army stop the medicine from going to the IDPs? A: They are robbers, you know. The government doesn’t give them [military] medicine. So they just rob from people, from the Kachin people. I can call them robbers. They don’t have budget for their own so they just take everything that they have chance to take, they took Q: As you said the cross border aid has reduced. Why should the international community and donors keep supporting the ethnic people and across the border? A: They want the all the border groups to go back and work from inside. But as you know, if you go inside, you have to register and all the money has to go through the government. If the government knows that some organisations have more money, they will just deduct for some or some other ways, or maybe they will know what this organisation is doing, is it against them or supporting them? [Is it] against opposite party or supporting the armed groups? Maybe they are checking, and we learned, we heard from some inside friends [that] they even took donors to pass through KWAT to inside groups, not go from Burma. They passed through this. We, KWAT, are helping them to send money from this cross border. Q: In your opinion, how could the international donors support the Kachin and other ethnic people? A: I think they should lobby or advocate to the government inside. [For] freedom of movement for NGOs, registered or not registered. Here [if] we don’t register we can’t work freely, Non-Governmental Organisations. Q: Why do you think the cross border aid is still important? A: It is really, really important. I think still many people should work from cross border first and watch and then… We can do from cross border aid to change Burma, I think. We can also do that here too. Why is everybody going inside and hoping for change? So, I think cross border is [where] we can give true, this money truly can be used on the ground. But inside, I’m not sure if only the big city can use this money. But cross border aid really goes to the rural areas and grass root communities, really can go to these organisations. Q: How do you think the International Community should respond to the human rights abuses that are still happening in Kachin and other areas? A: I think international community, everybody only focuses on the Rakhine problem, the Rohingya, Rohingya only. They think Rohingya only face human right abuses. Actually every ethnic group, more than Rohingya problems, are abused by the military. How come human rights go only… The international [community] should be aware of every ethnic group inside Burma about this human rights abuse problem. Even [also] the land grabbing, as the foreigners are investing there and the people from the area have no benefit. All this by the cronies or the military people. Rich getting richer. Q: There was a recent statement by KWAT on the 17th anniversary of the organisation. And there was also the statement by Human Rights Watch saying that U.S. should retain the sanctions on Burma. What is your opinion? A: My opinion is, that the sanctions are not all, as far as I know some of the sanctions are towards the military and the crony people […]. We met with the State Department from the U.S. to interview and we talked about these sanctions. So we asked the U.S. government to keep sanctions. So many other parts there are no sanctions, they can do business. Only some, not all sanctions we asked [to keep]. Q: How do you think we could get the international community to pay more attention to the ethnic issue in Burma? A: I think now international community, they are really proud of Aung San Suu Kyi, they think that ‘Aaaw they let Aung San Suu Kyi free.’ Actually we, the cross border groups, are doing so many advocacy and lobbying [activities] to international [actors] to get freedom. But now international thinking that ‘oh, this is a democracy country already. You should go back and you should work from inside.’ I don’t want to hear that. We have to see first how she [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] can work. Q: Is there message you would like to give to the international community? A: We just want to say to international community that ‘Keep on the sanctions’ that we already asked and just give time and give hope to ethnic groups too, support ethnic groups too, not only the Burmese government. If you want to work inside Burma, you should know about the ethnic problem. Burma does not have a democracy problem, but ethnic problem. So you should support ethnic leaders or some trainings or some… You should support ethnic leaders too. Ethnic political leaders or armed leaders, you should pay attention to ethnic leaders too. Reconciliation, we cannot get peace without reconciliation. You are supporting only one side and other side is just… impossible to have peace, to get peace. Q: Do you have any message that you would give to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD government? A: […] I don’t know because I don’t believe that she can do any more than what the first part of this year. She should listen to the ethnic people because this country is built up of not only Burmese but built up with ethnic groups. She should pay attention to the ethnic people. Shirley Seng was interviewed at the KWAT office by Burma Link in September 2016. You may also like:
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‘We Need More [International Support] in Kachin State’: Ah Ze, General Secretary of AKYU — PART 2
I hate to say this. But Suu Kyi is a Bamar and as such is inclined to think that the ethnic states have been part of the Burmese center. In other words, similar to the Tatmadaw line of thinking, which is the Burmese empire. The three Burmese kings towering statues in Naypyitaw’s parade ground is the glaring and living evidence of the urge for such Bamar-dominated governance commitment and aspirations.
She might be a liberal democrat with a tinge of Bamar ethnocentrism, but she still is inclined to favor her own lot and it is quite natural. Her refusal to let the Arakan and Shan political parties rule their own ethnic states, despite majority votes in the elections, more than the NLD, is the case in point.
Still another example to belittle the historical Panglong Agreement of 1948 as just an instrument to gain independence for the British, is back-stabbing. For it is a treaty between the Bamar and non-Bamar ethnic peoples and couldn’t be downplayed as not being important.
And in case if the Bamar, military or NLD government wants to nullify the treaty, all would revert back to pre-independence period of British colonial era, which means the non-Bamar ethnic peoples would have nothing to do with the Bamar, as the Panglong treaty would become ineffective and turned Bamar into an aggressor rather than friend. And as such, the Burma Army would only clearly be an occupation troops and the ethnics waging a resistance war.
Pleading Suu Kyi to listen to the ethnic voice is like only kowtowing, as there is no need to be so humble, for the rights to self-determination is an inalienable birthright part of all the ethnic people, whether one likes it or not.