Burma's increased use of helicopters to maintain a strong troop presence and bases in Karen State in Eastern Burma, ensures that there will be no cessation to the offensive started in November 2005, which threatens 25,000 people with starvation. 

The recent sale by India of the military Advanced Light Helicopter reinforces Burma's existing complement of multipurpose helicopters.

Since 2005 Burma's military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has established at least 33 new army bases in the offensive area.  Infrastructure, in the form of new roads and helicopter landing pads at a number of army bases in Toungoo, Nyaung Lay Bin and Muthraw Districts, allows the Burmese army to quickly restock food, weapons and ammunition, and rotate fresh troops into the area. 

Where previously the lack of infrastructure and terrain in the region hampered the Burmese army's ability to sustain assaults against the Karen people, now the use of helicopters and the construction of new roads, built with forced civilian labour, have solidified the army's continuous presence in the areareports Saw Kweh Say from the non-governmental organization Burma Issues.

Helicopters have been reported by one non-governmental organization, Free Burma Rangers, to have made nine trips within one day to an army camp at Busakee, Toungoo District. 

More than 25,000 villagers have been displaced from their homes because of military attacks and have not been able to harvest or grow crops for the past two years, leading to severe food insecurity and the threat of starvation.

Details of the offensive are contained in Burma IssuesDVD and report Shoot on Sight which documents the human rights abuses endured by the ethnic Karen minority, including forced portering, forced labour, land confiscation, torture, extra-judicial killings, looting, destruction of property, restriction of movement, arbitrary arrest, sexual and gender based violence and extortion. 

Saw Kweh Say appealed for support from the international community to take immediate action.  Specifically,
i)                    ASEAN, China and India to pressure the State Peace and Development Council to immediately stop the offensive in Eastern Burma;
ii)                  Thailand to enable and support potential donor countries in providing cross-border aid to communities inside Burma, especially for women and children; and
iii)                Governments of Asia and ASEAN to support a UN Security Council resolution on Burma.

Refugees from Burma

Thailand  (in camps)                                                 150,000
Total in SE Asia as of December 2006                     725,500
Source:  World Refugee Survey 2006

Internally Displaced Persons as of December 2006

Burma                                                                       at least 1,000,000
Eastern Burma (Thai/Burma border)                        500,000
-          287,000 living in ceasefire areas; 118,000 in SPDC-controlled relocation sites and 95,000 in hiding in forests
-          Approximately 27,000 newly displaced IDPs during 2006
Source: Thailand Burma Border Consortium November 2006 Survey

Destroyed / relocated / abandoned villages

No comprehensive data exists for the number of destroyed villages or new army camps constructed countrywide. 
2005-2006                                                                                                                          232
Source: Thailand Burma Border Consortium November 2006 Survey

For more information on Burma Issues visit out Web site at http://www.burmaissues.org/En/Index.html