Myint Karen

Kawthoolei diary
A blistering journey
Jan 28th 2008
From Economist.com
Something wicked (or not) this way comes
Monday
THE pain in my legs is subsiding, as the crisp night air blows across my perspiring body,
numbing it. But as I grow cold, I cannot help but wonder when this hike will be over. The
jungle is thick, and with every uphill step it seems to pull me down. I steal glances at the
moon, but my focus is really on my blistering feet, which I must keep moving lest I get lost in
the jungles of Myanmar. It is dark and the men who are leading me, the men with the guns,
may not notice if I fall behind.
Still in the fight
So I keep my head down and stare at the calloused heels of the Burmese porter in front of
me. On her back she carries a sack of rice twice as big as my overstuffed backpack. It is held
in place by a cotton strap that she balances uncomfortably across her forehead. Her
footwear, a pair of decaying sandals, is two sizes too small, yet I envy her adroit footing on
this unforgiving terrain. She is 13 years old. She doesn't stop, so neither can I.
Exhausted, my mind wanders. I ponder the stories I have heard along the way—of homes
destroyed and family members killed—and wonder if this young porter has endured similar
suffering. It has been months since Myanmar's military junta, known as the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), cracked down on protesting monks in Yangon and Mandalay.
But away from the big cities, in ethnic enclaves like this one, government persecution has
been the norm for nearly 60 years.
That is why my guides carry guns. They are members of the Karen National Liberation Army
(KNLA), which has been fighting the government since shortly after Myanmar gained
independence from the British in 1948. The Karen people make up only 7% of Myanmar's
population—they live mainly in the rugged hill-country of eastern Burma and western
Thailand, a region they call Kawthoolei—but they are a favourite target of the government.
In 1949 government-sponsored militias led by Ne Win, the country's future dictator,
rampaged through Karen villages, sparking a counterinsurgency that nearly captured Yangon,
which was then the capital. But the government regrouped and subsequent offensives have
pushed the rebels back to the border with Thailand. This success has not satisfied the SPDC.
Government patrols still roam Myanmar's ethnic areas searching for rebels and terrorising
civilians.