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Structural violence threatens future of Karen communities |
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Mizzima News
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Wednesday, 30 April 2008 18:59 |
Structural violence effecting children in Burma's Karen State is said to pose the greatest threat to the well-being and future of Karen communities inside Burma, according to a new report.
'Growing up under militarization: Abuse and agency of children in Karen State', was today released by the Thai-based Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), aiming to disclose in further detail the damage resulting from oppressive Burmese government policies.
The pervading threat of structural violence is argued to surpass that of more widely reported instances of individual rights violations.
KHRG prospers that in order to maximize the potential success of relief efforts and strategy, the situation in Karen State must first and foremost be appreciated from the position of Karen living in Karen State, only after which it will be pertinent to implement "international frameworks and laws as a means to support local resistance strategies, rather than ends in themselves."
Children, as documented in the report, are at a disproportionate risk to suffer under systemic structural violence in Burma due to their enhanced physical and emotional vulnerability. And as the future of Karen people and communities, the lasting effects of structural violence on children is in turn said to threaten the long-term viability of Karen communities.
Whether surviving in government controlled relocation centers or on the run from security forces, Karen children, while more vulnerable, are exposed to the same risks as are adults, continues the reports authors.
In relocation centers these risks are listed as including forced labor, arbitrary detention and torture, while on the run Karen children are confronted with death at the hands of Burmese military aggression and any number of illnesses occurring as a result of their forced lifestyle and lack of access to proper medial attention.
The endemic poverty which pervades across much of Karen state is only remarked to add to the threats children face, as parents are unable to provide their children with educational opportunities while a family's economic hardship mandates that children adopt adult lifestyles at an early age.
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Inside Burma 
"We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today's current crisis," 
