the United States will not accept them for allegedly supporting an armed rebellion.
Most of the estimated 60,000 refugees in one of the camps BosNewsLife visited, Mae La, are belonging to the predominantly Christian Karen community, which is now fighting a fierce battle in nearby jungles of Burma, a country the military rulers call Myanmar.
But "Christian refugees may not be going anywhere because bureaucrats at the US Department of Homeland Security consider them to be "supporters" of terrorism," said religious rights group Christian Freedom International (CFI).
Under a relatively new provision in the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security may prohibit refugees and asylum seekers entry if they provided "material support" to anyone engaged in an armed struggle, including the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
Already over "100 Protestant Chin refugees from Burma, currently detained at immigration depots in Malaysia, are being denied entry to the United States because of the new definition of "material support" application by the Department of Homeland Security," CFI told BosNewsLife.
OUTNUMBERED KNLA
The outnumbered KNLA claims it fights to defend Karen villagers and dreams of an
autonomous Karen state, which was promised by British allies during World War Two, who later changed their mind and abandoned the Karen people, rebels say.
Forces of Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), a group of generals who govern the Asian nation by decree without a constitution or legislature since 1988, have stepped up attacks against Christian Karen people, a BosNewsLife team established.
They also managed to convince Karen Buddhists to establish their own military group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and help them in their offensive against the mainly Christian KNLA. Several refugees told BosNewsLife recently they saw how family members or friends were shot dead or tortured by SPDC forces.
YOUNG REFUGEE
In a statement released by CFI investigators this week 15-year old Ehe Blu Say from the Burmese village of Ta Kra said he and his mother fled to Mae La Refugee Camp in Thailand when he was five.
"We moved to the camp because of the fighting. The SPDC was going to kill us because my father was KNLA soldier so we had to flee to the camp. My father disappeared when I was young, I don’t know where he is," he said.
Although he and his mother had their picture taken by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it remained unclear Friday, February 17, if the US will support their resettlement as their family was involved in the KNLA.
CFI SHOCKED
CFI President Jim Jacobson, a former White House official, said he was shocked that the KNLA is apparently seen as a terrorist organization. "The Department of Homeland Security must not label innocent people as terrorists. If this policy is allowed to stand against Karen refugees, this will have chilling ramifications for all freedom-loving people," he said.
"Almost 200 years ago the Karen people received the Gospel from an American missionary [and] they fought courageously alongside us in World War Two and share our faith, values, and love for freedom and democracy. They deserve our help," Jacobson added. An estimated 1.5 million, mainly Christian Karen, people being displaced, rights groups say
CFI said it had urged Americans to contact their members of Congress, President George W. Bush, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, and Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice "to allow refugees from Burma to be resettled in America."
BUSH CONCERNED
The Bush administration has not made clear how it will deal with the refugees, although it has expressed concern over reports of human rights violations in Burma.
Last year Bush met Burmese activist Charm Tong and later criticized the Burmese military government during his trip to Asia.
In a report this month, the SPDC rejected accusations of a massive violent campaign against ethnic minorities and abuses against dissident. It claimed that Burma is "one of a handful of countries facing unproven allegations" and "many well-informed analysts have been perplexed" by the United Nations’ attention.
It alleged that many of the figures concerning abuses in Burma are based on reports by dissidents and refugees who are not credible or seek to tarnish the country’s image.
In December the UN Security Council held its first-ever meeting to discuss what officials described as "the deteriorating" situation in the country, prompted in part by a comprehensive report calling for Security Council action. That report was commissioned by former Czech president Vaclav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. (On the Web: http://www.christianfreedom.org With BosNewsLife Reports from Burma and Thailand and BosNewsLife Research).
