Karen Peace Council Rejects BGF Proposal

The Karen Peace Council (KPC) once again rejected the Burmese military government's border guard force (BGF) proposal.


Maj-Gen Htain Maung and the other leaders of the KPC sent a seven-page letter to the Burmese military chief of intelligence outlining why they rejected the proposal.

“We have not written this letter to attack the government,” Dr. Timothy, a KPC leader, told The Irrawaddy. “We want to raise a voice for the Karen people and tell the SPDC the effects these militia programs have on the people. We hope by sending them a letter they will understand our position—we are the first ethnic group to really open up to the SPDC.”


The letter stated that in an April 7 meeting in Moulmein, capital of Mon State, between Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the chief of Military Affairs Security, and the KPC executive committee members, pressure was put on the KPC to become a “Burma Army Militia Group,” the junta's latest name for the ethnic cease-fire groups who join the BGF.

In response, the KPC said in its letter that whatever name the government gives to the BGF, they will still reject the proposal.

The KPC cited the problems the BGF is already causing in Karen State as its main reason for rejecting the proposal.

“Your Border Guard Force program is disturbing the peaceful lives of the people and creating poverty, fear, insecurity and panic among the villagers,” the letter said.

According to the KPC, once other groups accepted the BGF proposal the junta began recruiting men from villages, demanding that five to 10 men from each village become members of the BGF. Families that did not comply were forced to pay heavy fines.

According to Dr. Timothy, Ye Myint's arrogant conduct in the meeting with the KPC—during which he told the KPC not to increase their army, not to contact other ethnic groups, not to meet with the Karen National Union (KNU) and not to have a relationship with Thailand, nor to trust them—also affected the KPC's decision.

“He talked to us forcefully and lacking sincerity, like a soldier rather than a negotiater, so we are unable to move forward and truly let the Karen people benefit from the peace we have made,” Dr. Timothy said.

The military government has stated that any ethnic cease-fire group not accepting the BGF proposal by April 22 will thereafter be considered illegal.

Dr. Timothy said that if the KPC is outlawed the group will attempt to respond peacefully, but will defend itself as a last resort. He reported that government troops have been building military posts in the KPC-controlled area and bringing in heavy artillery.

The KPC was formed in February 2007 when commanders in the seventh brigade region of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the military wing of the KNU, brokered a peace deal with the government to end fighting in their area and then split off from the KNLA.

The KPC now has 2,000 troops and is based in Hto Kaw Koo village in Pa-an District in Karen State.