The United Nations recently
“hailed” the signing of a ceasefire in Myanmar, describing it as “historic.”
However, fewer than half of the armed ethnic groups involved in the process
actually signed the agreement and fighting continues as the oldest civil wars
in the world continues to rage along the country’s northern borders.
The
Kachin Independence Army, one of the largest armed ethnic groups, refused to
sign the treaty, in part due to the escalation of the conflict in
KIA-controlled zones over the past two months.
Behind
the front lines another cold winter is approaching and the internally displaced
persons (IDP) camps have been overcrowded for years. Now children born into the
camps are starting to ask questions about peace and if they’ll ever see it. Young
people want to get married and settle down, farmers want to see their orchards
again, nobody sees an IDP camp as a long-term home, but for 150,000 Kachins,
that’s precisely what the camps have become. Today many in Kachin fear that the
lack of a ceasefire could lead to increased fighting. As winter looms prospects
for peace are bleak. By Sakse
Collective
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