Burma achieved independence from Britain in
1948. Since that time there has been almost uninterrupted civil war
between the central government and the ethnic minorities who make up
around one third of the 45 million population of the country.
The country is ruled by a brutal military dictatorship that extracts
forced labour, imprisons members of the democracy movement and
maintains a half million-strong army in order to repress its own people.
The Karen, Karenni and Shan live on the eastern borders of Burma. An
estimated 1 million people have been forced from their villages while
their property and food stores are burnt. Around 150,000 live in camps
in Thailand while another 50,000 are living illegally near the border.