Karen

Member of any of a group of Southeast Asian peoples. Numbering 1.9 million, they live in eastern Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and the Irrawaddy delta. Traditionally they practised shifting cultivation. Buddhism and Christianity are their main religions, and their language belongs to the Thai division of the Sino-Tibetan family. In 1984 the Burmese government began a military campaign against the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union. The Myanmar State Law and Order Council (SLORC) increased the use of Karen civilians as forced labourers 1995-96, especially to build the Ye-Tavoy railway and road. Karen villages were also relocated, crops destroyed and property confiscated, forcing thousands to flee to Thailand.

The Karens strongly resisted integration into Burma after its independence in 1948. Kantarawaddy, Bawlake, and Kyebogyi, three divisions of Burma formerly called the Karenni states, were in 1954 formed into Kayah State (area about 11,900 sq km/4,600 sq mi), while parts of the districts of Toungoo, Thaton, and Amherst became Karen State (area 30,000sq km/11,600 sq mi), both states having a measure of autonomy.