Document #1317013
RFA – Radio Free Asia (Author)
Cross-border trade
Timber, in particular, has played a pivotal role in incentivizing and funding the conflict, according to international watchdog Global Witness.
By taking control of the mostly illegal border trade in timber, ethnic rebel groups in Burma's border areas such as the Kachin organizations have been able to finance their side of the conflict over the past decades, the group says.
The KIO turned to timber after it lost control over the Hpakant jade mines in the peace agreement of 1994, according to the Burma Environmental Working Group.
China and Burma took steps to ban the cross-border trade after Global Witness and other non-governmental groups exposed how illegal logging was funding the conflict six years ago.
But recent reports by NGOs indicate that the illegal logging is continuing, with trucks transporting sought-after Burmese teak into Yunnan.
Between October 2010 and April 2011, more than 40,000 tons of timber, especially hardwood and teak, crossed into China, according to the Kachin News Group.
In August, the news group reported illegal logging occurring near Myitkyina in eastern Kachin state.
The roaring timber trade continues despite Beijing’s efforts to halt it, according to Chinese state media.
Along the border, piles of teak and high quality logs attest to the booming timber trade, China’s state broadcasting network CCTV said in a report in June.
In Yunnan’s Ruili city, just over the border from Kachin, timber mills are flourishing.
“In a single day, dozens of trees come to the mill as logs. They're to become luxurious tables, chairs and furniture, often exported overseas,” the report said.
The recent lifting of EU sanctions on Burmese teak and other forest products could further fuel demand within this already lucrative industry, the Burma Environmental Working Group said.
Refugees
Fourteen months of fighting have led to an exodus of Kachin refugees across the border to Yunnan.
Human Rights Watch said China recently forced at least 1,000 Kachin to return to the combat zone in Burma and plans to deport 4,000 more.
China refuses to recognize the Kachin fleeing the violence as refugees but has denied that it forcibly returned them.
A senior official in the health department of the KIO confirmed to RFA Tuesday that the refugees had been sent back over the border, expelled from around 12 makeshift camps in Yunnan where they had been living since June 2011.
In Wednesday’s statement, the 11 Kachin groups called on China to support humanitarian aid to those fleeing the violence instead of deporting them and to ensure their safety.
On Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell urged China to abide by its international obligations on treatment of refugees.
“The U.S. believes that refugees should only return home by their own choice and in conditions of safety and dignity,” he said.
Reported by Rachel Vandenbrink.
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