Noh Poe Nu Po | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 15°51′N98°40′E / 15.850°N 98.667°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Province | Tak Province |
District | Amphoe Umphang |
Population | approx. 14,000 |
Time zone | UTC+7 (UTC+7) |
Noh Poe or Nu Po (Karen; Small Lake) is a refugee camp of approximately 14,000 people in the Amphoe Umphang district of Tak Province in Thailand. Located near the Thai border with the Karen state in Burma, it was set up in 1997 to accommodate Karen refugees fleeing fighting between the Burmese and the Karen National Union (KNU) forces. [1] [2] There is a school located in Noh Poe which is significantly cheaper than comparable schools in Burma, and many Karen students go there to complete their education as a result. Refugees cannot leave the camp without the permission of the local Thai government, and chain fences surround the camp to keep people from leaving. [1]
In 2009, a major battle occurred just across the Burmese border in Kawkareik, between the KNU and the combined forces of the Burmese and Democratic Karen Buddhist armies. People in Noh Poe were prepared to flee if the DKBA forces attacked, but no fighting occurred there. [2]
The Karen National Union is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Karen people of Myanmar (Burma). It operates in mountainous eastern Myanmar, and has underground networks in other areas of Myanmar where Karen people live as a minority group. In the Karen language, this area is called Kawthoolei. Some of the Karen, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have waged a war against the central government since early 1949. The aim of the KNU at first was independence. Since 1976 the armed group has called for a federal system rather than an independent Karen State.
The Karen, also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language–speaking peoples. The group as a whole is heterogeneous and disparate as many Karen ethnic groups do not associate or identify with each other culturally or linguistically. These Karen groups reside primarily in Kayin State, southern and southeastern Myanmar. The Karen, approximately five million people, account for approximately seven percent of the Burmese population. Many Karen have migrated to Thailand, having settled mostly on the Myanmar–Thailand border. A few Karen have settled in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, and other Southeast Asian and East Asian countries.
Bo Mya was a Karen leader born in Papun District, which is in present-day Karen State, Myanmar. He was a long-standing chairman of the Karen National Union (KNU), a political organisation of the Karen people, from 1976 to 2000. He stepped down to become vice-chairman in 2004, and retired in 2004 from all public offices, due to poor health.
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