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COMMUNION - February 09

To hear more sermons of the minister Revd G I Macaskill,
                                        click HERE.
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                               THE KAREN PEOPLE

The KAREN people in Burma are being persecuted by the Burmese Army and there ought to be more international awareness of their situation.  The case of the 'displaced' Karen tribe seems hopeless, but there IS something that can be done.  Only by persistent effort will this cruel regime in Burma be overthrown.  There follows below an email from Ian MacCormick, a Medical Student, who was in the Mae La Refugee Camp (along with the minister) and he gives his analysis and suggestions for action, albeit from a medical perspective only.  Please take time to read it all and pray for the Karen and all refugees.  Photographs of the Mae La Refugee Camp can be found at:

                           http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album=FNUA37DG

Here follows Ian MacCormick's email.

Dear all,

Last Saturday I arrived back in Edinburgh, after being away for ten weeks. Despite my good intentions to e-mail again before I left Thailand, I never quite got around to it.

But before ending these e-mails I'd like to write just once more. The subject is very important, and something that many of the Karen and Burmese medics at the Clinic have personally asked me to tell you about. If you can, please bear with me to the end of the letter.

Someone may ask what I have learned from this elective. I don't feel like I have learned anything very profound, but maybe I have begun to appreciate some basic ideas a little better. Compared to big western hospitals like Presbyterian the Mae Tao Clinic obviously has much less capacity to treat almost everything. I say obviously, and in a sense I did expect this; but the reality of being limited to supportive care for many chronic conditions, such as type I diabetes, for example, was unsettling. But more disturbing was the fact that these medical problems are clearly rooted in widespread failings of public health, which in turn grow out of breathtakingly unjust, and downright evil, political decisions. Like many governments that claim to belong to the people but are anything but 'democratic' or 'republican', the title of the Burmese dictatorship (SPDC, or State Peace and Development Council) is a total antonym.

Although I knew before I went that the Mae Tao Clinic treated 'displaced people' and refugees, I didn't really understand why people were leaving Burma. The history is complex, but some of the medical reasons are outlined in a recent report from medical teams working within the country ( http://www.maetaoclinic.org click on 'chronic emergency'). An excerpt from the press release:

"Standard health indicators [rank Eastern Burma] amongst the worst in the world. The report demonstrates that human rights abuses such as forced relocation, violence, forced labour, and the destruction of food and crops are common and serve as major drivers of the health crisis.

"Launching the report, Thai Senator Jon Ungphakorn blamed the Burmese regime for the ongoing health crisis in eastern Burma: 'With abysmal statistics like these, it is no wonder the regime tries so hard to hide them from the world. The Burmese military junta is the source of the problem, not only through its abuses and neglect of the welfare of the people, but also through increasing restrictions on humanitarian aid efforts, particularly to ethnic minorities living in rural Burma.'

"Despite the scale of the crisis, the junta has instead exacerbated the situation, launching the biggest offensive in eastern Burma for a decade in February of this year, displacing an additional 18,000 people.

"The report concludes that without addressing the factors which drive this health crisis, such as the human rights abuses and inability to access healthcare services, there can be no sustainable solution to this chronic emergency."


The longer one thinks about the situation, the more insurmountable the problems appear. What can one person do to help even a single patient, when the disease causing their symptoms is out of reach, and the environment of poverty and oppression fostering their disease is perpetuated by a military dictatorship across the border? In a broad sense, all the medical work of the Clinic is merely symptomatic, even when cures are achieved. Displaced Burmese with malaria or TB can (currently) be cured, but they will probably be re-infected when they return home. These individual medical problems ultimately result from misgovernance, and simply treating a patient's illness without addressing the politics is like using a sticking plaster (Band Aid) to treat wounds inflicted by a school bully without ever confronting the aggressor. For a medical student educated to 'treat the cause', such thinking can easily lead to feelings of frustration, impotence, and helplessness, and it is tempting to wonder if there is any point in treating patients at all if it doesn't solve the problem. But the point, I think, is that medical care is never the whole solution, and even treatment that is inadequate is hugely worthwhile for the individual who is suffering, if this is the best that can be given. I can never do everything, but the limitations of the environment should not discourage me from doing what I can.

However, the same comment also applies to political action. I all too easily put off writing letters to politicians, and excuse my laziness and lack of compassion by telling myself that they would never make a difference. But surely we have to do something, even if the immediate returns are not obvious, and if nagging Members of Parliament is the best course of action available we should take it – until a better 'treatment' is found.

Encouragingly, it looks like some progress is being made. A few months ago the report mentioned above was sent to the UN Security Council. Apparently this helped to influence the USA and UK to press for a resolution, which would commit the UN to act to restore democracy in Burma. At a grass-roots level the Karen people are hopeful that recent media coverage – such as the Dispatches TV documentary on Channel 4 – will bring greater international awareness of their situation, and prompt individuals in Britain and the United States to call on our leaders to enforce sanctions against the SPDC.

These e-mails have been written for a broad audience, and you have diverse opinions about many issues. But I want to appeal to all of you to take some small action to help these people. Some options are:

1) Learn more, and tell others. Many websites have information about the scale of the problem.
The Free Burma Rangers ( http://www.freeburmarangers.org) deliver food and medical treatment into areas targeted by the SPDC, and also gather information about atrocities. They have extremely up to date reports.
Burma Campaign UK: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk
US Campaign for Burma: http://www.uscampaignforburma.org

2) Write to your politicians. Tell your local representative that you are concerned, ask what they can do about it, and urge them to encourage the Government to enforce targeted sanctions on Burma.
Advice on what to write is at this site, along with contact details for UK MPs:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/sanctions_mp.html
American readers can apply the same advice in letters addressed to your congressperson:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
and/or write directly to: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S . Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20520

3) Support local organisations working with people displaced from their homes, such as:
Partners ( http://www.partnersworld.org/)
The Free Burma Rangers ( http://www.freeburmarangers.org/)
The Karen Woman's Organisation ( http://www.karenwomen.org)

Thank you for reading this far. I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my travels. But I hope even more that you will do something to help these people.

Best wishes to you all,
Ian MacCormick
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