Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As with many of Myanmar's ethnic groups that traditionally practised animism, the
Kayah were targeted for conversion to Christianity by Baptist and Catholic missionaries
during the colonial period. The name 'Red Karen' refers to the favoured colour of the
Kayah traditional dress and the fact that their apparel resembles that of some Kayin (Kar-
en) tribes - a resemblance that caused the Kayah to be classified by colonisers and mis-
sionaries as 'Karen'.
Today the Kayah make up a very small percentage of the population of Myanmar -
perhaps less than 0.5% - and the vast majority lead agrarian lives. A significant number
of Kayah also live in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province.
Little Daughter: A Memoir of Survival in Burma and the West
is the autobiography of
Zoya Phan (written with Damien Lewis), a Kayin woman who is the international coordin-
ator of the UK Burma Campaign and who spent many years as a child living in refugee
camps.
Kayin (Karen)
No one knows for sure how many Kayin (also known as Karen) there are in Myanmar.
This ethnic group numbers anything between four and seven million and is linguistically
very diverse, with a dozen related but not mutually intelligible dialects. Originally anim-
ists, it's now reckoned that the majority are Buddhists, with around 20% Christian and a
small percentage Muslim.
The typical dress of both the Kayin men and women is a
longyi
with horizontal stripes
(a pattern that is reserved exclusively for women in other ethnic groups). A subgroup of
the Kayin live on both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border.
The only major ethnic group to never sign peace agreements with the Myanmar milit-
ary, the Kayin are an independent-minded people; the Karen National Union (KNU) is
the best known of the insurgency groups. However, the sheer diversity of the many Kay-
in subgroups has made it impossible for them to achieve any real cohesion. Buddhist
Kayin often side with the Buddhist Bamar against their Christian Kayin kin; also in the
2010 election a variety of ethnic parties managed to secure 43.5% of the state legislature.
A 2011 report by the Netherlands-based Transnational Institute (
www.tni.org/briefing/
burmas-longest-war-anatomy-karen-conflict
) concludes that the KNU 'has lost control of
most of its once extensive 'liberated zones' and has lost touch with most non-Christian
Karen communities. Already greatly weakened militarily, the KNU could be ejected from
its last strongholds, should the Burma Army launch another major offensive.'
