Peace Process is at a Phase of Ceasefire, People’s Analysis Report says

The director of the Karen Development Network-KDN said that existing peace process between the government and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) is no more than ceasefire position. The director of KDM Rev. Matthew Aye gave the comment during the introduction ceremony of people’s analysis report on 12 November in Hpa-an, Karen State.

According to Rev. Matthew Aye, the report has been issued to inform publicly about the situation of people’s daily life, their concerns and the trust upon the ceasefire which has been negotiating among the government, Tatmadaw and the EAOs.

“In this report, the ethnic population agreed one thing that the current ceasefire isn’t peace. It’s just a negotiating period. It’s just a temporary break of fighting. People wants permanent peace. The report informed also the voices of EAOs’ soldiers and officers how they have suffered in the conflict. Afterward, the report additionally mentioned the voices of people in the year 2017,” Rev. Matthew Aye told Karen News.

The report also pointed out that armed conflict has been still going on in some areas although the ceasefire agreement exists. So, people concerned about the return of the fighting, according to the report.

The people’s analysis report consisted of 138 pages and there are opinions, outlooks, expectations, experiences of various challenges and inspirations via interviews of over 4,000 individuals from Karen, Mon, Kachin, Kayah (Karenni), Southern and Northern Shan States.

The report under the title of – “Give us our social communities back; we oppose armed-conflicts and terrorisms!” – has been published based on the analysis survey data collected by Karen Development Network, Karuna Myanmar Social Organization, Ta’ang Youth Association (Northern Shan State), Pyay-Nyein Thukha (Southern Shan State), Kayah State Peace Monitoring Network (Kayah) and Mon Women’s Network (Mon) respectively.