Chapter 7 Protection and Settlement of Burmese Border Residents in Large-Scale Influx Situations
In 2009, border residents of Kokang State, Myanmar, entered China on a large scale due to armed conflicts in Myanmar. Again in 2011 and 2013, large numbers of residents of Kachin State, Myanmar, entered China. In accordance with in- ternational laws, these people in large-scale influx situations were considered Burmese border residents, rather than refugees. However, the Chinese Govern- ment provided these border residents with daily necessities and handled the large-scale influx properly, in accordance with the Emergency Response Law of the People’s Republic of China 2007 [Tufa Shijian Yingdui Fa] and other laws, policies and regulations on response plans of foreign-related emergencies and humanitarian spirit. Since the underlying armed conflicts were the internal affairs of Myanmar, they should be solved through consultation by the con- cerned parties in that country. Border residents in large-scale influx situations should be handled as foreign-related emergencies. The border stability main- tenance mechanisms and plans for the settlement and persuasion for return of border residents should be launched in accordance with emergency response plans.
7.1 Large-Scale Influx of Burmese Border Residents into China
Myanmar consists of seven Divisions and seven States. Barma people make up about 70 percent of the population of all 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar. The Barma people constitutes the main population of the seven Divisions, while the ethnic minorities constitute the main population of the seven States. In the 1920’s, Britain, which had occupied India, Myanmar, occupied most Jingpo tribes, and renamed the Jingpo people as Kachins. In 1960, China and Myan- mar reached a consensus during the Sino-Myanmar Border Negotiations that the disputed territory along the northern border between China and Myanmar including the Kachin State should be recognised as Burmese territory. Thus, Jingpo people and Barma people actually share the same ancestry, origin, be- liefs, language and customs, although these two peoples live on opposite sides of the border. Since the 1960’s, Kachin State has been highly independent and autonomous. In 1961, Kachin Independence Army was established.
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In 1989, four armed forces, formed from the largest anti-government people’s army of the Communist Party of Burma [Mian Gong Renmin Jun], each con- cluded ceasefire agreements with the military government in Myanmar. Pursu- ant to these agreements, these armed forces established the autonomous gov- ernments of Shan State Special Region 1 (Kokang State), Shan State Special Region 2 (Wa State), Kachin State Special Region 1 (New Democratic Army- Kachin) and Shan State Eastern Special Region 4. In February 1994, the Myan- mar government recognised that area controlled by the Kachin Independence Army as Kachin State Special Region 2 (regions including Laiza and Maijayang). Due to their high degree of autonomy, the special regions became the biggest obstacle to the economic development and political stability of Myanmar.1 In May 2008, a new Constitution was adopted in Myanmar, which provided that only the six ethnic regions enjoy autonomy, but that government officials of these regions were required to accept administration and appointment of the central government. Since 2009, the government forces of Myanmar oppressed autonomous regions by force, demanding these regions to join Border Guard Forces of Myanmar and accept the integration and regulation of the govern- ment. The Kachin Independence Army firmly refused to be integrated.2 In August 2009, to combat drugs, government forces in Myanmar launched a three-week armed conflict with Shan State Special Region 1 (Kokang State). As a result, nearly 700 soldiers of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in Shan State and tens of thousands of border residents entered Zhenk- ang County and Gengma County in Yunnan Province, China. Of this total, more than 13,000 persons from Myanmar were protected, assisted and rescued in China by the Chinese government. Some of them lived with their friends and relatives, while some Chinese border residents who did business or worked for others in Kokang State returned home.3 Seven hundred soldiers from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army were handled as people in large-scale influx situations after voluntarily surrendering their firearms. In
1 Ran Jin, ‘Kachin Warfare – Myanmar Government and Kachin Independence Army Wres- tling for Control’ [Keqin Xiaoyan – Miandian Zhengfu He Keqin Dulijun De Kongzhiquan Zhi Zhan], Southern Weekly, 5 July 2011, http://news.ifeng.com/world/detail_2011_07/01/7379029_0. shtml (accessed 28 July 2019). 2 Zhang Jie, ‘Kachin Warfare: Dilemma Faced by Myanmar in Reconciliation Among Ethnic Groups’, Oriental Morning Post, http://finance.ifeng.com/money/roll/20110615/4151819.shtml (accessed 28 July 2019). 3 Wang Yan, Yang Yueping and Wu Xiaoyang, ‘Three Projectiles Shot into China, Causing One Dead and Two Injured Among Chinese Border Residents’ [Miandian San Fa Paodan Sheru Zhongguo Jingnei, Zaocheng Zhongfang Bianmin Yisi Liangshang], Xinhua Net, 30 August 2009, http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2009-08/561698.html (accessed 28 July 2019).