The Karen National Union (KNU) will investigate five senior members accused of involvement in the notorious Thai-border crime hub of KK Park and other illegal activities, according to a senior member of the KNU Brigade 5.
However, the investigation will take place only after an election that could see the suspects take leadership positions in Myanmar’s oldest and most powerful ethnic armed organization (EAO).
The KNU’s central executive committee pledged to take action against the five senior members in response to a complaint made by KNU Brigade 5 officials during the EAO’s ongoing 17th Congress.
In a Karen-language reply dated April 27, the central executive committee said it would investigate five senior members suspected of being involved in illegal business activities including drug and human trafficking that violate KNU regulations.
The five members under investigation are the armed group’s defense department chief Padoh Saw Roger Khin, KNU Brigade 7 commander Brigadier-General Saw Phaw Doe, KNU Brigade 4 secretary for Myiek and Dawei districts Saw Tin Soe, Colonel Saw Ba Chaw, and Saw Doe Soe, who is a son of Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) chief of staff General Saw Johnny. The KNLA is an armed wing of the KNU.
The central executive committee said individuals would be punished in line with its laws if found guilty, but did not clarify what penalties would be imposed.
Padoh Saw Roger Khin attended the ground-breaking ceremony for KK Park, a new city project located just north of Myawaddy, Karen State, in February 2020. The park has thrived since 2021 coup, becoming a hub of human trafficking and online scams for Southeast Asia. The defense department chief’s name is also signed on a KK Park project agreement document recently leaked on social media.
Brigade 5 officials proposed delaying the election of a new KNU leadership at the congress until allegations that some senior KNU figures are involved in controversial China-backed new city projects in Karen State are properly investigated.
The brigade warned that it would boycott the congress otherwise.
The KNU nonetheless continued with the congress, which elected Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win as the armed group’s chairman on Tuesday. He was formerly vice chairman.
Forty-five members of the KNU standing committee were elected on Monday. Other positions, including vice chairman and secretaries, were scheduled to be decided on Wednesday.
The Irrawaddy has reached out to KNU central executive committee members but so far received no comment on how they will handle the allegations made against senior members.
The KNU has attracted widespread criticism over the border projects from Karen communities and civil society organizations, which have called on the entire central executive committee to quit.
A Karen political observer said any investigation would be impossible if the suspects were elected as new leaders.
“The congress is electing the new leadership without questioning the suspects. And only after the congress finishes will the new leadership investigate the suspects and take punitive action. But the suspects hold key positions and are elected to the new leadership, it will be like asking the thief to investigate his theft. The truth will not be uncovered,” the observer said.
