No gesture of goodwill for non

No gesture of goodwill for non-Burman people, says British rights group
Aung San Suu Kyi release

According to a statement issued by a London-based human rights group on 7 May, the much welcomed release of Aung San Suu Kyi the day before could not be translated as Rangoon's indication of a softened attitude towards the ethnic peoples of Burma. 

Jubilee Campaign, an interdenominational Christian human rights group that has been working with British parliamentarians, said, "Altogether over 648,000 Karen, Karenni and Shan people have been internally displaced inside Burma by the Burmese military. Many of them are hiding in the jungle with no food or medicine and are killed on sight by Burmese troops." 

Despite the release of more than 200 political prisoners "as a gesture of good will" since secret talks between the opposition leader and the military authorities began 19 months ago, "not a single concession has so far been made to the Karen, Karenni and Shan people," said the statement. 

More than a million people had reportedly been displaced by the forced relocation program launched by Rangoon in Karen, Karenni (Kayah) and Shan states since 1996. Hundreds of thousands have also fled to neighboring Thailand. However, whereas there are refugee camps for those coming from Karen and Karenni states, there are no facilities whatsoever for the Shans, which has resulted in them working as cheap laborers in order to survive, according to human rights reports. 

The Shan Democratic Union, the umbrella organization of Shan exiled groups, has called for an 'all inclusive wider paticipation' in the ongoing talks in Rangoon in order to work out a durable solution. 

Update: 

According to a press release by the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen people (CIDKP), on the same day that the Nobel laureate was released from house arrest, 500 displaced Karens at Ko Kay IDP refugee site in Mu Traw District, Karen State, were attacked by the Burmese troops forcing them to flee across the border into Thailand. 

"The ferocious campaign of atrocities by the Burmese regime against Shan, Karenni and Karen peoples continues unabated," said Hso Khanfah Yawnghwe, a Shan noble in exile.