Geographies of Displacement: The Karenni and The Shan Across The Myanmar‐Thailand Border

Abstract

First, central to our analysis is the argument that human movement within and across borders fundamentally challenges the view of geopolitics based upon fixed territorial states, inter‐state relations, national identities and citizenship; indeed the whole idea of “national geographic”. Using the examples of the Karen and Shan peoples, we explore the processes and patterns of forced relocation, displacement and migration in the border regions of Myanmar and Thailand. Our main concern is with forced displacement as a result of political and ethnic conflict; specifically, how the Burmese military regime’s desire for “national unity” within Myanmar’s “national space” has influenced the militarily inspired displacements of hundreds of thousands of villagers and civilians within the border zones inhabited mostly by so‐called “national minorities”. We examine the particular problems of the so‐called “internally displaced persons” within “national” boundaries compared with the “refugees” and “undocumented migrants” who make it across “international” space into Thailand. We illustrate the ways displaced people are represented by state agencies and the media as “threats” and “transgressors”. We consider some of the “long term” aspects of the displacement problem along the Myanmar‐Thai border and the vital contribution geographers can make to the study of displacement.