Harvest

Of paramount importance to the slow war of attrition being waged against the Karen population is the ‘Four Cuts Policy’. This scorched earth campaign targets the civilian population as a means of undermining the armed resistance and ultimately bringing the entire population under military control. The four cuts are said to be to cut all lines of supply of food, finance, intelligence and recruits to the resistance from the local population. Local villages are forcibly relocated away from areas where resistance forces operate and civilian food supplies are targeted by the soldiers for destruction lest any excess be given to the resistance. Crop destruction is thus central to the Burma Army’s strategy. This villager from Tee Thu Kee attempts to reap what is left of her delayed rice harvest after returning from hiding in the hills. Much of the crop, however, had already been choked by weeds, eaten by wild animals, or taken to seed before it could be harvested. As a result the villagers could only harvest a much-reduced crop, severely diminishing their supplies and ultimately affecting their food security for the coming year.