The Free Burma Rangers (FBR) is a Christian multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement. Their main area of work is throughout Burma (also known as Myanmar) but concentrate primarily on the heavily forested border region, delivering emergency medical assistance to sick and injured
internally displaced people
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
(IDPs): a consequence of the long-running campaign of violence by the military junta, the
State Peace and Development Council, against Burma's ethnic minorities.
FBR trains teams of men and women in frontline medical treatment and reconnaissance techniques. In addition to delivering humanitarian relief, a secondary role of the teams is to obtain evidence of military violence and human rights abuse. This information is then published in the form of online reports and/or released to larger international human rights groups, inter-governmental organisations such as the
UN, and news agencies.
FBR is one of a number of
grassroots organisations (se
Mae Tao Clinic&
Back Pack Health Worker Team that have emerged in response to the growing health needs of Burma’s persecuted ethnic underclass. FBR is not supported by either the Thai or Burmese authorities and their activity inside the Burmese border is clandestine.
Mission statement
History
FBR was formed in the late 1990s following an escalation of Burmese military activity against the
Karen people
The Karen, kjp, ပ်ုဖၠုံဆိုဒ်, my, ကရင်လူမျိုး, , th, กะเหรี่ยง ( ), also known as the Kayin, Kariang or Kawthoolese, are an ethnolinguistic group of Sino-Tibetan language ...
. Villages were destroyed, people killed and more than 100,000 people forced from their homes
in a program of violence that was designed to remove people from land to make way for developing business interests.
The history, character and ongoing activity of the Rangers is closely linked to its American founder Dave Eubank, who assumed the Karen pseudonym Tha-U-Wah-A-Pah ("TUWAP"). He is a
Fuller Theological Seminary
Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature.
Fuller consistently has a student body that compr ...
-educated pastor and ex-member of the
U.S. Special Forces. Having already spent a number of years as a missionary in Burma, in 1996, following a chance meeting with
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
, the leader of the
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy ( my, အမျိုးသား ဒီမိုကရေစီ အဖွဲ့ချုပ်, ; abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (Burma). It ...
, TUWAP was inspired to initiate a ‘Global Day of Prayer’ and help to strengthen unity between the majority Burman population and the various minority ethnic groups. TUWAP was then in Burma during the Army Offensives of 1997, distributing medicine to those displaced by the conflict, and it was during this time that he decided to employ his broad mixture of skills to bring a unique brand of humanitarian relief to a greater number.
In the words of the FBR leader, “
he situation in Burmais a slow, creeping cancer, in which the regime is working to dominate, control, and radically assimilate all the ethnic peoples of the country.”
In January 2013, footage obtained by the Free Burma Rangers and released to the world's media was instrumental in stopping continued Burmese military offensives against the
Kachin Independence Army
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA; Kachin: ''ShangLawt Hpyen''; my, ကချင်လွတ်လပ်ရေးတပ်မတော်) is a non-state armed group and the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), a pol ...
in the north of Myanmar.
At least one FBR team was present at the
liberation of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, in 2017.
FBR is a Christian organization. "The purpose of the Free Burma Rangers is to share the love of Jesus and to be His Ambassadors wherever we go," states Eubank on the FBR website.
FBR Teams
Every year about 15 multi-ethnic teams, including representatives from the
Karen,
Karenni
Karenni may refer to:
* Karenni people
* Karenni language
* Karenni State, former name of Kayah State, Myanmar
* Karenni States
The Karenni States, also known as Red Karen States, was the name formerly given to the states inhabited mainly by ...
,
Shan,
Arakan
Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
, Kachin and other ethnic groups complete the intensive Ranger training.
The training program is delivered with the help of other specialist organisations, including the
Mae Tao Clinic and covers a diverse and comprehensive mix of practical relief, survival skills and socio-political awareness, including:
*ethnic issues
*ethics
*conflict resolution
*public health
*first aid
*advanced medical and basic dental care
*human rights interviewing and documentation
*reporting
*counselling
Break down of full-time relief teams by ethnic origin
Overview of FBR relief operations since 1997
Total teams trained: 300
Relief missions conducted: over 1,000
Patients treated: over 550,000
People helped: over 1,500,000
Fields of operation
FBR teams operate in conflict zones other than Burma, such as the conflict involving ISIS in
Syria and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
Free Burma Rangers and Rambo
The film
Rambo 4 was released worldwide in early 2008, with
Sylvester Stallone continuing his role as the
eponymous hero. In it, a fictionalised Burmese military played the role of the 'evil oppressors' and, although the film didn't make it to Burmese cinema screens, it became a huge underground success amongst the Burmese population. Research for the movie was obtained, in large part, from FBR field reports.
News and other related media
*Mizara, S. 'Free Burma Rangers'
Stefania Mizara , photographer, photojournalist*Samuels, L., 2007.'Burma's other Struggle'. Newsweek, 5 Octobe
Burma Missionaries Fight for Ethnic Minorities
See also
*
Burma Campaign UK
Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) founded in 1991 is a London-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that aims to achieve the restoration of basic human rights and democracy in Burma (also known as Myanmar). BCUK campaigns on behalf of the Burmese pr ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Free Burma RangersMae Tao ClinicPartners Relief and Development
Medical and health organisations based in Myanmar
Christian advocacy groups