I was talking to a friend about my name; a lot of people ask me about the origins of the name 'Massarella' (is it Italian??) but this was the first time I had ever had a conversation about the name 'Karen'. We pondered if there was, or ever had been, a famous 'Karen'. After 5 minutes our list had one name on it - Karen Carpenter. Not very impressive.
So, I thought I would do a little research in to the name Karen, and see if I could add to the list. I always thought Karen was a common name but I wasn't expecting to find seven million Karens..................
The Karen
The Karen are an ethnic group in Burma and Thailand. They have have fought for independence since 31st January 1949. Consequently, 31st January is recognized as Revolutionary Day amongst the Karen.
The Karen people live mostly in the hilly eastern border region of Burma, primarily in Karen State. The total number of Karen is difficult to estimate. The last reliable census of Burma was conducted in the 1930s. A 2006 VOA article cites an estimate of seven million in Burma. There are another 400,000 Karen in Thailand, where they are by far the largest of the hill tribes.
Well that all sounded very jolly; but then I started to look at some of the other websites dedicated to the Karen people. One, in particular, caught my attention with the following introductory paragraph.............
The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is a small and independent group documenting the human rights situation in rural Burma by working directly with rural villagers who are suffering abuses such as forced labour, systematic destruction of villages and crops, forced relocation, extortion, looting, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual assault and summary executions. The vast majority of these abuses are committed by soldiers and officials of the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), Burma's ruling military junta.
(http://www.friendsofthekaren.org/)
A little more thought provoking than anything I could find on Karen Millen, Karen Kay or even Karen Krizanovich!
So, I thought I would do a little research in to the name Karen, and see if I could add to the list. I always thought Karen was a common name but I wasn't expecting to find seven million Karens..................
The Karen
The Karen are an ethnic group in Burma and Thailand. They have have fought for independence since 31st January 1949. Consequently, 31st January is recognized as Revolutionary Day amongst the Karen.
The Karen people live mostly in the hilly eastern border region of Burma, primarily in Karen State. The total number of Karen is difficult to estimate. The last reliable census of Burma was conducted in the 1930s. A 2006 VOA article cites an estimate of seven million in Burma. There are another 400,000 Karen in Thailand, where they are by far the largest of the hill tribes.
Well that all sounded very jolly; but then I started to look at some of the other websites dedicated to the Karen people. One, in particular, caught my attention with the following introductory paragraph.............
The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) is a small and independent group documenting the human rights situation in rural Burma by working directly with rural villagers who are suffering abuses such as forced labour, systematic destruction of villages and crops, forced relocation, extortion, looting, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual assault and summary executions. The vast majority of these abuses are committed by soldiers and officials of the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC), Burma's ruling military junta.(http://www.friendsofthekaren.org/)
A little more thought provoking than anything I could find on Karen Millen, Karen Kay or even Karen Krizanovich!
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