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In pictures: Myanmar’s Kachin refugees

As Myanmar rebel groups prepare to talk with the government, thousands of people in Kachin state remain displaced.

A soldier with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) stands on a mountain near where the Myanmar government(***)s troops are deployed.
Published On 3 Nov 2013

Armed ethnic groups in Myanmar have gathered at a conference for the first time to hold talks on a cease-fire in Laiza, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is based. A total of 17 armed ethnic rebel groups agreed on a draft cease-fire agreement, and will discuss further details with Myanmar’s government in two months.

Frequent fights between the Myanmar government and the KIA rebel army in the northern state of Kachin have left thousands of people homeless as winter approaches. The fate of these refugees will depend in large part on the results of upcoming meetings between the government and ethnic armed groups in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state.

KIA soldiers stand guard in downtown Laiza in Kachin State.
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A KIA patrol takes a break on a street in Laiza.
A KIA soldier rests in a foxhole near the frontline at Lawa Yang.
The Je Yang camp for internally displaced people is located next to the Myanmar-China border.
An elderly woman carries a baby in Je Yang camp, where more than 8,000 people have sought shelter from the civil war.
People from the Je Yang camp crowd onto a truck for a trip to Laiza.
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A mother and her baby at the Je Yang camp.
Children play inside a playground in the Je Yang camp for internally displaced people.
"I missed my grandchildren and my daughters. We were separated due to war and I cried everytime I remembered," said Daw Labya Kaw Hpang, 61, a refugee in the camp.
An elderly woman rests inside a tent in a camp for internally displaced people in Laiza.