Thaminya

 
                                                                       Thaminya
                                                                                                                                              
Official Title:
Departament: Karen State.
Region:
Population:
Location: About 20 km. south east of the capital of Karen State, Pa-an.
Ethnic mix:
IDP population:
Date of establishment:
Traditional political affiliation: A Buddhist religious compound, this is essentially a-political.
Trigger event[s]:
 
Persons/organisations involved in establishment:

Leadership: Originally established by a revered Buddhist monk, U Vinaya (Thaminya Sayadaw) who died in Rangoon in November, 2003.
 
Supporters: It is rumoured that the wife of one of the leaders of the Burmese Military junta was a strong supporter of Thaminya Sayadaw and that her protection helped to maintain the peace community.
 
Declared objectives: No one is allowed into the settlement carrying arms. All who enter must take a vow of non-harm and vegetarianism
 
Relations with local government bodies:

 Mayor’s office:
 
Governor’s office:
 
Memberships of regional organisations:
 
Organisational structure:
 Community meetings:
 Decision making bodies
 Functional committees.
 
Valued goods produced in region:
 
Local armed actors in the region:
 Armed forces:  Tatmadaw [Burmese Army] units.
 Paramilitaries: Democratic Karen Buddhist Army [DKBA] a break-away faction from the KNLA.
 Guerrillas: Karen National Liberation Army [KNLA].                                            
                    
Arrangements with L.A.A.s
 
 
Significant events: On her release from 6 years of house arrest in 1995, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi made her first visit outside Rangoon, the capital, to the settlement and its teacher, a visit she repeated in 2002.
 
Further comments: This is an example of a small peace community based upon a religious site and peopled by residetn monks and supporters/beneficiaries. The settlement provides food for residents and visitors [numbering hundreds] every day.
 
Contact details.

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