A group of Asian lawmakers has called on the United Nations Security Council to do something about Burma's persecution of its ethnic Karen people.
The lawmakers, members of a caucus on Burma within the Association of Southeastern Asian Nations, on Monday condemned what they called Burmese aggression against the Karen. Reports say some 11,000 Karen have been displaced in recent weeks by Burmese soldiers driving them out of their villages.
The lawmakers say those attacks were meant to clear the Karen out of the area around Pyinmana, the new Burmese capital.
The lawmakers say the UN Security Council must carry out its responsibility and deal with those who are staging the attacks.
The Karen are one of Burma's major ethnic groups. They have been fighting for independence for more than 50 years.
They have reached a provisional truce with the government, but sporadic fighting continues.
Thai officials first reported last month that at least 18-hundred Karen refugees had taken shelter from the Burmese offensive by escaping across the Thai border. Since then, a number of groups have called for the Burmese army to stop its assault.
