The Karenni people are an ethnic minority who are indigenous to Burma and have been facing systematic persecution by the Burmese military junta since the English withdrew. This dictatorship is currently the worst abuser of human rights. Overtime the Burmese army has been guilty of genocide, trying to eradicate these people and their unique culture. The Karenni people have been arrested, imprisoned, tortured, raped, killed and forced into slavery.  Their lands have been seized, homes and farms burnt. Most Karenni try to escape into Thailand where they live an unstable existence in refugee camps along the Thai Burma border. Many Karenni cannot escape successfully, and so live a precarious existence in the jungle, constantly on the run, hiding from the Burmese army. Currently the Burmese government is planning to build the Salween dam which will flood most of the Karenni traditional homeland and wreak much havoc on the natural environment. Because of economic ties with Burma, the Thai government will not accept the Karenni people as refugees, therefore the Karenni people do not have refugee status, which confers certain rights and means that large NGOs can assist in relocating them to other countries. It also means that they cannot leave the camps, which over time have become like overcrowded prisons.