FBR Report: Loss of a Ranger: Saw Poe Law

Dear friends,

On 27 September 2014, Saw Poe Law, a young man with a wife and a new baby, was shot and killed by the Burma Army in Kler Lwe Htoo District of Karen State.   He was 26 years old.  He was working with the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), which provides for local defense in Karen State, and had gone to check on a reported Burma Army patrol in violation of the ceasefire agreement.  The Burma Army saw them first as they approached, and opened fire, killing Poe Law and wounding one other KNDO member.

Poe Law trained with FBR in 2007 as a medic and worked with us for 2 years before returning to the KNDO. He was small and had a boyish face, but was strong, confident and always joking and laughing. One friend recalls, “He kept us laughing in the face of any kind of trouble.”  He was kind and helped to take care of children including our own children who feel this loss. They were shocked to learn of his killing by the Burma Army.

Ceasefire negotiations are ongoing in Karen State as they are in other parts of Burma but attacks in other areas and killings like the one of Saw Poe Law show that the conflict is not over.

This is a great loss for FBR, the Karen people, and, most of all, for his wife and child. We are immensely sorry for them and the rest of his family, and for the loss of our young friend and good comrade. Please join us in praying for them. We look forward to being reunited with our friend, Poe Law, in what the Karen call “the undiscovered land.”

Thank you and God bless you,

The Free Burma Rangers