Edinburgh Napier University

  The Karen ethnic minority, from Karen State in southeastern Myanmar, have been fighting for independence since 1948—the longest running civil war in the world. The Myanmarese junta have committed well-documented war crimes and acts of ethnic cleansing against the Karen for decades, forcing tens of thousands to flee across the border to Thailand where many live in refugee camps which have been active since the early 1980s. Young Karens are born in the camps, grow up there, and many are unable to leave. In this short documentary, Karen hip-hop artist Big Bird explains how he began creating self-produced music from within one of the refugee camps, and why hip-hop emerged as a popular form of self-expression for young Karens.