Free Burma Rangers

Description

Free Burma Rangers is a multi-ethnic humanitarian aid and human rights organization working in conflict zones. It was founded in 1997 by Dave and Karen Eubank, after they began working with the Wa people in Burma in 1993. It formed in response to Burma Army offensives that destroyed villages and displaced more than 100,000 people.

The organization trains multi-ethnic relief teams, known as Rangers, who are sent by local ethnic leadership and return to work in their home areas. Teams provide emergency medical care, deliver humanitarian relief, and document human rights abuses and attacks on civilians. Since 1997, more than 250 teams have been trained, with around 125 full-time teams active across ethnic areas of Burma including Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin and Arakan regions.

Free Burma Rangers teams have carried out over 1,000 relief missions, treating more than 500,000 patients and helping over 1.1 million people. The organization also relies on international volunteers who support the Ranger teams and help share their stories worldwide. It is a Christian organization, and its teams have also operated in other conflict areas outside Burma, including Iraq and Syria.