Myanmar's Kokang refugees caught between army, aged warlord and a pipeline to China

By Philip Wen
Updated March 27 2015 - 5:21pm, first published 3:07pm
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province.   Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
Myanmar refugees shelter in a village near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
Myanmar refugees shelter in a village near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province.   Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
'We don't even know which side he's fighting on': Jin Ernan (right) and her 11-month-old daughter with other women at a refugee camp  in Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
'We don't even know which side he's fighting on': Jin Ernan (right) and her 11-month-old daughter with other women at a refugee camp in Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The living conditions for Myanmar refugees are makeshift and often squalid.   Photo: Sanghee Liu
The living conditions for Myanmar refugees are makeshift and often squalid. Photo: Sanghee Liu
Chinese artillery of the People's Liberation Army facing the China-Myanmar border.  Photo: Sanghee Liu
Chinese artillery of the People's Liberation Army facing the China-Myanmar border. Photo: Sanghee Liu
More than 40 refugees are living in this small house and yard in Nansan. Photo: Sanghee Liu
More than 40 refugees are living in this small house and yard in Nansan. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province.   Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The future is unclear for members of Myanmar's Kokang minority, caught in a conflict between the government and rebels. Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province.   Photo: Sanghee Liu
The Red Cross Society's No. 137 refugee camp at the border near Nansan, in China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Sanghee Liu

Nansan, China: When news of the military's rapid advance filtered through to the sugarcane plantations in the remote reaches of northern Myanmar, Ying Onn and her family made the decision to run.