Ethnic Kachins living in makeshift camps in northern Myanmar have described their terror after the escalation of fighting between the Myanmar army and Kachin rebels.

The conflict has led to an estimated 100-thousand Kachins displaced since the fighting began more than 19 months ago.

Many are in camps in or near Laiza, the Kachin guerrilla-held town right by the border with China.

Salang Kaba Doi Pyi Sa, head of Kachin's refugee relief committee, says the refugees are living in fear.

"In the past, when there was war, we knew that it was happening somewhere else. Now, there is intense fighting in the vicinity of the camps and everyone is fearful. If the army uses heavy artillery, it can reach the camps. It is very urgent to get peace because there are no more places for us to move."

The Myanmar government said that the army had been given orders to cease all offensives against Kachin Independence Army guerrillas, but it had to protect its soldiers after the Kachin continued to set off land mines and ambush government forces.

The Kachin, like Myanmar's other ethnic minorities, have long sought greater autonomy from the central government.

The 19-month fighting between the two sides escalated on Christmas Day when the rebels rejected a government demand that supply convoys be allowed to reach an army base.

The government then used fighter planes and helicopters to mount attacks and seized one of the guerrillas' hilltop outposts.

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