White Elephants are traditionally thought of by the Karen people as symbolizing righteousness and strength as well as a harbinger of great positive change.
Most of the problems he documented were connected to the construction and operation of a petroleum pipeline in the area of Yadana for the oil companies Unocal (U.S.-based) and Total S.A. (based in France).
Ka Hsaw Wa, Katie Redford and EarthRights launched a federal lawsuit against Unocal, employing a unique legal strategy utilizing the U.S. Alien Tort Statute of 1789, which says that "federal courts have jurisdiction for torts that occur in violation of the Law of Nations, [which] includes abuses of fundamental human rights [and] genocide",[2] in order to force the company to assume responsibility for human rights abuses caused by its actions.
In the case Unocal eventually agreed to pay compensation to the 15 anonymous villagers who suffered forced labor, rape, and the effects of killings.
[3] For about 30 years Ka Hsaw Wa has been recording people's stories to publish violation of human rights in his homeland.