LAIZA, Myanmar — There’s little sign of a democratic awakening in Laja Yang.

Despite the political reforms that have captivated attention in other parts of Myanmar, this dusty village remains a ghost town, abandoned last year when clashes broke out between the Myanmar military and ethnic Kachin rebels, who began their fight for independence in the 1960s.

With most of its residents gone, the village now lies along a bloody ethnic fault-line in the country’s north, a fortified encampment threaded with foxholes and trenches.