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KHRG Report 96-17 Part 2
THE SITUATION IN PA'AN DISTRICT
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
May 15, 1996 / KHRG #96-17
[PART 2 OF 4 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT.]
[SOME DETAILS BLANKED OUT WITH 'XXXX' FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#3.
NAME: "U Thein Dar" SEX: M AGE: 60 Burmese Muslim farmer
FAMILY: Married, 5 children
ADDRESS: Nabu village, Kawkareik Township, Pa'an District INTERVIEWED: 6/4/96
Two years ago Nabu village had about 300 families, mostly Muslims [Nabu
actually consists of a Muslim Nabu and a non-Muslim Nabu]. Now,
under 100 families are living there, because the SLORC authorities annex
villagers' houses and fields, because of the hard labour construction duties
and the economic difficulties. Nabu village will be absolutely destroyed
soon.
In the middle of July 1995, Kawkareik Township authorities arrived at our
village and called one person from each family to attend a meeting. The
authorities gave blank sheets of paper to each person and told them to sign
it. After that, the Secretary of Kawkareik Township Law & Order
Restoration Council said that the villagers' farms and ricefields were all
being taken to build a new Battalion camp for LIB 547. More than half of
the village itself and many acres of ricefields were taken. The next day,
they set up red flags and warning sign boards reading "Army Land, Do Not
Enter". Villagers receive no compensation for their land and houses. The
villagers asked the Township LORC Secretary why their farms were taken
and he said LIB 547 wanted the land. He said he did not know the plan, he
and his team just came for surveying. I heard that the Army will continue
to take more land, including Nabu Kwin village, Nan Kut Day village,
Kawkalaung village and Naung Hta Pung village - altogether 500 to 600
acres. The villagers who lost their land were told to move except the
ricefield owners, who were ordered to keep growing rice in their fields, then
reap the paddy and pound [mill] it. After that, the soldiers ordered them to
take all the rice to the Army rice barns.
We also had to cut down the fruit trees like mango, jackfruit and coconut
trees on the confiscated land and carry them to the Army's brick-baking
factory for fuel. Villagers' bullocks and carts were also taken by the
soldiers months ago to carry bricks and wood.
After the harvest, we had to work on road construction - the Kyone Doh to
Nabu road, 15 miles long, the Daw Lan to Nabu road, 10 miles long, and
the Kawkareik to Nabu road, 20 miles long. Sick people cannot go home
unless a substitute comes to work in their place. There was no medical
help. Three villagers have died on the road construction since the start of
this year [1996]. They were a woman from Thagar Chaung village and a
man from Naung Kine village, who died of cholera, and a woman from
Naung Hein who was hit by a hoe.
The other work is to build barracks, buildings and fences for LIB 547.
Then we had to work at their brick kiln by rotation. For all this work, from
road construction to baking bricks, the villagers receive no money. They
have to go to the workplaces with their own food and supplies. We are also
ordered to pay various kinds of fees which total about 1,000 Kyats every
month [per family] - emergency porter fees, volunteer porter fees, long trip
porter fees and so on.
During the Holy Month of Ramadan in February we Muslims wanted to
fast, so we asked permission from LIB 547 commander Major Sein Win to
be given less labour in that month [during the entire month of Ramadan,
Muslims cannot eat between sunrise and sunset]. But he replied that if
villagers cannot do the work, they must take up their house-posts and move
away. We lost our land, we cannot do our own work freely and we only
serve as slaves for the soldiers, so we left our village. We arrived at this
refugee camp on 22 March. We want to go back home if our land is
returned to us and if true peace is established in our country.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#4.
[A SLORC deserter from LIB 547 said the following about Nabu area
when interviewed.]
There are quite a lot of Muslims, but now some ran away and some moved
because LIB 547 took exactly half of the village. The only Indian [Muslim]
part remaining is right around the mosque. The road cut the village down
the middle, and one side became the LIB 547 compound. Many good
houses were demolished. The Army also took the ricefields for their own
bean plantations, 'bocate' and 'mart' beans. Nabu village has about 700
families, and about 300 families lost their land. The Nabu villagers lost
their homes, farms, even their ricefields, so now they do not want to see the
soldiers anymore.
As for road construction, from Nabu there is one main road headed to
Kyone Doh and Kawkareik [actually this is 2 roads], and another headed
to the DKBA monk's place [Myaing Gyi Ngu - he may mean via Pa'an or
via Pain Kyone]. That one starts at the Nabu mosque. I myself didn't have
to call the villagers, but a lot of villages have to work on that: Myatpadine,
Nan Kaw Tay, Mon Su, Kalah Gone, In Chay, Da Way Hta, Tone Poh and
so on. Sometimes 80 to 100 people per village. They had to sleep around
the ricefields, and we [soldiers] also lived without shelter at the
brickmaking site. We [soldiers] also had to volunteer to work on the road,
but just for show, just for a very short time, together with policewomen and
other soldiers. That day the TV reporters recorded it. They wanted to
show that the Army served and worked for the people, but actually the
people did the whole thing.
[A Karen National Liberation Army officer added the following: "The
Nabu Muslim community was systematically destroyed. Part of the village
area was taken over by LIB 547. We heard that SLORC soldiers are
planning to take over the Muslim graveyard, which is quite important to
Islamic ritual. As a result, hundreds of them fled to refugee camps."]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#5.
NAME: "Maung Win" SEX: M AGE: 35 Burmese Muslim day labourer
FAMILY: Single
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Hlaing Bwe Township, Pa'an District
NAME: "Daw Hla" SEX: M AGE: 33 Burmese Muslim day labourer
FAMILY: Widow, 6 children
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Hlaing Bwe Township, Pa'an District
[These two newly arrived refugees were interviewed together on 6 April,
1996 by the Hsaw Wah Deh human rights monitoring group.]
Our village has Karen, Burmese and Muslims living together. Now there
are about 200 families living there. Last year about 100 Muslim families
lived there, but now there are only 50. About 50 families fled to refugee
camps because of hardship and oppression of the Muslim community.
We had to work on the Nabu - Daw Lan road, which is about 7 miles long
and wide enough to drive two cars parallel. Every day each family had to
dig an area of earth totalling 4 feet by 3 feet by 12 feet deep, then move the
earth to the road site. Now [in hot season] it is very hot, so it was very
tiring work. If we couldn't go, we had to hire a person by giving 200 Kyats
per day. Porter fees are 100 Kyats per family every month. Moreover,
SLORC soldiers take porters to carry supplies every month, and if a person
can't go for that he has to hire another person for 200 Kyats per day.
Villagers are always forced to work for SLORC and DKBA and also have
to give them at least 1,000 Kyats per month in total.
We had to support DKBA members' families by giving rice and money, and
by building houses for their families. We were also called by LIB 547
[SLORC Light Infantry Battalion] to cut bamboo, clear their compound
and build barracks for them. There, we were beaten often. If a villager
resists, he or she is beaten and fined 3,000 Kyats for this behaviour. The
work orders come from LIB 547 at Taung Zun camp, and from Captain
Meh Bya of DKBA. For road construction and building barracks for LIB
547, everybody has to go, men and women, young and old. About half of
the workers are women and children. Even the widows have to pay for
their funds and fees, except porter fees. Not only in XXXX village - other
villages are also suffering the same, so many villagers have fled to refugee
camps.
_____________________________________________________________________________
#6.
NAME: "Saw Hla Say" SEX: M AGE: 25 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kawkareik Township, Pa'an Dist. INTERVIEWED: 4/96
I left my village during Water Festival [mid-April] and reached this
[refugee] camp on 20 April. Since January this year, my village has had to
work on many road construction projects without a rest. First the Nabu -
Myatpadine road, then the Daw Lan - Nabu road, then other construction
projects. Now it is very hot, and villagers have already been working on
road construction for about 4 months, so everyone is talking about going to
Thailand. We heard that there are many more construction projects that we
will have to do soon. We have to dig the earth and carry it to the
embankment to build the roads. Men usually dig the earth and the women
carry it. There is no machinery. There are no stones covering the roads
and some parts are just made of sand, so when it rains these roads will
collapse. There were some accidents while we were working. In March at
the Kyone Pine worksite on the Tu Kaw Koh - Nabu road, a hoe
accidentally broke and the blade hit a girl in the neck while she was
scooping up the earth. She died on the spot. The boy who caused the
accident was in shock - he ran back to his village and committed suicide by
drinking insecticide. In the first week of April, also at Kyone Pine, a man
about 40 years old died when he was working [probably from heart
attack]. The weather is too hot for this work. There are many children at
the worksite too.
If a person cannot go for the work, he or she has to hire someone to go by
paying them 150 Kyats per day plus rice and fishpaste. SLORC and
DKBA soldiers control the construction. They say the roads are just for us
to travel on, but I don't know about that. These roads are not strong
enough to last the rainy season, so everyone is planning to leave the village
[because they know they'll be forced to build the roads over again next
season]. Some flee to Tha Menya monastery, but I heard that many from
Tha Menya are leaving for Thailand also. I do not know why. [Tha
Menya is a famous Buddhist refuge near Pa'an where even SLORC does
not dare carry weapons or take people for forced labour. Recently
SLORC has reportedly been trying to gain some control in Tha Menya by
convincing the DKBA to carry arms there, and if people are leaving the
refuge it may be connected to this. For details, see "Inside the DKBA",
KHRG #96-14, 31/3/96.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#7.
NAME: "Saw Htoo Wah" SEX: M AGE: 22 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 1 child
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Kyone Doh Twp., Pa'an Dist. INTERVIEWED: 4/96
I arrived here [the refugee camp] on April 5, 1996. I came together with
30 people - 20 women and 10 men. We had to work on the Daw Lan -
Nabu road construction without receiving any money. Each family has to
send one person to serve. Our village has about 300 families. Those who
cannot work have to pay 150 Kyats to village authorities as a fine. Villagers
have to stay 5 or 6 days at the road worksite and sleep along the road
without enough shelter. There are many women working there, and some
are over 60 years old. Children as young as 14 or 15 years old also have to
work. The road [embankment] is more than 11 feet high and can
accomodate two cars parallel [in width]. Thousands of villagers have to
work on road construction around Kyone Doh and Kawkareik. Some are
injured while working. I heard that one villager died after being hit by a
hoe. Soldiers watch the villagers and usually scold them when people rest.
Our duty is to dig the earth and carry it to the road site. Karen State Law
& Order Restoration Council members usually come to supervise.
Another duty started in March 1996 - carrying timber for LIB 545, a new
battalion from Kyone Doh. The villagers have to go to Tu Kaw Koh village
to cut down trees and carry them to Kyet Paung village sawmill. Some
villagers have to work at the sawmill too. Then they have to carry the wood
[planks] on carts to LIB 545 headquarters. Each village has to send 40
carts with bullocks for this job. Some villages don't have enough carts and
bullocks, so they have to hire carts and pairs of bullocks for 1,500 Kyats a
day. Villagers have to do all this for the Army but receive nothing from
them. Another job we were ordered to do is collecting wood for the Army
brick factory, but in reality the soldiers sell this wood back to the
villagers for 500 Kyats per cartful. [The soldiers demand alot more wood
than they actually need to make bricks.]
_____________________________________________________________________________
#8.
NAME: "Saw Tha Pwee" SEX: M AGE: 33 Karen Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children
ADDRESS: xxxx village, T'Nay Cha tract, Pa'an Township INTERVIEWED: 4/4/96
I went home in T'boh Tweh month [about September 1995], to visit my
parents. I saw that the Burmese are forcing people to labour, such as
hauling timber. I stayed for 2 months. We had to work for the Burmese,
road work, hauling timber. When they demand something to be done, so
must it be done. They demand it all the time. Road works, hauling timber,
everything. Children as young as 13, everybody, by rotation. For example,
if a village has 60 houses, they go and register with the Burmese as having
30 houses [they give false information], and then they must send 30 people
for 3 or 4 days at a time, and when they return another 30 people must go
again, rotating like that, always. Each village gets a designated length of
road. For example, a village of 50 houses gets given a length for 50 people,
and a village of 100 houses is also given a length as registered. If your
people are too few for your length and you don't finish you cannot go back
home [until it's done].
The road is about 3 kilometres from our village. It is 2 cars wide. It's
not done yet, but should soon be finished. Cars can go from Nabu to
Kawkareik. Our village has 30 houses. We had to build 1 kilometre, 10
feet wide, elevation less than the head height of some people. 15 or 20
people had to go from the village. We have to walk there, have to take our
own tools, machetes, and our own food. They [soldiers] don't feed us and
don't eat amongst us. They watch over, with some guns. In the hot season
the workers can work at their own pace, because we must do the work until
it is finished. So some people come very early, pre-dawn, work until it
becomes hot, and then they rest. The work is not finished in T'Nay Cha
District, and also there's a bridge to be made. The villagers are making it,
from timber. Now they are also putting earth and grasses along the middle
of the road in order to make it stronger.
Most of the people are farmers. If two people are in one house, one goes
[to the road] and the other works [growing food]. People also have to cut
timber and take it near T'lah Aw Kla, about half a mile from our village, or
to T'Nay Cha, and some to Ku Lah Kaun. They have to go until the
ordered timber is cut. I myself didn't do this. With the wood the Burmese
are constructing some houses, and constructing a bridge on the car road that
can be used if the water rises. They started cutting timber at the start of
the cold season [November-December]. They get carts from the villages. For
example, if there are 20 carts, 10 carts must go on rotation. Really, how
long before this timber hauling will cease, I have no idea! Before, there
were a great number of trees, now they have become scarce. When the
Karen soldiers [KNU] stayed there before they didn't like people to cut the
trees. [It was a KNU forest preserve.]
They [soldiers] never come for labour, it is the responsibility of the village
elders to get people. It is said that if you are not free to go you must send
another person in your place, and give a wage. The wage costs 50-100 kyat
per day.
Ko Per Baw stay at Ku Lah Kaun, 3 kilometers away. They don't force
people to construct roads, but they do force us to haul timber. There are
30-40 of them in the area. We must work for them in the same way as we
do for the Burmese. Now they are working very hard at sawmilling timber
at T'lah Aw Kla. The wood is T'la Aw, there is no teak. They get carts
from Bat Dat and other villages like K'Nee Bu, Kyeh Baw, and Lah
L'Maw. We have to saw the timber, and for example, if they require us, we
must construct houses for them. We must do that. If they require us to
construct a camp, we must do that. They've established a battalion there.
Before Indian-Burmese [Muslims] were staying there, but now there are no
longer Indians there. I don't know where they might be now. Only Ko Per
Baw, their wives and children stay there now. Their leader is Meh Bya.
The Burmese are at T'Nay Cha, about 20-30 together with wives and
children. Before that was an Indian [Muslim] village, but the Indians'
houses were destroyed in order to make the new road.
Q: Can people get permission from the Burmese to go to Thailand?
A: No. Not the Burmese. Not Ko Per Baw. They don't really like it. For
example, when there are full moon celebrations you could say you are
taking a car to Kawkareik to participate in the religious activities. You
must use your brain like this. If you tell them where you are really going,
they won't like it. XXXX
_____________________________________________________________________________
#9.
NAME: "Naw Lay Htoo" SEX: F AGE: 16 Karen Buddhist
NAME: "Naw K'Paw" SEX: F AGE: 21 Karen Buddhist
ADDRESS: XXXX village, Pa'an Township INTERVIEWED: 29/4/96
"Naw K'Paw": We arrived here [the refugee camp] three days ago. We
were very tired of working at new road construction, that's why we left our
village. One person from each family has to work on road construction.
Anyone who can't go has to hire another person by giving 100 Kyats per
day. The work site is near Shwe Taw, close to our village. That
construction started in November 1995 and has not finished yet. We heard
that this is part of the "Union Road" and they plan to finish it within 3
years. The road starts from Pa'an and goes to Shwe Taw, Kaw Palaung,
Maw Maw Ler, Bena Ay Per Ko, and then will go to Three Pagodas Pass.
The height of the road is about 10 feet and it is wide enough to drive 2 cars
parallel. Some ricefields were destroyed for the road, and at that time
farmers had not finished their harvest so they lost some crops.
We have to start work at 8 a.m. and work until noon. Then we start again
at 1 p.m. and work until 3 p.m. Then we go back home. People whose
villages are far from the road have to sleep there. We have to form groups
of 3 people each, and each group has to finish a piece of road 6 yards long.
Children about 10 years old and people over 60 years old have to work with
us. There are some bulldozers and loaders, but they only work if villagers
give money. There is no clinic. A young man named A'Pway from Ko
Lone Sein village got fever, but he continued to work and later he died.
Ko Per Baw soldiers supervise the villagers at work. They scold the
villagers who try to rest. The Ko Per Baw soldiers always stay in a group,
about 10 of them on the road. They all call themselves 'officers', none of
them are Privates.
_____________________________________________________________________________
- [END OF PART 2 - SEE SUBSEQUENT POSTINGS FOR PARTS 3 AND 4] -