ILO: FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA-37

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

[ILO COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA, SLICE
37]

125

Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            40, male
Family situation:   Eight (him, wife and six children)
Occupation:         Labourer
                    then six years ago he moved to Lashio      
                    town, Shan State)

The witness had to do a lot of forced labour before he left in
early 1997. On average he only had about ten days per month to
do his own work; the other 20 had to be spent on forced
labour. The first time he did forced labour was in 1976. The
villagers were ordered to build an army camp, and after this
the soldiers demanded standby porters. The orders were given
by the army through the village head. One year ago he fled to
Thailand because he found he had no time left to earn a
living, because of excessive taxation and forced labour. About
twice a year he had to pay 5,000 kyat to hire a replacement
for portering, and also pay regular monthly porter fees (to
avoid minor portering). He used to go himself, but now he is
too scared that he will die during portering, so he does not
dare go. He knew of many porters who had died during
portering. They either died in battle (especially in Kayin and
Shan States), were shot trying to escape or died of illness.
Some starved to death because of insufficient food and hard
work. He used to have to do portering about 12 times a year,
usually for a few days at a time; the longest period he went
for was one week. The treatment of porters by the soldiers was
bad. Porters were beaten if they could not keep up. He
personally saw two people shot dead who were unable to
continue. In one case, seven years ago, his friend had a bad
stomach (he thinks from lack of food), and was unable to
continue. He saw the soldiers beat his friend to death in
front of him. Women were sometimes taken as porters if the
soldiers could not find any men. If the soldiers went into a
village and there were no men, they would rape the women.
Women who were taken as porters were also raped; he saw this
himself on two occasions. Porters were given food that the
soldiers took from villages, but sometimes they were only
given a little army rations, which was worse. Sick porters
were not treated, but if they were totally unable to continue
they would be released. The orders for porters were given
through the ward authorities in towns, but in the villages
soldiers would just arrest people directly. He had also done
forced labour. He had to plant sweet corn for Infantry
Battalions 64 and 77, work breaking rocks and shifting soil
for construction of roads from Laikha to Mongkaing and Laikha
to Mong Hsu. He had also worked cleaning the army camp. 
                     _______________________

126
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            19, female
Family situation:   Five (parents, her and two sisters)
                    (village had 50 households)

The witness arrived in Thailand at the end of 1997 with five
other people (she was the only member of her family who left).
She left because of excessive forced labour, which meant her
family could not survive. In one month someone from each
family would have to do about one week of forced labour, but
sometimes as much as 20 days. She herself had done forced
labour many times since the age of 15. She usually did forced
labour only for short periods (usually one day); longer forced
labour assignments (three to ten days) would be done by her
father. Villagers had to work at the army camp making fences,
and cleaning, and also constructing roads. She herself did
mainly the cleaning at the army camp. The soldiers treated her
badly, often swearing at her, but never beating her. Some of
her friends (male) were beaten, but she did not know why.
Orders for forced labour were given by the army through the
village head. If someone failed to turn up for forced labour
they would be arrested and food or money would be demanded for
their release. It was possible to hire another person to go in
her place for forced labour, but paying money directly to
soldiers would not work. Her father had to do portering. He
said he had to carry things for the soldiers over mountains,
and if he was slow he was beaten and kicked. When he was away
portering, the family faced many problems and had to sell
belongings in order to eat. This happened very often. 
                     _______________________

127

Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            25, male
Family situation:   Family of four including parents
Education:          6th Standard
Occupation:         Farmer
                    State

The witness came to Thailand at the end of 1997 when a group
of former MTA soldiers, turned into a kind of militia to fight
against remaining rebels, recruited people in his village, so
he sneaked out. In Myanmar he could not make a living because
of too much forced labour and taxation. He saw no improvement
as long as the military regime was in power. Since the
military took over, his family had to provide forced labour at
least once a week. He himself started when about 18 years old,
digging trenches around a military camp. There were over 60
families in his village and about six villages in his area,
and when the camp was built seven years ago, over a period of
four to five months, one person from his family (as from all
the other families in the six villages) had to go three times
for seven days in a row to build the camp, digging trenches,
fencing, etc. He went twice, his elder brother once. The order
came from the camp commander to the village head, who chose
the families. Anyone failing to go was fined 700 kyat. The
soldiers forced the people to work, giving them no rest. If
someone stopped, a soldier would hit him and tell him he had
to complete the work before going home. He was beaten once,
when cutting wood for a fence. His wood was not as required
and he was slapped in the face once and kicked in the back
once. Once in a Palaung village, when gathering sand for a
military camp, another person did not understand Burmese
properly, and he saw a soldier kick that person so that he
fell on the stones and was hurt. About one year ago (1996) he
had to spend two Sundays, and his elder brother two Sundays
and one Saturday, not far from the village/military camp, to
clear the ground and plant pineapples for the military. He had
to plant pineapples in rows of about 50 plants. For their own
crop the villagers would plant one row a day, but for the
military they had to do two in a day. Always, when working for
the military, one had to be afraid all the time of being
scolded or beaten. He had to be there at 7 a.m., work from 8
to 12 a.m. and 1 to 5 p.m. Only one or two villagers who
spoke Burmese were given milk by the military, he got no food
or anything. He also had to work on a rubber plantation set up
by the military since 1988. He had to spend only one day
making a barbed wire fence around the plantation, but his
father had to work there five different days. Generally, since
the military seized power in 1988 Saturdays and Sundays had
become a regular time for forced labour. People had to work
for the military one way or another. It had become routine.
Even if there was nothing to do, they had to fetch water,
clear the ground, rake leaves, wait. His family did not have
to go every weekend; he did not remember how often. Witness
also did portering once, in 1995, for 15 days. The villagers
had to take turns, some had to provide bullock carts with
drivers, some labour. Normally, the column commander would
send an order to the village head, stating how many carts and
porters were required, and the village head would look whose
turn it was. He started from his village, carrying rice,
soybeans, salted fish, a heavy load, up to Mong Hsu. They were
not given enough food, and at night they were tied in pairs to
their carrying yokes by one hand. If someone looked clever,
both hands were tied to two different yokes. Other members of
his family had done portering service countless times, as
porters or driving a cart, a long time before he went in 1995.
When the military went on an operation, they usually stayed in
an area for six months and during that time, each village on
average had to supply porters four times a month, for a period
ranging from 15 days to one or two months. His village of 60
families had to supply each time about six persons, plus
sometimes three carts. He went only in 1995 because before
this he was at school in town. His brother, who suffered from
a stomach disease, had terrible pains when portering and not
getting regular meals, so the soldiers had to release him at a
village and send him back. When he was still very young his
father had to work as a porter for nearly two months. This was
the longest anyone from his family had to be a porter. If
there was no one in the family who could go, they had to pay
porter fees. It happened to his family who paid 700 kyat to
Government troops. There were two kinds of soldiers. The
kindhearted told the porters to move fast and, if they
complied, did nothing to them. Others kicked them and told
them to move fast, whatever they did. It had not happened to
the witness himself; but when he did portering in 1995, a
fellow villager, Ai Thawn, was carrying mortar shells too
heavy for him. He tried to rest by putting down the load and a
soldier coming behind kicked him, so he fell down and injured
his knees. On patrol, soldiers beat a villager for
interrogation, killed and ate animals from a village after the
inhabitants had run away. He also had to do road work in 1995,
too often to remember. The first time they had to repair a
branch dirt road leading to a military camp, setting out from
a point remote from their village, where they had to bring
their own food and then work for five days staying on the
site. It took two months. He went twice, once for five days
and once for three. 
                     _______________________

128
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            18, female
Family situation:   Married (wife of witness 121) with one     
                    child
Occupation:         Farmer
                    township, Shan State (village relocated to 
                    Panglong at the end of 1997)

Witness left Myanmar in January 1998. For her and her fellow
villagers forced labour started only after relocation to
Panglong, about two years ago in the dry season. The order to
relocate was given by soldiers from battalion 513 to the
village head, giving them three days to move to Panglong and
prohibiting them to go back. They said that if the villagers
did not move, they would burn the village, round up all the
villagers and beat them to death. They were not allowed to
take with them livestock, paddy, building materials. The
livestock was shot for the soldiers to eat. They had to walk
to the relocation site. The villagers were too afraid to take
carts. At the new place, they collected some wood and built
little tents and huts. The soldiers did nothing during
relocation. Since then, it has become very difficult to get
enough food to make a living; they are not allowed to go and
work. At the military compound, the villagers had to clear the
ground, supply bamboo and thatches. She herself had to prepare
the ground for planting chillies and grow them, and cut
bamboo, once or twice a month for one or two days. This
was all the forced labour she did. Her two elder brothers had
to go more often, three to four times a month, out of which
two to three times, two days in a row (over a two year
period). She had to go only when they were not available, as
the soldiers mostly asked for men. Also, the road to the
military camp was regularly washed out by rain and they asked
for people to repair it. Her elder brother had to go many
times, also fetching sand to pile up for the road even when it
was not being repaired. At least four times a month a family
member was away doing forced labour. 
                     _______________________

129
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            35, male
Family situation:   One younger brother and one younger sister
Education:          No formal education
Occupation:         Farmer
                    fled to a village in Laikha township when  
                    his village was forcibly relocated nine    
                    years ago)

The witness left Myanmar early in February 1998. Nine years
ago his native village of 85 families was forced to move to
Pang Hai village-tract in Namtu township, where there is a
silver mine. At that time, he himself went in four days to
Laikha township in central Shan State, because he did not want
to go to Pang Hai. The soldiers told the village head (of Mong
Maw) that the village had to move within three days. The
villagers were reluctant, so the soldiers came back and,
seeing that the majority of the villagers were still there,
burned the village. His younger brother broke his knee when
running out of the burning house and falling. He got no
treatment from the soldiers. Another person broke his arm. The
soldiers shot and ate the livestock as if it belonged to them.
If they saw people around the village they beat them or even
shot them. When the village was burnt, people lost all their
things. In Laikha township, witness went to a small remote
village of only 13 houses, where there were no SLORC soldiers
and hence, he never did any forced labour there. But over one
year ago in the cold season (end of 1996), that village was
forced to move by the Burmese soldiers, who hated the Shan
opposition soldiers who were around at that time. They gave
the villagers three days to move to Laikha and shot one
villager dead after he went back to the village in spite of
their prohibition. They were relocated to the outskirts of
Laikha, from where he fled here two or three days ago because
the situation was quite chaotic. Forced Labour in Mong Maw. He
had to stand guard all the time, taking turns, about three
times a month for one night. He also had to cut bamboo and
wood, dig trenches and build fences and houses, all for a
military camp. He had to go almost every day for three months,
until the camp was finished. He was the only one in his family
who went. He also had to do forced labour building bridges,
repairing roads. His family could only send him, because his
brother and sister were too young. He had to go 15 days at a
time about 15 times. The soldiers told him to finish a marked
stretch in a given time and, if he could not, they beat him.
He was beaten with a cane as long as his arm, very painfully,
on three occasions. Other people doing forced labour were also
beaten by the soldiers because they were slow at work, some
because they were opium addicts. Railway construction in
Laikha. He did forced labour working on the new Taunggyi to
Namhsam railway line. He had to work there 15 days straight,
sleeping where he worked, with hundreds of others. They had to
bring their own food. SLORC soldiers told the villagers how to
do the work. They did not beat them, but warned that, if they
ran away, they would be shot. Also, for electricity lines from
Panglong to Laikha, he had to work three times one day. There
were hundreds of people at the same time, but not from all the
villages at the same time.
                     _______________________

130
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            38, male
Family situation:   Married with two daughters and two sons
Occupation:         Farmer
                    township, Shan State (village had 70       
                    families)

The witness left Myanmar six years ago because he did not want
to be forced to work for the army any more. He had been forced
to work as a porter and on the construction of a road and a
military camp. In the three cases, it was the village head who
transmitted the order from the military. He was not paid. He
was not subjected to ill treatment, although the military
often shouted at the workers. With regard to forced labour, he
was recruited as a porter on just one occasion at the age of
16 (1976). The assignment lasted 36 to 37 days. He had to be a
porter in the region of Wan Hat, Mai-hsa-Se and Mawkmai. There
were over 100 porters for 600 to 700 soldiers. Only men were
recruited as porters, and they were aged between 16 and 50.
They could eat twice a day. It was impossible to refuse to do
portering. He had seen people arrested because they refused to
work. Their punishment was to work as porters for a longer
period. It was possible to pay a substitute, although he had
not done so: 1,500 kyat a time. Bribery was impossible. He had
seen fighting. Some porters had lost their sight or limbs by
stepping on anti-personnel mines. No medical treatment was
given. He did not know what army they had been fighting. He
had also, on one occasion, been involved in building roads for
the army between Salong and Wan Hat. It was an earth road. He
was 20 years old (1980) and the assignment lasted 17 days. He 
had to carry rock from the mountain to the road. Then he had
to break it. A civilian supervised the work. The work was
generally done in rotation: one village had to work for a
given number of days, and was then replaced by another. About
70 men worked at the same time as him, aged between 18 and 60.
The soldiers gave general orders but did not stay on site. He
had to bring his own tools. The day began at 8 a.m. and ended
at 4 p.m. He could eat twice a day. He had to sleep by the
road. He had not been subjected to ill treatment. He once
worked for a day on the construction of a military camp at Wan
Hat, one hour's walk from his village. He was 21 (1981). Sixty
men worked at the same time as him, aged from 15 to 60. He had
to cut wood. The day began at 8 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. There
was no food, only a little water. 
                     _______________________


131
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            29, male
Family situation:   Married with one daughter
Occupation:         Farmer, woodcutter
                    township, Shan State (village had 45       
                    families)

The witness left Myanmar at the end of 1997 because he did not
want to be forced to work for the army any more. He had worked
as a porter and on road and railway construction. When he was
away, there was no one to look after his farm. In all cases,
it was the village head who transmitted the order from the
military. He was not paid. He was a porter on five occasions,
the first time when he was 20 (1989) and the last when he was
27 (1996). The first assignment lasted five days and the
others lasted a day and a night. He had to carry food and
munitions. Five people from his village accompanied him on the
first assignment. There were also a considerable number of
porters from other villages for the 36 soldiers. The other
times, there were about 15 porters for 40 to 50 soldiers. The
day began at 7 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m. He mainly did
portering on the plains near the river Salween, from Wan Hat
and Mai-hsa-se. He slept in the military camps and had to
bring his own food. He was not subjected to ill treatment, but
he saw several porters who were beaten because they were not
going fast enough. He also worked on the construction of the
road between Wan Hat and Langkho for two months just before
his departure. New arrivals had told him that the road was not
finished. Forty people from his village had been working at
the same time as him, including men, women, children (12 to 15
years) and older people (70 years). The day began at 8 a.m.
and ended at 4 p.m. He had to carry rocks. The work was
supervised by a civilian. The military only came to give
general orders. He had to bring his own food. It was possible
to pay not to go by paying 200 kyat a day. He had paid three
times because he had to work on his farm. He had not been
subjected to ill treatment. He once worked on the construction
of the railway line between Mongnai and Mawkmai, five to six
months before his departure. He had to clear the ground and
cut wood. Twenty nine men had been working at the same time as
him, aged from 17 to 60. He worked for 15 days, then escaped,
taking refuge in Kayah State where he stayed for five days
before returning to his village. During the 15 days that he
worked, he had to bring his own food. He worked without a
break. The soldiers shouted at the workers. It was possible to
pay the village head not to have to work: 2,000 kyat a time
(20 days). It was also possible to pay a substitute: 2,500
kyat a time (20 days). He had hired a substitute on two
occasions since he had to look after his farm. 
                     _______________________

132 

Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            30, male
Family situation:   Married with two sons
Occupation:         Farmer
                    (village had 130 families)

The witness left Myanmar a year ago because he could no longer
meet the needs of his family. The military came regularly to
appropriate food or other goods. They did not always pay, and
when they did, it was always a derisory sum. He had to work
for the army as a porter. He was also forced to work on road
construction. When he was away, his younger brother and his
mother looked after the farm. He was a porter 70 or 80 times
for the army, the first time aged 14 (1983) and the last aged
29 (1997). He was informed of his assignment by the village
head, who transmitted the order from the military, or by the
military themselves, who came straight to his home to find him
(that had happened 14 times). The longest assignment lasted 94
days in 1995. On that occasion, there were about 72 porters
for 200 soldiers. In the end, 52 porters came back (three
killed, including one beaten to death and the rest escaped).
The other assignments lasted at least five days. He mainly had
to carry rice, cooking utensils, water, cook for the soldiers
and dig trenches. On the first assignment, some porters
escaped. He then also had to carry their loads. The day
normally began at 7 a.m. and ended at 5.30 p.m. He was only
allowed a short rest of three to five minutes. He was fed
intermittently and the ration was always inadequate. He was
not paid. He had to sleep in village houses where the porters
were locked up to prevent them escaping. He also slept in the
forest. On seven occasions, he was caught up in fighting with
drug smugglers. Generally porters were kept away from the
fighting. However, they were sometimes used as shields. He had
been beaten at least seven times. At the age of 28 (1996), he
had been beaten with a spiked stick because he was unable to
carry water to the top of a mountain. He did not receive any
medical treatment. He had often seen porters subjected to ill
treatment. If porters tried to escape, they were often beaten.
During his three month assignment, he went from Wan Hat to
Hopong via Mai-hsa-se, Na-kenglong, Loikaw, Inle Lake. He was
released at Hopong. He then returned to Langkho by car, where
he was arrested again and sent to Mongpan to work there for
about another two months. He had to build a military camp,
carry material from Mongpan to Bang Dowee, where he had to cut
wood. He was then sent to a place near the river Salween to
build a camp. He stayed there nine days, and then carried
munitions to Mongpan. The march lasted about two days. From
Mongpan, he was sent to Langkho to do excavation work for
about two days. The 52 porters who had remained after the
three-month assignment did the same work as him. He was
subsequently forced to work twice for the army and then fled
to Thailand. He also worked on the construction of the road
from Wan Hat to Salong, a year ago, on three occasions. Each
assignment lasted ten days. One hundred and fifty people were
working at the same time as him, including men and women, aged
from 15 to 60. The village head told him about the work to be
done. The work site was about a day's march from the village.
He had to sleep on site, near the road. He had to bring his
own food. He was not paid. It was possible to pay a
substitute: 2,500 kyat a time (ten days). It was possible to
pay bribes of the same amount. He saw people being subjected
to ill treatment because they did not work fast enough.
                     _______________________ 


133
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            33, male
Family situation:   Seven (him, parents, four siblings)
                    township, Shan State (village had 20       
                    households)

The witness arrived two years ago. He fled to Thailand because
could not take portering and forced labour. An average of five
days per month per family were spent on forced labour. The 20
houses in his village were split into five groups of four each
and the forced labour was rotated among them. One person from
each house would go for five days. This was in addition to
portering. With regard to the various forms of forced labour
he had to perform, work on building Wan Hat to Salong road was
one project. The road was a seven hours' walking distance from
the village. He had to stay overnight at the project with no
shelter, sleeping under trees by the side of road. At any one
time more than 300 people were working on the road. After two
months of this rotation he also was taken for portering, but
escaped and returned to his village. Normal procedure was for
soldiers to inform the village how many people were needed. If
a person was selected and did not go soldiers would come to
arrest them. On his first day of portering he carried rice for
the soldiers. Second day he carried ammunition. The third day
he stayed at an army base and used the chance to escape. More
than 100 porters were used for about 200 soldiers. Most of the
porters came from other villages. Many fled at the same time
as him. Since the soldiers did not know where the porters came
from they couldn't track them down when they went home. This
was in 1996. He stayed three more months in the village.
During that time, when called as a porter instead of going he
paid money and when he could not pay anymore he fled. Paid
1,500 to 2,000 kyat each time. When doing portering he did not
have to do forced labour and vice versa. Portering could be
for a period of one to two months. Most people fled rather
than complete the assignment. People who fled would be shot
at. He saw two killed by the soldiers this way. His father did
the portering for his family before he was married. When
soldiers came to get porters in the village they behaved very
badly. People would run away, so they had to capture and
arrest people to get porters. If a person could not keep up
while portering they would be beaten. He never saw women
during portering but they did do forced labour. In general
they were not abused. Children 14 to 15 and upwards were taken
for portering and forced labour. They gave nothing to the
porters or forced labourers. If a porter was sick or injured
he would be shot or left at the side of the road, usually
shot. As porters, they were given only a small amount of rice,
sometimes with jungle leaves, no curry. Porters were fed like
dogs, with the food placed on bamboo sheet for everyone. For
forced labour he had to bring own food.
                     _______________________


134

Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            24, male
Family situation:   Seven (parents, him, four siblings)
                    township, Shan State (village had 170      
                    households)

The witness left Myanmar mid-1997. There were lots of one or
two-day forced labour projects, and one major one working on
the Namhsam to Mongnai railroad construction project. Forced
labour started on the railroad project one year ago, or five
months before he left. Many people were beaten during work so
they became frightened of going and started to run away. After
two months only the village head (his father) and five or six
others were left of the 30 assigned. The soldiers told his
father that since the others had fled then those remaining had
to do all the work themselves, which was impossible. When the
work was not done they shot his father dead. Work was done on
rotation: one person per family. The work consisted in
breaking rocks, clearing trees, digging ground and building
embankments. Other forced labour for one or two days planting
and tending crops for the military. The army gave a certain
area of land for cultivation to each village and told them the
amount of crop that was required to be produced. If the
village did not grow enough to meet the quota then it had to
buy the short fall at the market to give to the soldiers. He
very often did this work himself. Soldiers kept the crop, he
did not know what they did with it. If new army units came
they had to build trenches and bunkers for them. Overall,
forced labour took three weeks of the month for the main
worker of the house, with only one week left for his own needs
and income. It was easier for larger families to survive as
they had more people to share the forced labour. It was hard
on those just starting a new family, and for that reason the
village head would give young couples a couple of months free
from forced labour to get started. The orders for forced
labour were sometimes given in written form. Otherwise the
village head called to camp to get instructions. If an
assignment was not done fast enough the workers would be
beaten. If the workers tried to rest because of being tired
from the hard work they would be beaten and kicked. The same
ting applied if the work was not up to standard. In his
village seven people were badly injured from beatings during
forced labour. Six of them died. Some died on the spot, others
were shot. Finally, soldiers were relocating everyone to
towns, so they could not farm or earn a living. That is why so
many fled. 
                     _______________________

135
 
Ethnicity:          Shan
Age/sex:            24, male
Family situation:   Married (in Thailand) with one child,
                    two siblings 
                    (village had 300 houses)


The witness left Myanmar mid-1995. He left because of
portering. He fled after he finished his last portering
assignment. His father died young, so he had to go in his
place from the age of 16 on. He went 14 or 15 times, usually
for ten days to one month. The longest time was during two
trips of 25 and 26 days respectively. Army would usually go
through the village head, but sometimes would just take people
at random as needed. On the 26-day trip he had no shoes or
thongs so he went slowly and was beaten a lot. For the first
eight days he kept up the pace, but after that started to fall
back and was beaten a lot. He carried rice, pots for cooking,
and ammunition, weighing about 14 or 15 viss (about 23 kg).
When he was younger he was sometimes used as a guide. Others
from other villages were arrested by the soldiers for
portering. Some people tried to flee during portering. If they
were caught they would be brought before the whole group and
beaten to death as an example to the others not to try to
escape. He saw executions of porters happen four or five
times. He and other porters were tied to their loads by a rope
around their wrists so they would not try to escape. He saw
women used as porters in his group. Sometimes they were used
as guides or to carry pots. He also witnessed an incident of
rape and torture of women. This happened in a village they
were passing through. The soldiers could not find any men to
take as porters. They accused the villagers of collaborating
with rebels and raped 15 or 16 young women and girls and set
six older women on fire. This happened five years ago in Wan
Mon, Laikha township, one day's walk from Laikha town. Women
also did forced labour, the same work as the men, but they
usually insisted on having one man at least in each small work
group. He also had to dig a fish pond, work on a railroad and
do other forced labour projects. The railroad work was four
years ago on the Namhsam-Mongnai railroad line. Everyone in
their village went for 26 days at a time every few months to
work on a 30-mile stretch of the line. They were collected by
truck and taken to the site for 26 days. If their assigned
work was not done in that time they had to stay longer. Of the
12 who went with him to work on the railroad site, six or
seven were beaten because their work was not good, or because
they did not finish on time, or as fast as the others. Some
were injured badly from the beatings, but had to continue
working anyway. Households usually did forced labour or
portering, but not both, except for families that had enough
men to do both at the same time. Had to pay 7,000 kyat if a
member of the family could not go as assigned.
                     _______________________

[END OF SLICE 37]