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ILO: FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA-31(repo



[ILO COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA, SLICE
31]


55

Ethnicity:           Bengali
Age/sex:             30, male
Occupation:          Journalist for Ajker Kagoj newspaper,
                     since 1990 


The witness was a local Bangladeshi who travelled frequently
to Myanmar (though not as a journalist, since foreign
journalists are not allowed to enter). He said that currently
the Myanmar authorities were accusing the RSO of using the
Bangladesh side of the border as a base from which to launch
cross-border attacks on the NaSaKa. He thought this accusation
was true. The NaSaKa were rounding up villagers to guard the
border at night to prevent the RSO from crossing. He had
witnessed this himself in villages in Myanmar. Villagers in
Myanmar were also forced to give 40 kg of rice per hectare of
land in tax, regardless of what crop (if any) they actually
cultivated on the land. He had gathered a lot of information
on oppression and forced labour, and in his opinion the
situation had not improved since the last influx in 1991/92;
it may even have become worse. He had seen the Rohingyas being
treated like animals by the authorities. He has seen Rohingyas
doing forced labour, as porters for the NaSaKa; he often saw
this when he went to Myanmar. As more and more people became
internal or external refugees, this increased the forced
labour load for those who remained, which was one reason why
the situation might be getting worse. Also, young Rohingyas
were now being accused of being RSO, so they had to flee. He
had also seen evidence of maltreatment of Rohingyas, in the
form of bruises and cuts. He thought that the number of
Rohingyas who had come to Bangladesh since 1978 was not less
than 1.5 million, with at least 25,000 in the last year. He
considered that there might soon be another major influx. One
indication was a recent upsurge in RSO activity over the last
one to two months. In the past this had resulted in
retaliation by the NaSaKa on the civilian Rohingya population,
causing them to flee. This happened before the 1991-2 influx.
He knew of UNHCR projects in Bawli Bazar and Shahad Bazar in
the north of Maungdaw township, where the people working on
the projects were supposed to be paid, but in fact the UNHCR
paid the NaSaKa, who implemented the project, but they did not
pay the Rohingyas. 
                       ___________________


56

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             19, female
Occupation:          Family cultivated land, vegetables, betel
                     Rakhine State (village had 300 families)


The witness was a refugee before, in 1991/92. She was
repatriated and returned to her village, but there was no 
reduction in forced labour. She returned to Myanmar again in
early 1998. The forced labour could last up to one month or
six weeks at a time, so there was no way to make a living.
They had to clear jungle, cut poles for construction, clean
latrines, and work in NaSaKa paddy fields. Every family had to
do this, but only Rohingyas. After repatriation her husband
used to go to the forest to collect wood to sell. One time he
was doing this when he was supposed to do forced labour, so he
was beaten by the NaSaKa and his leg was injured and cut. He
became angry after this and started complaining about the
country and saying he wanted to leave. This came to the
attention of Military Intelligence, who falsely accused him of
being a smuggler, so he had to flee. Labourers were taken from
the road or market; sometimes orders were given to the village
head; sometimes people were taken directly from their houses.
Sometimes girls were taken from the street to the army camp.
She knew four girls from her village who were raped in this
way (this happened after her repatriation). Rice and money had
to be paid as tax, but only Rohingyas had to pay this tax.
                       ___________________


57

Ethnicity:           Rakhine, Buddhist
Sex:                 Male
Occupation:          Retired Lieutenant Colonel


Witness spent his career in the military forces on the
Bangladesh side, fought in three wars (Second World War, 1947
Indo-Pakistan conflict, 1971 Bangladesh independence war). He
had never been to Myanmar because people there felt he was one
of them and should have served in their armed forces, rather
than Bangladesh's. He had no particular information about the
current situation in Myanmar. Since the Bangladeshi side of
the river was now silted, most people fished on the Myanmar
side, fishermen came over to sell their fish in Bangladesh.
Border control was not very strict. 
                       ___________________


58

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             27, male
Family situation:    Married with two children; has three
                     brothers and two sisters
Education:           2nd Standard
Occupation:          Day labourer
                     Rakhine State


The witness left Buthidaung township for Bangladesh in July
1992, was repatriated in 1996 and came back to Bangladesh in
early 1997. After his repatriation in 1996, he had to do
various types of forced labour for the military in Buthidaung
township: making fences for military quarters, building
barracks, digging soil, collecting firewood. He was not paid
and even had to bring his own food. He had to go three or four
times a month, sometimes for a week at a time, sometimes four
or five days. The Sabbi Taung village head would get the
written order from the military then tell the villagers to go;
if the village head failed to send the villagers, he would
have to go himself. Sabbi Taung had about 350 families; the
village head would ask one person per family to perform forced
labour. In the absence of a husband, in principle, a woman had
to go, but she could send another person paid by her. In
practice, he has seen women do forced labour. As for children,
the military would not take a real minor (below ten) because
he could not work. Naikangtaung was the main camp. Forced
labourers were collected there from various villages and
distributed to where needed. He had to go on foot for about
ten miles from Sabbi Taung to Naikangtaung and, as needed,
from there also on foot for six to seven miles to Sindi Prang
or Poimali. He had to stay the nights where he worked and
bring his food rations with him. After he was repatriated in
1996, the UNHCR had given some food (rice) rations for working
on a pond for drinking water for Sabbi Taung village. The
village head, at UNHCR's behest asked for labour (volunteers).
If someone did not want to go, he would not go. He himself had
worked like a contractor, 40 persons working on the pond for
15 days would be given a number of sacks of rice and divide
this among themselves. He worked there for a 20-day period,
but had to leave the pond work during the same period when
instructed by the authorities to do forced labour. He thus had
to go twice, once for four days, once for five. This happened
15 days after he was repatriated. He also had to do portering
for soldiers on patrol. Once, before his 1992 exile, for two
months in a row. After his repatriation, he had to go twice
for ten days each. Before his 1992 exile, he was injured
(showed his scars below the knee) when carrying heavy baggage
along and falling. Wound from falling (not beating) took a
long time to heal. He received no treatment. In 1996 (between
repatriation and second flight), besides working for military
camps the witness did not have to work for road building, but
before he first left in 1992, he had to work for the planned
road from Buthidaung to Sittway (Akyab). He had seen forced
labourers being beaten by soldiers: if they could not carry
out orders in time, did not understand the language of an
order, took too much time for their meal, or were incapable of
carrying the soldiers' belongings (the soldiers did not care
about the weight). Also, if anyone did not respond to the
village head's call up for forced labour, his name would be
given to the military, who would arrest him and seriously beat
him up. After his repatriation, he had seen people from his
village beaten by the soldiers in about 20 cases. There were
instances where people were shot dead but he had not witnessed
any, though he had seen, before 1992, a 30 to 35 year old man
from his village, whose name he did not remember, being beaten
up so seriously that he later died. He had not witnessed any
cases of sexual abuse of women from his village. In other
villages, when the soldiers went to look for labourers and all
the males fled, they took women to the camp. He heard this
from eyewitnesses from Poimali village before 1992.
                       ___________________

59
 
Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             45, male
Family situation:    Married with four children. Has two
                     brothers and two sisters
Occupation:          Selling his labour
                     State

The witness came to Bangladesh for the first time in 1992 and
was repatriated the same year. He came to Bangladesh again in
early 1998, leaving his family behind in Myanmar because life
had become very difficult, with too much forced labour and too
many donations. He had to do forced labour many times for all
three (two military and one police) camps near his village:
clearing the ground, digging soil, collecting firewood,
carrying water. He also had to give toll ("donation") money
collected by the village head for the military intelligence.
He had to go exactly once every month, for a week or sometimes
ten days of forced labour. The village head's jurisdiction
extended over seven villages with about 350 families. In
Perella village there were about 35 families, and the village
head called up by rotation ten persons at a time from his
village about three times a month (the same for every other
village), then distributed them to the camps. In addition,
when the military were moving from one place to another, they
could catch someone and take him as a porter. On 5 January
1998, he and his brother were going shopping in Sabbi Taung
and his brother was caught on the way and had to carry the
soldiers' belongings; he did not know where to or for how
long. In 1997, he worked for a UNHCR road-building project.
When called by the local village head, he volunteered to go
for 16 days and got in return 21 kg of rice. But while working
for the road, it was his turn to go for forced labour so he
sent a substitute, to whom he paid 150 kyat. Once, late in
1997, he refused to go for forced labour. When called by the
village head, he told him "If I go, my children will die". So
his name was given to the military. He was arrested on the
same night, at midnight the military came to his house, took
him to the Jadi Taung police camp, beat him up and held him
until 3 p.m. the next day. He was released after his mother
had sold her ornaments and given 2,000 kyat to the
camp-in-charge. He had seen some other cases like that. He was
never paid for forced labour and had to bring his own food.
Once, over a year ago, he got sick with a bad stomach pain and
was about to die, during forced labour in Buthidaung -
Naikangtaung camp, the biggest, central military camp, where
he had to go once every two or three months, on foot, 14 miles
from his village. He always stayed at the camp when doing
forced labour. When sick, he was not given any medicine. His
friends in the camp carried him to a nearby civilian hospital,
where he was given no medication, and had to go back to the
camp. In the camp, he was allowed to rest, guarding the
belongings of others. There were very few military people who
were good, but this was a good one.

Seven to eight months ago in Poimali (Taraing camp), he
witnessed a person being shot dead. In the camp there was a
Mazi (leader) for every 80 labourers, and a head count by the
military three times a day. In the evening, two persons from
his group had disappeared. A soldier asked the Mazi to go a
little bit further and shot him dead (name of victim: Hassan
from Poimali village; 40 to 45 years old). In another incident
three years ago, a man from Jadi Taung, Abdu Salam, had to
collect bamboo for the military and was beaten to death. The
witness was with him, they carried him back. There was an
instruction for 100 pieces of bamboo per day to be cut per
labourer. Abdu Salam could not complete 100, so when asked by
a soldier he talked back because he knew the Burmese language,
and for that reason was beaten to death. If a woman heading a
household without adult male members was called up to supply
labour, she could send a substitute labourer or a child. A
widow with no children and who had no money would be asked to
go to the village head's house. It depended on the village
head, sometimes she had to work for the village head with his
wives. With regard to children, boys would be taken from the
age of ten upwards, sometimes it depended on size. Finally, he
saw a 30-year-old woman from a nearby village raped at Poimali
military camp seven to eight months ago. The village head gave
the list of those refusing to do forced labour to the
military: they went to seek these people. If they did not find
the men, they took the women for three to four nights to the
camp. So the woman was taken because they could not find the
man. The women could not be seen in the camp; they were kept
in a room. 
                       ___________________

60

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             30, male
Family situation:    Married with four children; has four      
                     brothers and four sisters
Education:           2nd Standard
Occupation:          Businessman, ran a shop in Maungdaw town.
                     (Came to Teknaf in Bangladesh on a        
                     transit permit every week for two to      
                     three days to buy things, then went back  
                     to sell them in Maungdaw.)
                     village very close to Maungdaw town)

The witness was doing business when obliged to do forced
labour, so he sent another person to whom he paid 200 kyat,
two or three times per month. So he paid 400 kyat per month if
it was two times and 600 kyat if it was three times. The order
for forced labour came from the local authorities. The forced
labour was for a NaSaKa camp, to build houses and dig soil. If
there was nothing to do in the camp, the witness still had to
send a labourer. He did not always send the same labourer. His
understanding was that each time the forced labour was for one
day only. When questioned why he had to do less forced labour
than witnesses interviewed earlier the same day, he said it
was because he was from a town (Su Za being virtually a suburb
of Maungdaw). He wished to add that in town especially, the
police stopped him often to take money out of his pocket
without any reason; whatever they found in his pocket if they
saw he was from a village, coming to town, "They behaved like
robbers". 
                       ___________________


61

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             45, female
Family situation:    Married with nine children
Occupation:          Housewife
                     (Akyab) township, Rakhine State

The witness stayed at her village until the whole population
was relocated to different places over two years ago. She then
stayed with her family for over six months in Dumsofara
village, Rathedaung township until they came to Bangladesh
one-and-a-half years ago (mid-1996). Before her relocation
(over two years ago), the witness had to perform forced labour
herself, carrying bricks for walkways in Tunku Shai military
camp. The military gave the order to the village head, who did
not ask her personally to go, but one person per family, so,
if her husband was busy, she had to go (her husband made a
living from two ox carts with four oxen). She had to go
sometimes two or three times a month, sometimes once a month,
sometimes for seven days in a row, sometimes for two or three.
They did not know in advance for how long, the village head
only collected the labour, then the military decided. She had
to stay overnight at the camp. When her husband was there, he
went. If someone was called and arrived late at the camp, the
person was beaten by the soldiers. She had not seen this
herself. Other women who had to perform forced labour at the
camp were sexually molested and raped by the soldiers,
including her husband's sister, in the camp, when she was
taken as a porter six or seven months before the village was
relocated. She did not know the name or rank of the soldier
who raped her sister-in-law.

Relocation: In the Fatur Kila area, Muslims were a minority.
Five Muslim villages, including Gariroa, were relocated "by
Government order" over two years ago. Gariroa village was near
the town and the whole Rohingya population was just removed,
not for road building or some similar reason, and dispersed to
several villages of Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships. Her
family and a few others to Dumsofara in Rathedaung township.
One day at 3 p.m. their house was marked, and the next morning
they had to move, leaving their house behind; they were unable
to organize their things. They had to leave their two ox carts
and four oxen behind, the basis of their livelihood. The
"authorities" came with guns and sticks, they were beaten
because they were late moving, and were sent to Buthidaung by
boat. From there to Dumsofara by truck and on foot. They were
promised land in the new place but were not given any. They
were not able to build a house, just a small hut smaller than
the (small) hut they were currently in, and lived "almost as
beggars". In the new place as in the old, they were not
allowed to move to other villages, to stop them from going
back to their old village. In any case, after the election of
1989/90, a new law prohibited people from moving, not only
Rohingyas. 

After relocation: In the new village, Dumsofara, none of the
relocated Rohingyas from Gariroa were asked to do forced
labour in the six months or more that the witness stayed
there, while the original population of Dumsofara had to do
forced labour. Most of the population was engaged in fishing,
so they had to fish for the military authorities who came
almost every day after fishing to see what they caught, and
took all the good fish. In addition, they had to collect
firewood and bamboo for the military, and work in their
houses. 
                       ___________________


62

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             35, male
Family situation:    Married with two sons and three daughters
Occupation:          Farmer
                     State (two military camps and a military  
                     intelligence camp were near the village)


The witness left Myanmar in 1991 because of the torture to
which he had been subjected and the forced labour he had to
carry out. He could no longer provide for his family's needs
or farm his land. He had to carry out forced labour from the
age of 12. There was not really an organized system. The order
came from the camp, using the village head as intermediary,
who sent a messenger to find the required labour. He had to do
labour on average five to seven times a month. The work lasted
an average of three to four days. There was not always
somewhere to sleep. He had to bring his own food. He was not
paid. It was impossible to refuse. The punishment for refusal
was arrest. His wife looked after the farm during his absence.
Each family had to provide one member to work. He was then the
only one in his immediate family who could do this work. It
was possible to pay a substitute (but he never did because he
did not have enough income). It was not possible to bribe
soldiers to avoid work. He had to put up fencing or bamboo in
the camps (for vegetable gardens and animals that the soldiers
kept there) and collect wood. He also had to do portering for
the soldiers, carrying their food and munitions. He never saw
any fighting. He acted as porter about twenty times. The
assignments lasted from one to five days. Even if the order
specified a given number of days, he often had to stay longer
until other porters came to replace him. The soldiers
confiscated food in the villages they had to pass through and
he could eat the leftovers. He was beaten several times when
he was unable to carry the loads. He believed that the
situation in Myanmar has not changed (someone who arrived from
there recently confirmed this to him). Finally, while in
Myanmar, he had to pay a rice tax proportionate to the family
income, which was used to feed the soldiers. The tax could not
be avoided. 
                       ___________________


63 to 65

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             25 to 30, female (witness 63); 25 to 30,
                     female (witness 64); 20 to 25, female     
                     (witness 65) 
Family situation:    Married with five children (witness 63);
                     married with two children (witness 64);   
                     married with five children (witness 65)
Occupation:          Husband was a farmer (witness 63); day
                     labourer (witness 64); farmer (witness    
                     65)
                     State (witnesses 63 and 64); Inn Saung,   
                     Buthidaung township, Rakhine State        
                    (witness 65)

The witnesses came to Bangladesh in early 1997 because of the
forced labour which deprived them of the means of providing
for their own needs. Their only choice was to leave Myanmar.
The situation had grown worse in that respect. Only men were
subject to forced labour, about eight to ten months a year.
They had to collect wood, bamboo canes, build houses and act
as porters between two villages or two camps. Witness 63's
husband was requisitioned to work as a porter for over a month
just before he left for Bangladesh. He decided to leave when
the authorities requisitioned him again for portering work.
The work was not paid and there was no possibility to refuse,
as any refusal could lead to torture and beatings by the
military. It was always possible to send a substitute, since
the rule of one male member per family still existed, it
didn't matter who went. The men carrying out the work were
subjected to ill treatment, beatings with weapons or fists and
kickings were common. In cases where the authorities could not
find the husband, they threatened to take the wives or simply
seized the family's property and possessions. Witness 63 knew
women who had been taken by the authorities. In her village,
the village head had been told to provide the military with
women. As he was also a Rohingya, he refused, and told the
military to do it themselves. Her husband told her that women
had been taken. Also, in Myanmar, donations were demanded from
the Rohingyas by the Rakhines to finance all kinds of activity
(social activities, religious activities, picnics). The
Rohingyas had to help finance buildings. The amount depended
on the time and the circumstances. So, in addition to doing
unpaid labour, men had to work to earn the money needed to pay
these compulsory taxes.
                       ___________________

66

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             25, female
Family situation:    Married with husband and four children
Occupation:          Farmer and small trader
                     State (the village had about 200          
                     families; there was a NaSaKa camp in the  
                     village and a military camp two miles     
                     away)


The witness left Myanmar in early 1997 with her family. They
left Myanmar because they could not stand the situation
anymore. They came with another family from her village. More
than 40 families from the village had left that year. With
regard to forced labour, her husband had to work for the
military and for the NaSaKa: gathering wood and fetching
water, making rope, house-building, portering. The husband was
away five to ten times a month to work. There was no way of
providing for her needs while her husband was away. He did not
receive any help from the neighbours. Her husband was beaten
on many occasions. At least thirty times. He had even been
seriously injured on one occasion. If he was unable to carry
the loads he was given when he was requisitioned to work as a
porter, beatings, punches and kicks were frequent. The order
to carry out forced labour came from the NaSaKa or the
military, who transmitted it through the village head. They
also had to pay considerable amounts as donations. The amounts
varied depending on the circumstances, i.e. the activities of
the military, the NaSaKa or the Rakhines. About 2,000 kyat.
The witness considered that only the rich could stay in
Myanmar because they could pay their donations and hire
substitutes to carry out the forced labour.
                       ___________________


67

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             25, female
Family situation:    Married
Occupation:          Farmer

The witness had come the first time with the flow of refugees
in 1992. She went back to Myanmar and left again in late 1997.
She had personally been repatriated about six months before
(repatriation of July 1997). Her husband was in prison in
Bangladesh. After using up the allowance received from UNHCR,
she had to come back to Bangladesh because she had no means of
providing for her family in Myanmar. She had not personally
had to do forced labour. The family had to pay the military
several times to prevent her father-in-law being forced to
work. This happened at least on six or seven occasions. The
amounts varied: 200 to 300 kyat per time. She confirmed that
there was still forced labour in Myanmar and that all those
close to her had been forced to work.
                       ___________________


68
 
Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             70, male
Family situation:    Married with two sons
Occupation:          Trader -- sold vegetables in the
                     market
                     Rakhine State

The witness left Myanmar six or seven months earlier (in
mid-1997) because he found that the situation had become
intolerable because of the forced labour and taxes to be paid
to the authorities. If there were no forced labour and taxes,
Myanmar would be a place where people would want to live. The
flow of refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh would eventually
be reversed. His two sons had to do forced labour: road
building, collecting wood and portering for the military. He
was unable to give details. He indicated that even the elderly
were requisitioned for forced labour.
                       ___________________


69

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             35, male
Family situation:    Married with two children
Occupation:          Day labourer
                     State (village had 4,000 families; there  
                     was a large NaSaKa camp in the village)

The witness had to leave Myanmar in early 1997 and came to
Bangladesh with two families from his village. Several other
families had left Myanmar since he left. He left because life
had become intolerable for a family with little income. Forced
labour and the obligation to pay taxes prevented the men in
those families from providing for their needs. He personally
had to carry out forced labour: collecting wood, road
building. He had to do it on average three or four times a
month. He had to be away from his home for one or two days. He
was not paid. He could not refuse because he was threatened
with torture. As he had never refused, he had never personally
been tortured, but he knew several people who had been beaten.
The order to do forced labour came from the military who used
the services of the village head to transmit the order. He
also had to pay considerable amounts in taxes, which varied
depending on the circumstances and the needs of the military.
                    __________________________

[END OF SLICE 31]