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       CONTINUING FEAR AND HUNGER
 
         Update on the Current Situation in Karenni
 
   An Independent Report By the Karen Human Rights Group
                May 25, 1999  /  KHRG #99-05
 
** PART 2 OF 2: SEE PREVIOUS POSTING FOR PART 1 OF THIS REPORT **
 
Note:  Some details omitted or replaced by 'XXXX' for Internet 
distribution.
 
 
 
Basic education is also lacking in the relocation sites.  Most of the 
relocation sites have no schools whatsoever.  However, there is some 
limited access to education in Shadaw.  The school in Shadaw town, 
which previously only went to 9th Standard [Grade 9], now offers 10th 
Standard as well.  However, space at the Shadaw school is limited and for 
the most part only Shadaw townspeople can send their children there.  
People in the relocation site only get a chance to send their children there 
if they have been at the site for some time, and even then they must pay 
the full cost of schooling.  Very few of them have money to do this, so 
very few of their children go to school.  Even if children are able to get 
into one of the small number of schools that are available they are only 
permitted to study Burmese.  Study of the Karenni (Kayah) language and 
culture is forbidden.  In Daw Dta Hay there is a primary school for the 
children, but if they wish to continue their education beyond that they 
must take the risk of going elsewhere to find it.  Although education is 
available in some areas the young people are rarely able to go because 
they have to work to help their family survive.
 

"In the past there were only 9 grades in Shadaw School but now they 
have increased it to 10 grades.  Only people who have lived in Shadaw 
for a long time can keep their children in school.  People who come to 
the relocation site from other villages can't keep their children in 
school." - "Doh Reh" (M, 53), describing the school in Shadaw town 
(Interview 4).
 
"I would really like to study but I think I am too old to go to school and 
my mother can't afford to pay for it.  My mother told me that I couldn't 
go to school because she can't send me.  I cried.  I would really like to go 
to school but we have no money.  No one in my family can go to school.  
I had to stop going to school to do forced labour." - "Say Mya" (F, 21), 
speaking of how her family wasn't able to get an education in Nwa La Bo 
relocation site (Interview 7).
 
"My sister, whose husband is a teacher, had to go because her husband 
was teaching.  He is from Shadaw and has a field there.  He is Kayah 
but is only allowed to teach Burmese.  His salary is 1,000 Kyats because 
he is a middle school teacher." - "Doh Reh" (M, 53), about the 
prohibition on Kayah education at  Shadaw relocation site (Interview 4).
 

Daw Dta Hay is not set up as a formal relocation site, but an existing 
village where others have been forced to settle.  Villagers who were 
relocated to Daw Dta Hay say that there was recently an Army training 
exercise conducted nearby.  The Army brought in children and adults aged 
14 to 30 from other parts of Karenni State to participate in the training 
course, which was called 'The Column 7 Training Exercise'.  Many of the 
children who came told the villagers at the site that they were summoned 
by the Army and hadn't been told where they were going when they were 
forced to go with the soldiers.  Some young people from Daw Dta Hay 
said that they had been told they would have to join the training exercise 
as well, but they never did.  After the exercise the trainees were reportedly 
sent to Loikaw, presumably to join one of the 4 SPDC Battalions that are 
based there. The people of Daw Dta Hay were ordered to provide large 
amounts of food and other support for the Army personnel who came to 
conduct the training.  Little or nothing was given to the villagers in return 
for whatever food or goods they provided.  Daw Dta Hay has also seen at 
least 3 of the village's young girls taken as wives against their will by 
SPDC soldiers.
 

"The children who were to be in the training course came from town.  
Those children told us, 'We didn't know that they would bring us here.  
They called us and told us that we had to go for a training course but 
they took us here.'  Some of the children were Karen, some were 
Burmese and some were Shan.  We don't know which villages they came 
from.  None of the children were Kayah.  I would guess that the children 
were around 13 years old.  Each group to be trained consisted of 20 
children and they trained them group after group.  When the Burmese 
held the opening for the training course, they killed a cow to eat and 
invited the village headmen and village criers to go eat with them.  When 
they were finished the training, they sent them to Loikaw but I don't 
know where they went after that." - "Mi Su" (F), talking about the Army 
training course in Daw Dta Hay (Interview 6).
 
"We had to do forced labour in the village and on the hill.  There is an 
army training camp there called Sa Gka Khun [abbreviation for 
'Column 7'].  Soldiers from Battalions 43, 261, 250 and 102 came for 
the training.  There were 30 to 50 soldiers from each battalion and they 
came from places like Dee Maw So, Pleh Ku, Hsi Hsaing and other 
places.  Their commander and head trainer is Major Kyi Hlaing and he 
is from Pleh Ku.  There are many officers staying there: Major Myeh 
Kyeh, Bo Win Myint and Bo Ne Win.  The captains who came are 
Captains Aung Saung and Thay Htoo.  Thay Htoo is Karen and is from 
Hsi Hsaing.   There are also instructors, namely: Than Naing Oo, Moe 
Zaw Oo, Maw Way, Thant Oo, Kyaw Shwe, Chit Ko Ko and others.  
They had a training exercise there for soldiers ages 14 to 30 that they 
called 'Column 7 Training Exercise'.  There are over 100 soldiers.  The 
soldiers are from many villages, such as Bay Yay, Hsi Hsaing and Dee 
Maw So.  They are from all battalions including 250 and 261 and they 
went there for the training exercise.  They said they would force us to do 
the exercise also, but they didn't and we didn't know when they were 
going to.  They forced villagers to kill pigs for them [for an opening 
celebration banquet] and only gave them about one third of the cost." - 
"Nyi Reh" (M, 28), giving details on the people involved in the Army 
training course in Daw Dta Hay (Interview 9).
 
"They like to marry women who are too young.  One soldier wanted to 
take a 12 year old Kayah girl named C--- as his wife.  People told them 
the girl is too young and not to take her but their commander forced the 
people to give her to his soldier.  The girl had to agree even though she 
didn't want to.  Another girl, L---, was studying in grade 8 and had to 
stop studying [to marry a soldier].  She was 14 years old.  An 18 year old 
girl named H--- also had to marry a soldier.  They didn't want to marry 
the soldiers but the commander said they should marry his soldiers so 
they had to do it.  That was last year.  One of the girls is close to having 
a child.  Their parents aren't very happy about this." - "Nyi Reh" (M, 
28), speaking of women forced to marry soldiers in Daw Dta Hay 
(Interview 9).
 

Earning money in the camps is limited to odd jobs that are rarely available 
and don't pay very much.  Some of the villagers in the relocation sites look 
for work outside, but as the SPDC has destroyed all the villages in the 
area, paying work is very difficult to find.  Some people have been able to 
work for the Army as guides, interpreters, teachers, etc.  However, they 
don't get paid much and what they are paid is often reduced because of 
unfair fees.  Those who have been lucky enough to get a job in the 
relocation sites aren't given anything to support their families so while 
they are away working the family gets nothing to eat.  The small amount 
of work that can be found outside of the relocation sites virtually always 
requires a pass costing from 5 to 50 Kyats, but a pass doesn't guarantee 
safety for the one who holds it.
 
"You have to get a pass.  However, there is no village to go to because 
all villages were destroyed.  Before, we didn't have to pay money for the 
passes but now people have to pay 10 or 15 Kyats for a pass. ... There is 
a market area 3 miles away from Shadaw which you can go to.  If you 
go farther than 3 miles from Shadaw, the Burmese soldiers may shoot 
and kill you or capture you to porter for them even if you have a pass." - 
"Ni Reh" (M, 47), speaking of work options in Shadaw relocation site 
(Interview 3).
 
"I was given 750 Kyats [per month] but they deducted many fees and 
taxes so each month I only received 200 or 300 Kyats.  They deducted 
the cost of rice, 260 [Kyats per month], donations for social occasions, 
fees for sports, the price for post cards and they also said they borrowed 
money from us.  They deducted the cost of 1 big tin and 6 bowls of rice 
from our salaries but they never gave us that much." "Lu Mya" (F, 
30), talking about the Army paying her as a teaching assistant in Shadaw 
relocation site (Interview 5).
 
"He also hired himself out for carrying goods from the Pon River to 
Shadaw.  The car only runs from Loikaw to the Pon River so merchants 
need people to carry their goods [the rest of the way].  People who do day 
labour to get money to buy food go and carry goods there to get money." 
- "Doh Reh" (M, 53) speaking about the Husband of "Mi Su" who 
periodically found work outside of Shadaw relocation site (Interview 5).
 

However, most of the labour to be found is non-paying forced labour.  
Forced labour or Loh Ah Pay ('voluntary labour'), as the Army likes to call 
what they force the villagers to do, is commonplace in and around the 
camps and the villagers aren't given any money or food for their labour. 
The Army forces the villagers to work on a daily or weekly basis; 
generally one person from each family must go.  This forced labour 
includes clearing bushes and trees from the roadsides both inside and 
outside the relocation sites, cleaning Army buildings, cultivating land for 
the Army, hauling water for the Army, building fences around the Army 
camps, digging bunkers, road construction, portering for the Army and 
other general servant work.  The villagers are also being used to construct 
a road from Daw Wah Kaing to Daw Dta Hay.  There is also a road 150 to 
200 kilometres long being built from Mawchi westward to Toungoo; 
KHRG has previously documented forced labour occurring since early 
1998 on the Toungoo end of this road [see "False Peace: Increasing 
SPDC Military Repression in Toungoo District of Northern Karen 
State", KHRG #99-02, 25/3/99], but has not yet been able to confirm 
reports of villagers being used as forced labour near the Mawchi end of 
the road.  Getting from the Mawchi area to the refugee camps in Thailand 
is particularly difficult, so there are few people arriving in the camps from 
that area. 
 

"They forced us to carry stones that were to be used for making a road 
between the soldiers' area near Daw Wah Kaing and a place beside Daw 
Dta Hay.  They forced us to go in groups of 10 or 20.  People from all 
the villages near ours had to go.  They demanded a man from each 
family go but if there was no man, a woman had to go.  Children and old 
people had to go also.  If the old people couldn't go, they had to pay a 
fee.  We carried the stones to a vehicle that was pulling a cart and then 
we had to carry the stones from the cart to the road.  The stones were 
very big and heavy so I had a lot of pain in my body.  It was easier for us 
to take the rocks off the cart because we could just push them off; lifting 
them on to the cart was very difficult.  They didn't give us time to rest 
and if we took a rest they would yell at us and beat us.  They only gave 
us time to eat once a day, at noon time.  They never gave us rice, we had 
to bring our own.  We were only permitted a moment to drink water 
which we either brought from home or found in a stream on the way.  
When we were finished having a drink we had to continue working right 
away.  We had to work very hard." - "Mi Su" (F), talking about forced 
labour while she was in Daw Dta Hay (Interview 6).
 
"Battalion 250 forced us to plant seedlings in a monastery garden on a 
hill.  It could have been rubber but I don't know.  Their army camp is 
just below our village, Nwa La Bo, on the plain.  One person from each 
house had to go every day of every week.  They never gave us anything 
to eat while we were working, we had to bring food from home.  If we 
didn't have food at home, we didn't eat." - "Say Mya" (F, 21), describing 
forced labour in Nwa La Bo relocation site (Interview 7).
 
"Yes, I had to go for Loh Ah Pay one day each week.  Usually we had to 
cut bamboo and build a fence.  We also had to cut grass and bushes 
beside the road.  Men, women and children starting at age 14 had to go 
for Loh Ah Pay." - "Kay Reh" (M, 50+), describing those who had to go 
for forced labour in Shadaw relocation site (Interview 11).
 
"Many people can't work on their farms and produce food because the 
army forces each family to do 5 acres of a rubber plantation.  The 
plantation is beside their army camp.  The people are cutting and 
clearing the area but the rubber seedlings haven't come yet.  The army is 
forcing people to prepare the area before the seedlings arrive.  People 
also have to do clearing and do plantations of things like peanuts and 
other kinds of beans for the army." - "Nyi Reh" (M, 28), talking about 
forced labour at Daw Dta Hay (Interview 9).
 
"We always have to do Loh Ah Pay and portering and can only do our 
own work 2 or 3 days a week.  We have had to do Loh Ah Pay every year 
but it's been getting worse in '98 and '99. ... Sometimes it takes 1 1/2 
months, other times it takes a week.  You can't really say for how long.  
Some people had to porter for years and years and some people died on 
the way.  They've been calling people to porter in this way for a long 
time; since before the student uprising in Burma." - "Ni Reh" (M, 47), 
describing forced labour and portering in and around Shadaw relocation 
site (Interview 3).
 

Doing work for the Army not only prevents people from being able to do 
what little work they can to support their own families, but it also puts 
people in harm's way.  The villagers doing forced labour are routinely 
beaten if they haven't finished their work, have been taking a short rest or 
simply don't do a "good enough" job.  If villagers are found hiding in the 
jungle and are lucky enough not to be killed on the spot, they are often 
forced to work and porter for the Army as well, and people caught in this 
manner are treated particularly brutally.  Porters, drawn both from the 
relocation sites and the jungle, are expendable to the Army.  If they are 
suffering from one or more of the many ailments that plague the area or 
are not able to carry their load they are subjected to abuse and are either 
killed outright or beaten and left to die in the jungle.  With no medicine to 
speak of and no help, it doesn't take long to die when left alone in the 
jungle.
 

"If you don't work hard and do your best, they beat you.  I saw them 
beat my friends.  I don't know their names, we didn't know each other 
very well.  They were from other villages and had come to live with us 
when we were all forced to relocate.  The soldiers said to them, 'Do it 
nicely.'  My friends said, 'We have never done it before so how can we 
do it nicely?'  Then he beat them.  My friends were women about the 
same size as I am.  He beat them with a stick wider than my big toe.  He 
hit them too many times for me to count.  Some of them were crying." - 
"Say Mya" (F, 21), describing the treatment of villagers being forced to 
build a road from beside Nwa La Bo to Peh Kong village (Interview 7).
 
"People have to stand up while they are working.  If they sit down, the 
soldiers beat them with bamboo as big as my forearm [about 5 cm in 
diameter].  I saw them beat E---, R--- and a few other people.  They were 
sitting down so the soldiers beat them and said, 'Don't you see what 
those other people are doing?'  People can't even sit and rest." - "Nyi 
Reh" (M, 28), talking about the treatment of villagers being forced to build 
a road near Daw Dta Hay.  The road probably leads to Daw Wah Kaing 
(Interview 9).
 
"I was able to avoid them but they captured other people.  Anytime I saw 
them I ran away.  If they saw me it would have been better that they shot 
me dead rather than capture me because they treat you very badly if they 
capture you.  B--- and his elder brother, Mee Reh, were captured in our 
hiding place by the Burmese.  They captured them while they were 
harvesting paddy.  They forced them to porter for one month but they 
couldn't carry [much] so they beat and hit them a lot.  Mee Reh couldn't 
[walk] anymore because he was tired so they tied rope around his neck 
and pulled him.  After pulling him by the neck for a while, they thought 
he was dead and left him.  He wasn't dead and later returned to us.  His 
brother, B---, also escaped during the night and came back to our place 
but Mee Reh died two months later.  He couldn't do anything.  He was 
sick all the time, coughing up blood, and then he finally died.  The elder 
brother is dead and the younger one is still in the jungle suffering from 
what happened. When B--- first came back he was also coughing blood 
and he couldn't work but he can work a bit now." - "Klaw Reh" (M, 45), 
describing how villagers found in the jungle around Shadaw are treated 
(Interview 1).
 
"In the first two years ['96 and '97] I could still work and produce food 
but in '98 the army came and called me time after time to be a guide or 
interpreter for them. ... They came looking for me at my house a few 
times but I wasn't home, so the commander, Soe Htun, gave my wife a 
bullet. ... My wife and children wept and didn't want to stay there any 
longer." - "Doh Reh" (M, 53), explaining why he and his family fled 
Shadaw relocation site (Interview 4).
 

Most villagers are determined to survive as long as they can near their 
land but that often proves to be futile.  One of the major problems in 
getting from the jungle to the Thai border is that people simply don't know 
which way to go.  In particular, the people in the southwest corner of 
Karenni, around Mawchi, have a very long way to go to get to the Thai 
border and the threat of being seen and killed is all too real.  The fear and 
distrust that the Army patrols have engendered in the villagers living in the 
forest also poses a problem for those wishing to find refuge in Thailand.  
The villagers are afraid to confront or join with one another for fear of 
informers or detection and this reduces their options when looking for 
people to help lead them towards the Thai border.  KNPP soldiers often 
help the villagers to find their way, but there are a lot of areas which the 
KNPP soldiers can't reach.  Often villagers will follow merchants who 
have been previously to the Thai border.  Some of the villagers in the 
north of Karenni State head into Shan State to find their way to Thailand, 
but that route is no easier to travel.  The trip offers many obstacles which 
pose a particular problem for the sick and elderly.  There are many hills on 
the way to the border, rivers have no bridges, and the boats that were once 
available to ferry people across are gone.  When the villagers are fleeing to 
the Thai border, they have to travel at night and away from roads to avoid 
detection by the Army.  One common meeting point for villagers who are 
fleeing seems to be along the banks of the Salween River.  Many villagers 
have reported joining larger groups of people by the river and then 
continuing to Thailand together. 
 

"When they saw people, they beat some and killed some.  They also took 
our rice to eat or destroy when they saw our farms.  We didn't allow the 
children to cry, if they did we scolded them.  The children didn't dare cry 
because they were afraid too.  We lived like that until we couldn't 
tolerate the hunger any longer and then we came here." - "Maw Reh" 
(M, ~80), describing the fear that is felt while trying to flee through the 
jungle to Thailand from Shadaw relocation site (Interview 2).
 
"We arrived at the Salween River at 6:00 p.m.  My family and another 3 
families left together, but when we arrived at the Salween River we 
found many people there.  We looked for people to help us cross the 
river because it's a difficult river to cross.  We then saw some Karenni 
soldiers and they showed us the way to come here.  I had never been 
here before but some of the people among us had come here before to 
sell and buy things so we came with them." - "Doh Reh" (M, 53), 
describing the difficulty of getting to the Thai border from Shadaw 
relocation site (Interview 4).
 
"There were Shan farms on the way and if we arrived at a farm in the 
morning the farmer gave us food.  We spoke to each other in Burmese 
and I asked them if they wanted to come here with us but they didn't 
dare." - "Nyi Reh" (M, 28), describing his flight through Shan State to 
Thailand (Interview 9).
 

The trip to the Thai border can take up to 3 weeks, and in the case of 
villagers coming from the Mawchi area it can take up to 2 or 3 months.  
However, many villagers from the Mawchi area don't dare to make the 
dangerous trip to the Thai border and are instead taking their chances 
holding out in the jungle, a choice which is resulting in many deaths from 
starvation and disease.  People often run out of food on the way, but there 
is no access to additional food along the way except by sharing with other 
people who are in the same circumstances or borrowing food from villages 
which they happen to pass.  Most of the villagers arrive at the refugee 
camps in a state of malnutrition and very poor health.  
 

"They are still living in the jungle.  They would like to come here but 
they can't because it's not easy to get here.  They didn't come with us 
because they didn't see us.  We had to come secretly.  We couldn't tell 
anyone where we were going.  Now, we dare not trust anyone because 
we are afraid they'll inform the Burmese." - "Soe Reh" (M, 63), 
describing the difficulty villagers are having getting to the Thai border 
from the Mawchi area (Interview 14).
 
"We saw many people on the way.  I saw a grandmother beside Nwa La 
Bo who couldn't walk and had to have people carry her.  When she was 
able to walk a little, another woman couldn't walk and had to be carried.  
There were many women who came who had to be carried because of 
illness or fatigue." - "Say Mya" (F, 21), describing the flight to Thailand 
(Interview 7).
 
"I just followed people who had come here before to sell things.  The 
people we met on the way [to the border with Thailand] didn't have 
much rice to eat.  As for us, we ate the rice we brought with us.  There 
are 7 people in our family and we carried one big tin of rice to eat.  
People who didn't have rice asked for a bit from those people who did.  
We shared with each other but when nobody had any rice we didn't eat." 
- "Eh Reh" (F, 35+), describing the situation of villagers fleeing to 
Thailand from the Shadaw area (Interview 10).
 
"When I was taken to the hospital [in Thailand] the nurse ... scolded me.  
She said, 'Why didn't you come earlier?  The child is too ill.'  I told them 
that I was living very far away and couldn't come any earlier.  We 
couldn't understand each other.  It was very difficult for me." - "Mi Su" 
(F), about arriving in Thailand after fleeing Daw Dta Hay (Interview 6).
 

Since January of this year over 1,500 villagers have arrived in Thailand 
seeking refuge.  The majority of new arrivals are coming from the Shadaw 
area but some people are coming from other areas, such as the Mawchi 
and Loikaw areas.  Thus far all of the arriving refugees have been allowed 
into the refugee camps by the Thai officials but there is often a delay 
before the Thai officials will permit aid to be taken into the camps for the 
new arrivals.  There are still serious concerns over camp security, 
especially after the refugee camp known as Karenni Camp 2 was attacked 
by the Karenni National Democratic Army (KNDA), a 'splinter' 
organisation aligned with the SLORC/SPDC, in January 1997.  On May 2, 
1999 Burmese soldiers attacked a Thai police post in Mae Hong Son 
province and left evidence that would point to a Karenni group (KNDA) 
as the perpetrators.  Mae Hong Son has a total of 6 refugee camps along 
the Thai-Burmese border.  In light of this most recent event and attempted 
deception, security in and around the camps is of high concern.
 
The future of the villagers, both in the relocation sites and in the jungle, 
looks bleak if the situation continues in its current direction.  The SPDC 
has made it clear that nothing less than unconditional surrender will be 
accepted from the KNPP and so the fighting continues.  With the weather 
patterns in the region continuing to be erratic, it is difficult to predict 
whether the rice crop in 1999 will be successful, or a complete failure as it 
has been for the past two years.  Even with good growing weather it is 
very unlikely that villagers in most of Karenni will have the required seed 
paddy or safe access to their fields, both of which are essential if they are 
to produce any crop at all.  All of their villages have been destroyed and 
all of the food reserves are long since used up.  Food is scarce and the 
death rate due to starvation and minor illnesses is only likely to increase 
unless something is done soon.  The SPDC appears to have no intention 
but to continue on with business as usual.  There are even indications that 
they may start building more new roads, which would all be built with 
forced labour and would therefore put further strain on the already very 
desperate situation for the villagers.  The villagers are starving and aren't 
able to move anywhere without the risk of being arrested and forced to 
work or simply shot on sight.  Fundamental political change in Burma still 
seems to remain the only hope, albeit remote, for these people.
 

"Just before we left, we heard them saying they're going to build a road.  
I'm not sure which road they are going to build.  It could be from Dta 
Tha Maw to this border or a Shadaw-Pon river road, I don't know 
exactly.  They have engineers and bulldozers but surely they are going to 
call villagers to help them.  They can't do anything without villagers. ... 
We came out because we couldn't tolerate it anymore.  We were forced 
to work until we couldn't work on our own farms anymore, both this 
year and last year.  In '97-'98 it was better than in '98-'99, when we 
could not even harvest one basket of paddy.  We didn't have food and we 
didn't have time to go out and find food because of the work we were 
forced to do.  Our lives were getting very hard.  Finally, we decided to go 
out and hide in the forest regardless of what would happen to us.  When 
we got to the forest we met many people who were talking about coming 
here so we came with them." - "Ni Reh" (M, 47), describing the desperate 
situation around the Shadaw area (Interview 3).
 
  - [END OF BURMANET VERSION; SEE KHRG WEBSITE FOR FULL VERSION] -