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BurmaNet News: 21 April 1995 [#153]
- Subject: BurmaNet News: 21 April 1995 [#153]
- From: burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 23:13:00
------------------------- BurmaNet ---------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
--------------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: 21 APRIL 1995
Issue #153
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Contents:
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CONTACT REQUEST 002
RESOURCE LIST
INFORMATION REQUEST: TEXACO, ENVIRONMENT, BURMA
INFORMATION REQUEST: NON-BURMANS NON-BUDDHISTS IN SLORC ARMY
AUSTRALIA BURMA COUNCIL: NO SPECIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SLORC
KHRG: PORTERS IN SLORC'S SALWEEN OFFENSIVE
TRIP REPORT TO INDIA AND BANGLADESH
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o-------------------------------o
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strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
In Washington:
Attention to BurmaNet
c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB)
Information Office
815 15th Street NW, Suite 609
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Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343
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Attention to BurmaNet
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The NCGUB is a government-in-exile, formed by representatives
of the people that won the election in 1990.
Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based non-governmental organization
that documents human rights conditions in Burma and maintains
an archive of Burma-related documents. Views expressed in The
BurmaNet News do not necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB
or Burma Issues.
--------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT REQUEST 002
<Please reply to contact request 002, c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Dear sir,
May I ask you to help me find a friend
who was like my brother many years ago. The last
time I know of his place was at the University of
Hidelberg, West Germany. He was doing research on
Burmese Literature at that time.
His name is U Tin Htway.
--------------------------------------------------------------
RESOURCE LIST
For questions on these subjects, please direct email to the
following coordinators:
Campus activism: tlandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boycott campaigns: tlandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fonts: [volunteer needed]
World Wide Web: glen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Volunteering: "Volunteer coordinator", c/o
burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------------------------
INFORMATION REQUEST: TEXACO, ENVIRONMENT, BURMA
Reply to: tlandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*****
Does anyone have info on the direct environmental impact of
Texaco's drilling in Burma? Or, does anyone know where I could
get that info?
--------------------------------------------------------------
INFORMATION REQUEST: NON-BURMANS NON-BUDDHISTS IN SLORC ARMY
Can anyone tell me how many non-Burmans (identify
ethnicity) and how many non-Buddhists (identify religious
tradition) are among SLORC's general officer corps? Can
anyone confirm whether Kyaw Ba is a Christian and a Baptist to
boot?
[Reply to U=Win%Counseling%OCC@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Professor U Kyaw Win
Orange Coast College
Costa Mesa, CA 92626 USA
--------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA BURMA COUNCIL: NO SPECIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SLORC
6 April 1995.
FORMER FIRST SECRETARY OF THE SLORC EMBASSY IN CANBERRA RETURNS
TO AUSTRALIA AS A PERMANENT RESIDENT UNDER THE SPECIAL
ASSISTANCE CATEGORY.
U Tin Aung Cho, former First Secretary of the SLORC embassy in
Canberra has arrived back in Australia as a permanent resident
under the Special Assistance Category for Burmese in Burma.
This category of migration was introduced for the purpose of
allowing those suffering "substantial discrimination" at the
hands of the military dictatorship of Burma, SLORC, to leave
the country.
The Australia Burma Council has been attempting to lobby the
Australian Government to have places under the category
"Special Assistance Category for Burmese in Thailand"
increased. Burmese in Thailand, being those who led the
pro-democracy march in 1988 and who supported and encouraged
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, are subjected to incarceration and
possible repatriation at the hands of Thai officials. They are
not safe in Thailand and should they be returned to Burma they
would face a horrific fate.
One must question the integrity of the migration officer who
gave priority to a SLORC official when there are 40,000,000
desperate people at risk residing in Burma and in neighbouring
countries. While acting as a SLORC representative in Canberra
Tin Aung Cho was said to have attempted to divide the Burmese
community to dilute the effectiveness of the pro-democratic
political lobby in Canberra.
The Australia Burma Council calls for an inquiry into how this
was allowed to happen and further calls on the Australian
Government to increase the number of migration places for the
Burmese residing in Thailand. END RELEASE.
National Co-ordinator, Terrel Oung, 15 Barbara Blvd, Seven
Hills, NSW 2147 AUSTRALIA.
REGARDS
TREVOR EDMOND
Trevor Edmond <treved@xxxxxxxxxxx>
If you have a subject of expertise or experience related to
Burma and have a bit of time to field any enquiries on that
subject, please contact BurmaNet.
KHRG: PORTERS IN SLORC'S SALWEEN OFFENSIVE
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
April 8, 1995 / KHRG #95-12
Since December 1994, SLORC has been conducting an offensive
west of the Salween River in northern Karen State, aiming to
secure this entire region adjacent to the Thai border.
Fighting began here before the final offensive against
Manerplaw and is still continuing, at least sporadically, even
now. SLORC troops have now occupied virtually the entire
region along the Salween River adjacent to Thailand. In the
process, thousands of new refugees in the region have fled
into Thailand and dozens, possibly more than a hundred, Karen
villages have been abandoned or destroyed by advancing SLORC
troops. Other villages have been forcibly relocated to
SLORC/DKBA territory further inside Burma near Ka Ma Maung, as
SLORC is apparently trying to clear the entire border region
of civilians and create a military-only free-fire zone to
prevent the escape of any further refugees from Burma. [For
further details on this offensive see "SLORC's Northern Karen
Offensive", KHRG #95-10, 29/3/95.]
Some of the witnesses to this offensive have been the thousands
of men and women civilians who SLORC has rounded up from
places as far away as Rangoon, Irrawaddy Division and Moulmein
to carry ammunition and supplies for the offensive. As usual,
treatment of these porters has been brutal. Many of their
bodies have been sighted floating down the Salween River, their
hands still tied behind their backs. The following testimonies
were given by 4 men who managed to escape to Thailand. Their
names have been changed and some personal details omitted to
protect them on their return to Burma. Please feel free to use
this information in any way which can help end this form of
brutal abuse in Burma.
TOPIC SUMMARY: Rounding up porters (Stories #1,2,3,4), "iron
cage" trains (#1,2), women porters (#1,2,4), torture
(#1,2,3,4), killings (#1,2,3), abandoned villages (#1,4),
porters in battle (#3), urban forced relocation (#2), economic
conditions (#2), conditions in Dagyon "New Town" (#2), DKBA
(#2,3).
_______________________________________________________________
_______________ #1.
NAME: "Maung Ko Lay" SEX: M AGE: 28 Burman Buddhist,
market seller FAMILY: Married, 2 children but one already died
ADDRESS: South Okalappa, Rangoon
INTERVIEWED: March 7, 1995
I sell things in the market. Sometimes I work as a bricklayer
or dye clothes. I do whatever work I can get. They arrested
me in the afternoon, about 1:30 p.m., when I went to watch
video. That day my wife went to work, but there was no work
for me. I went to look for work at the clothes dyeing place
but they already had enough workers, so I had nothing to do in
the afternoon. I went to watch a video called "Hong Kong
Jetma". It started at 1:30 p.m., and 15 minutes later soldiers
closed the doors of the video hall and guarded every door.
They surrounded the back, then they came in to the video hall
and looked for men my age. They were police together with
soldiers. They picked out all the men of my age. They took
about 25 or 30, I think - a lot of people. They left the old
people and women with children. They sent us to the railway
station by truck. I saw a lot of people at the railway
station, but I don't know where they were arrested. I think
there were 150 or almost 200 people, all sitting on the
ground. I didn't see any women or old people. Later I saw
some women in the jungle, but I don't know where the soldiers
arrested them.
We slept at the railway station. In the early morning we had
to get up, and the soldiers kept us sitting there but didn't
give us any food or water. I wondered if they were waiting for
their officer. I think it was 3 a.m. in the morning, but I
had no watch. Then the train arrived. They put us on the
train and closed the train doors, and no one who passed by
could see inside the train. Inside there was an iron grid
cage. We had to stay inside the cage while the soldiers stood
around outside of it. Then the train left. At another
railway station the soldiers made us get off, and I knew it was
Thaton. Some trucks were waiting for us at the Thaton football
ground. I saw alot of people, about 300, and about 60
military trucks. Some people bribed the soldiers. I don't
know how they got the money or how much, I just saw them going
back. The soldiers said, "Don't try to escape. You won't get
free if you try to escape. If even one of you tries to escape,
we've already received an order to kill you. Wait and see
what will happen to you!" When they were talking to us, they
looked as though they really would shoot us.
We were divided into many groups, 5, 7, or 12 in each group
plus soldiers on each truck. There were 5 porters along with
every 4 or 5 soldiers. In the afternoon at about 1 or 2
o'clock they sent us by truck to a village. We slept there
one night. I don't know where because I've never been in that
area before. We went to a camp. It was a big camp. I saw
many battalions, a lot of warehouses and an airport. At night
we had to sleep beside the airport. Early the next morning
they came and took us by truck. After 10 minutes drive we got
to the edge of the forest and we had to start carrying for
Division #33, Light Infantry Battalion #216. I had to carry
things including beer, alcohol, Lucky Strike cigarettes and
food. These things were in a box 1½ feet high. The soldiers
swore at me: "You won't see the rest of your life if you drop
it! We'll kill you!" While they were walking, some soldiers
often fired their guns to make noise. I was frightened and
looked back because I have a heart disease. Once I almost
dropped the box from my shoulders. A soldier saw me and
kicked me in the back and the chest like a Kung Fu fighter,
and he said rudely, "It is very important. It is not your
mother's husband! [a rude Burmese expression] If you do like
that again, you'll see what will happen!"
I saw a man with us who was in bad health, and he died later.
The night before he died we came to a village, had a rest and
then continued to another village. He couldn't carry anything
so we helped him to carry his load. A soldier asked, "Why
can't you follow us, even without your load?" He looked as if
he couldn't follow them anymore. He said, "I really can't
follow you, sir. You can leave me or kill me." The soldier
hit him in the forehead with his rifle butt, and his skin was
broken and bleeding. He said "Don't delay our journey!", and
another soldier said "Kill him! Don't waste time for only
one." But other porters said they would help to carry the man
- they said "We have one man who is very strong". While we
were saying this, the soldiers were pulling the man by his
hands, dragging him cruelly. It was a horrible scene. A
strong man came forward and told the soldiers that he would
carry the man. The soldiers asked him "Can you carry him?"
and he said "Yes". He took the man on his shoulders until we
got to the big camp. Just before we got there, there was some
fighting and two soldiers were killed. When we got to the camp
they gave us some rice, just one canteen-lid full, put in some
plastic or spooned into the longyi [sarong] of each porter.
That night, we slept on the hill at the camp. The sick man
couldn't eat anything, even when we gave him food. He
couldn't move his mouth. We found him dead in his place the
next morning and we covered him with a blanket. And we left.
I don't know where he was from, but he was about 19 years old.
We had never climbed mountains like this before. We couldn't
follow the soldiers because we were very tired of climbing.
One or two out of each group were left behind in some places,
so the soldiers swore and drove them along to catch up. We
saw about 150 women at the top of a hill. I've never seen so
many women in the jungle before. They were Burman, Indian,
Karen, various nationalities, maybe Shan too. I saw them
among the soldiers but I don't understand why. We stayed
apart from them. I think the women didn't have to carry heavy
things, but I don't know how much they had to carry. At night
before I went to sleep, I saw the sentry and asked him, "Where
do we have to go, and when are we going to be released?" He
seemed to be good- tempered. He said "The deeper the forest,
the worse things are going to be. It would be a good idea for
you to escape from here". But then he said, "Don't run away
because the Karen soldiers will cut your head off when they
see you, and there are many landmines." So we didn't dare
escape. We had to keep following them into the deeper jungle.
Getting food and water was difficult. There were alot of
troops and all of them had water. I asked them for a bit of
water but they refused it and said "We don't have enough water
to give you any." As for us, even though we had to carry
their things we would have carried water as well if we'd had
any containers, but we didn't. We had to throw away our own
things, like our slippers and other things, because we
couldn't carry anything extra. When we walked downhill in our
slippers sometimes we slipped and fell down, and then the
soldiers hit us. That's why we threw our slippers away. The
soldiers gave us rice once a day for 2 meals at a time, but we
ate it all at once and couldn't keep any food for the next
meal. It wasn't enough and we ate it all, so at night we had
no food and no water. We were very hungry. When we were
sick, we went to ask for some tablets but they said, "We have
no medicine for you, only for us." I only saw fighting once.
We just had to walk and walk, and carry their supplies.
One morning I was talking to the soldier I mentioned before,
and he said "You will get the worst later on". Then I saw a
50 year old man who was left like the other man who died
before. I don't know if he is still alive. His name was U
Tun San. The next morning when we were carrying the rice, we
were looking for the opportunity to escape all the time. We
were all waiting for the one who would escape first, but I
didn't see anyone escaping. Then we saw a fork in the path,
and one of the men in front of us started to run down the
hill. We followed him, throwing away our rice. There were 8
of us, and we ran down the hill and were silent for about 1½
hours. While we were hiding, the soldiers were swearing at us
and then they left. They didn't shoot any bullets because
they didn't know where we were.
We climbed any mountain we saw, and we searched for food and
water. We were losing our strength and becoming weak. We
didn't have any food for a whole day, but our priority was
water and to continue our journey mountain after mountain.
Along the way we met 4 Indian people who said "You are very
lucky". They told us that as SLORC was advancing we were
following behind them. Then we saw the river from the top of
the highest mountain. Now we know it was the Salween River,
but at the time we didn't know. We noticed that the SLORC
troops had cooked and eaten on top of that mountain. Some food
was left over on the leaves, and I saw a lump of rice and I
was so glad. I shared it with my comrades because we had
escaped from hell together, although I could have eaten it all
myself. We can really say that we were lucky. It took us 3
days to that mountain, then 2 more days to the river. We had
to use burning sticks to see our way at night. We passed
through some villages, but we didn't see anyone in those
villages. Everything inside the houses was in chaos and
overturned. We slept in a village after the SLORC troops had
left it. In that village I could see that the SLORC troops had
shot the pigs and chickens and taken whatever they saw. I had
never seen this situation before.
We found some paddy in a village, so we husked it and cooked it
in a big tin that we found. We'd been 3 days without food
until we found the paddy in the village. The next morning we
set out straight for the river. We imagined that once we got
to the river we'd build a raft to cross and escape from them.
We couldn't think of anything else but escaping from them.
When we reached the river, we saw "Myo Thant" [see his story
in this report]. We first saw him from a distance, and we
knew he wasn't a soldier because he was wearing a longyi
[sarong]. We went towards him. He was moving a little bit,
so we turned him over and found he was still alive. We gave
him some boiled rice we'd saved from the village, and we
carried him. We decided we would look for a village for help,
and explain to them our tragedy as porters. When we came along
the river, we saw a floating house on the river. We were
surprised and happy, because we thought we could use it to
cross the river. But we worried that someone would see it
because it was so big, so we planned the crossing. We cut
some bamboo at 4 or 5 p.m. to carry with us, so that if the
house broke apart we could use the bamboo. We carried "Myo
Thant" and we put the bamboo in the house. Then we saw the
students [the All-Burma Students' Democratic Front, calling
from the Thai side of the river]. They shouted out "Who are
you?" in Burmese. We thought they were Burmese soldiers
because they spoke Burmese, so we didn't answer anything and we
got ready to hide. Then they shouted again, "Are you
porters?" with a different tone, so we came out and answered
"Yes, we are porters, and we are going to cross the river."
They called, "Come quickly. You will die on that side." We
tried to push the floating house but it was too heavy and it
didn't work, so we crossed the river on small bamboo rafts.
Each raft had 5 bamboos and 2 or 3 people could use it. There
were 10 of us, 4 Muslims and 6 Burmans. On the other side of
the river, the students gave us some rice and we made a fire
freely and cooked it. They gave "Myo Thant" some medicine and
noodles, and after that he got better. Then we came here. On
the way, we could never make a fire because we were afraid the
SLORC soldiers would see the smoke [even though they were in
Thailand]. Now I still have this injury on my foot from
tripping over something when I was carrying. I couldn't heal
it, because I knew I would feel their fists if I asked for
medicine for my foot.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________ #2.
NAME: "Nyunt Swe" SEX: M AGE: 23 Burman
Buddhist, clothing dyer FAMILY: Single
ADDRESS: Dagyon New Town, near Rangoon
INTERVIEWED: March 7, 1995
[Dagyon and other "New Towns" or "Satellite Towns" have been
set up by SLORC as part of their forced relocation campaigns
in urban areas. Some of these forced relocations aim to
eliminate parts of cities which are traditional starting points
for civil unrest, but more recent forced relocations have
usually been to make way for modern foreign-owned hotels (90 of
these are currently slated for Rangoon alone) and various
tourism and other "development" projects.]
I have lived in Dagyon New Town for about 9 months. Before I
stayed in Sin Ma Leit [a district of Rangoon], but the SLORC
authorities relocated the people from Sin Ma Leit. The whole
quarter had to move, about 300 households. Some people were
sent to Hlaing Tha Ya New Town and some to Dagyon. At Dagyon
they gave us a plot and we received 300 Kyats [less than US$3
at market rate], but we had to pay for the new house ourselves.
There was no electricity and no water supply. We had to dig a
well ourselves. It was very hard. Some people have to buy
water. The ground used to be a paddy field. There were alot
of people moving there from different places. It is very far
from my work. I have to take a truck to Thin Gan Kyone for 1
hour, then to the centre of Rangoon at Sule Pagoda, then
another bus to work [in South Okalappa]. In our old place at
Sin Ma Leit, they built a plywood factory. It belongs to the
government.
My father died. Now we are 5 people, my 3 younger siblings, my
mother and I. My mother sells things. The younger ones are
still very young, they are going to school. The situation is
not good. We have to live day by day. I work today, buy the
food for today and eat it all, then the next day I have to
work again. Sometimes we have to pawn our things to borrow
money to buy food. And the price of rice is increasing.
Today maybe 60 Kyats, tomorrow maybe 70 Kyats. The more the
government increases the pay of the civil servants, the higher
goes the price of rice. I earn about 50 or 60 Kyats a day.
Combined with my mother's earnings, we can buy the food. Right
now the price of rice is between 60 and 70 Kyats [per pyi,
about equivalent to 2 kg.] Sometimes I have no work. The bus
to Thin Gan Kyone costs 2 Kyats, but after 4 or 5 p.m. the
government bus stops running and we can only take a private
bus for 10-15 Kyats. From the centre of Rangoon to Dagyon, it
costs at least 30 to 40 Kyats at night time.
The government provides rice for the civil servants monthly at
their work place, but I don't know how much they have to pay
for it. Moreover, the civil servants can live in government
houses. There are lots of civil servants in Dagyon, in
government houses with water and electricity. They sent all
the people who are not civil servants to Southern Dagyon, and
in Northern Dagyon there are only civil servants [Note: from
all other accounts, civil servants are also struggling to buy
enough rice to survive. However, they are somewhat better off
than "Nyunt Swe", so by his standards they are rich.]
In Dagyon each plot is 20 by 60 feet. There is no clinic, but
we can go to a private clinic. There is one school, up to 9th
Standard. The school is right in front of the Battalion Army
Camp. It is Battalion 303. Some of the schoolteachers are
Captain's or Major's wives. There are only a few civilian
teachers. Some children go to that school, but most are sent
to the monastery. The monks teach the children. We have to
give them 25 Kyats a month. We can send children to the
government school but they have a strict quota. This year they
didn't accept my younger sisters so we sent them to the
monastery. The same for my neighbour's children. I cannot pay
fees for high school. I myself had to leave school after 3rd
Standard [grade 3]. Now my younger sister is in 3rd Standard.
She is 10 years old.
I was arrested on the way back from work. An ordinary bus
appeared in front of us and someone called us, "Get on! Get
on!" We thought it might be a cheap fare bus and we got on.
It took us to Thin Gan Kyone jail. There were about 15 of us
- the others didn't get on the bus. They sent back the old
men and the children, and then there were 10 of us left at the
jail including me. It was in January or February, I think in
February. I slept one night in the jail, then the next morning
we were sent to the railway station. I saw about 80 people
there. Some were sleeping and some were sitting on the floor.
I was crying, bending my head down on my knees. They ordered,
"Don't look up! Keep your heads down!" They put us inside
iron cages inside 2 carriages of the train and took us to
Thaton. Then they sent us to Thaton football ground. I saw
alot of porters there, 400 or 500, mostly men of my age. Some
were between 30 and 40. There were no women. I saw about 80
army trucks, including 10 civilian trucks. After cooking, they
ordered us to get into the trucks. Then they whistled for the
convoy to get moving toward the jungle. The soldiers were
talking to each other on radios. When they put us on the
trucks I realized we would be porters.
I saw alot of sentries along the way. We got to Pain Ne Gone
village and slept there. They gave us some rice, one canteen
lid of rice. A soldier said "Don't go anywhere! I'll shoot
you if you go out!" Pain Ne Gone is in Papun Township. The
next morning we were sent to Papun by trucks, and when we got
there they collected us in a warehouse. Then 3 trucks sent us
to the foot of the mountain. It took about 1 hour. From
there the soldiers forced us to carry things, like jerrycans
full of alcohol, dried fish, and cheroots. There were about
150 porters. At night we had to carry the rice sacks. They
were very heavy. We were forced to carry them to the top of
the hill by kicking and beatings. We had to come down the
hill the same night. They stopped and put us in one place on
the ground and then they said "You can have dinner now!" But
we had no food, because we only got 2 canteen lids of rice per
day without any curry, fishpaste or salt and it wasn't enough
[so they'd already eaten it all for the day]. We asked the
soldiers "Are we near our destination?" He said, "No.
There's been some fighting in front of us." Later we saw an
overturned military truck, 2 dead bodies covered in blankets
and blood all around. When we were walking we saw many trucks
coming back. I asked a soldier and he said "There was fighting
with the convoy we saw."
At Pa Hai camp I saw alot of soldiers and about 100 women.
They were Indian women and some Karen women. Some women were
from the cities. The next morning, the soldiers were swearing
at the women because they couldn't carry, but the women kept
smiling. But it wasn't easy for us. At night, the soldiers
gave us the rice sacks to carry the next day. Every morning we
had to carry the rice sacks [from Pa Hai camp up the mountain]
and the soldiers said "Don't run away. You will be beheaded
by Karen soldiers". We couldn't bear this any longer. We were
put between groups of soldiers when we were walking. They
were Battalion #4 under #33 Division. They had many officers.
At 7 a.m., we started to carry. We had a rest at 1 p.m. and we
received 1 canteen lid of rice and continued. We weren't
allowed to drink water after we ate [usually in Burma people
don't drink anything with a meal, but drink a glass of water as
soon as they finish]. After 5 or 6 hours we had a rest. I
was carrying for about 6 days. We had to carry all day from
place to place, and even at night time. They threatened us
"There are lots of landmines around. Don't run away!"
Sometimes soldiers were very drunk, and they talked to us
stupidly so we couldn't sleep well. Then the soldiers said
"We'll kill you when you pass in front of us." The soldiers
chose a leader from among the porters for each group of 50
porters. Sometimes that leader punched us too. He just had
to carry one soldier's bag on his back, and he got more food
than us. He got 2 canteen lids of rice when we got only one.
I saw one porter beaten with a rifle butt, but I don't remember
his name. Afterwards, the soldiers were talking to each other
and said "It will be better to abandon him here." Another one
said "We could get in trouble if we leave him here, so it
would be better to kill him now." But they didn't kill him,
and we carried him to Pa Hai camp. In the morning, I think he
had died because he didn't move any more. When we left the
camp, they left him lying on the ground covered with rice
sacks. After we left the camp we escaped. 8 of us escaped,
but along the way we saw one porter on the riverbank and
another at the students' place.
On the 19th [of February] at night, we built a raft 7 feet
long. We saw something moving across the river and we stayed
quiet on the raft. We thought it might be SLORC soldiers.
They asked "Who are you?" from the Thai side, the first in
Burmese and the second in Burmese but with a Karen accent. So
we answered "We are porters". We went to them, and we saw one
dead body in the river near the Thai side. They asked us "Did
you put the dead body here?", and we said we didn't [the body
was most likely a porter killed by SLORC troops further up the
river - such bodies are a common sight in the Salween]. They
said "We have rice for you". That night we got two pots of
rice. We ate it and slept. The next morning they said "The
situation is not good here", and K--- sent us to this place by
car.
I saw DKBA, but they weren't with our group. K--- told me
about them. We saw them wearing yellow headbands and shouting
at the Burmese side [of the Salween River] from the Thai side.
They were shouting at the boats in the river to come to them.
They shot 2 or 3 bullets, then they burned down one house and
went back uphill. The next morning they came back to the
riverside wearing red scarves around their necks. We were
hiding in a house on the Thai side. They drove upriver in a
boat, arrested one man and asked for a ransom of about 10,000
Baht. There were about 20 of them in 2 boats.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________ #3.
NAME: "Myo Thant" SEX: M AGE: 29 Burman
Buddhist, market seller FAMILY: Married, 3 children
ADDRESS: Htaut Khant, near Rangoon
INTERVIEWED: March 7, 1995
They arrested me at the Htaut Khant market, in the evening at
about 6 p.m. They sent us right away on an army truck to
Rangoon railway station. We slept one night there, then the
next morning we left for Thaton. They made us sleep one night
at Thaton football ground. There were 400, 500, or 600 of us,
only men. They made us sleep on the football ground, with no
roof or anything. They gave us just rice and fishpaste, each
an equal amount of rice. I think they said, "Tomorrow, you
have to go as porters". They never offered to pay us. I don't
think we could have bribed them. Some men were sick.
The next day they took us to Papun in an army truck. Finally
we reached the end of the road. We couldn't go any further,
and we had to start walking. They forced us to carry shells.
We had to go to the top of the mountain. I had to carry 6
shells, longer than one plah [about 18 inches] each. There
were 200 people just carrying their heavy weapons. There were
old men between 50 and 60 years old. Sometimes I had to carry
3 big tins of rice. We started early in the morning. We got
to eat between 12 and 1 p.m., but it depends on the situation.
They gave us some food, then we had to continue until 5 or 6
p.m. and then we could take dinner. At about 12 or 1 p.m.
they fed us one canteen-lid of rice with fishpaste. If there
was no fishpaste we got a bit of salt. We couldn't ask the
soldiers for water. When we were walking and we saw a stream
we could drink some water, but we had no container.
Everything depended on the situation. Sometimes we could
rest, sometimes we couldn't. When they lost their way, we
could rest while they were looking for the way.
When they were shooting heavily, I laid down on the ground and
hid behind the paddy field dyke. I was struggling for my
life. I didn't see anybody who they were fighting, because I
had to stay on their side. I only heard about the fighting at
Manerplaw. I met the DKBA. They were guides for SLORC, to
show them the way through the jungle. There were about 30 of
them, carrying guns. They tied yellow pieces of monks'
clothing around their heads. I saw them talking to SLORC on
walkie-talkies.
The Burmese soldiers' badges said 3 on one side [probably 33,
for #33 Division] and 116 on the other [for #116 Battalion].
We had to walk one group of porters behind each group of
soldiers. There were 10 porters in a group, then 5 or 6
soldiers. When a porter was too weak and was staggering, the
soldiers lost their patience and kicked them down the hillside.
I saw this about 6 times. I saw it in front of my own eyes.
When the soldiers had finished attacking Manerplaw, I had no
more energy and I didn't get any food. On the way to their
camp I couldn't walk anymore. I told the soldiers that I
couldn't follow them anymore, but the soldiers thought I was
lying. They swore at me and hit me with rifle butts. They
hit my knees three times, and my back and chest several times.
Then they left me alone in the forest. I stayed in that place
in the jungle for about a week without food. Then I was very
hot and thirsty so I went to look for water. I found water
and took a bath and a drink. I was very weak so I couldn't sit
up at all. I didn't have any food for one week. I wanted to
go back to a hut but I fell down on the sand. Then I fell
asleep, and some other porters found me and carried me. [Other
porters said they found him unconscious along the riverbank -
see their testimonies in this report.] I couldn't walk, so
they had to carry me all the way to the students [the ABSDF].
We crossed the Salween River.
Now I still have scars [he showed scars on his chest, back and
legs]. I want to go home. I don't know how to survive here
at all.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________ #4.
NAME: "Khin Myint" SEX: M AGE: 25 Burman Buddhist
FAMILY: Married, 1 child aged 19 months Hawker / day
labourer ADDRESS: Hinthada, Irrawaddy Division
INTERVIEWED: March 7, 1995
I was arrested on February 10th at 8 p.m. I was watching a
video in another quarter of town. The army arrested 17 of us.
They didn't say anything to us. They just took us to Light
Infantry Battalion 17 on the other side of the river. Then
they took us across the river to Thara Wo, and then to
Rangoon. We stayed one night in Rangoon but didn't sleep.
They sent us by train from Rangoon to Thaton, to Thaton
football ground. We arrived at about 11 a.m. There were 80
trucks there and they put about 12 porters and 4 or 5 soldiers
in each truck. They sent us to Papun. We slept 2 nights on
the way to Papun. We started walking from Papun. I had to
carry salt, canned meat, dried fish, alcohol and other
supplies. The dried fish bags were light but the salt was
very heavy. The other bags were even heavier, but I don't know
what was inside. We had to carry those between 2 of us.
They gave us one canteen lid of rice and salt. If they were in
a good mood, sometimes they gave us dried fish and some oil.
When they didn't give us any food, they said they would give us
curry tomorrow. We started walking at 5 a.m. and we reached
the military post called Pa Hai camp at 5 p.m. Some porters
couldn't carry on the way and they were beaten with gun butts.
One of them, Hla Tin, pleaded "Just leave me. I can't carry
anymore." But they didn't leave anyone, they just dragged
him. I didn't see them kill anyone, because I was in the front
group. Before we reached Pa Hai camp, each soldier had 10
porters. After Pa Hai camp they didn't follow us like that.
They only had 10 or 15 soldiers leading the way. Altogether
there were about 80 soldiers. There was a man who was not a
soldier. The soldiers told him to be leader for 50 porters.
He had nothing to carry. He beat and kicked all the porters
who couldn't carry, who refused to carry or who tried to rest.
The soldiers kicked the porters who were close to them. There
were about 500 porters altogether. The youngest were about 18
years old, and the oldest were about 50 or 60. Our group had
100 or 150 porters. Over 10 soldiers went in front of us, and
about 100 women porters were behind. Then some more soldiers
were behind the women. They usually kicked us on the back 2 or
3 times. When they were beating us, we tried to avoid it and
just go faster. One of those times, a porter who was wearing
yellow shorts dropped his load and tried to escape. I also
dropped mine and tried to follow him to escape. I only
carried for 2 days. We also had to carry water sometimes. We
had to walk very far to get it. We couldn't sleep very well
because as soon as we got back to their camp they always
forced some porters to go and get water. They also forced 50
of us to go to a place where their truck went off the road and
pull it back onto the road. So we only had a short time to
sleep.
The women had to carry the same as we did, but their load was
not as heavy as ours. When the porters were getting ready to
leave Pa Hai camp, I saw them yelling at an old woman who was
laying down: "Wake up and start carrying!" But she didn't get
up. She and the other women were about 60 or 70 years old,
and the soldiers yelled and shouted at them. Some of them were
Karen, some Indian and some Burmese, but they could all speak
Burmese. Among the old women, I saw a child aged about 14.
He was staying with the women. I think they were sick. We
also saw 5 or 6 women who had fair complexion and didn't look
like porters. They looked at us smiling and laughing. I'm
sure that they were not porters.
After escaping we passed some villages. We slept 3 nights on
the way, and we had no food to eat for 3 days. There were 8
of us. We saw houses but there was nobody in them. We reached
the highest mountain and saw that the soldiers had just left
there, and then we saw a small stream and continued. We saw a
small village, but no one was there. I went in a house and saw
empty boxes and things spread all over, and we found some
paddy. We cooked it and slept there one night. The next
morning we left. We saw a big stream and found a field hut, and
we slept there one night. We found some more paddy, we
pounded it and cooked it and then we continued. We saw a
village - there were many houses, even some big houses, but
there was nobody there. We found a man lying on the riverbank
["Myo Thant"]. We gave him some boiled rice and some banana
and asked him about the SLORC troops and he said "They left in
that direction. They left me on the way 10 days ago. I had
no water, so I came to the river to get water and I couldn't
make it back." We planned to make a bamboo raft, but then we
saw a floating house. We put our rice soup pot on it and we
tried to cross the river, but we were drifting. After a few
minutes, a group called to us "Who are you? Where are you
going?" We jumped into the river and went to them. They were
students. We reached them on the 19th [of February]. It was 5
days after we escaped. Now we don't know which direction to
go or how far it is, but we will try to go home.
TRIP REPORT TO INDIA AND BANGLADESH
by Vum Son
5809 Burgundy Street
Capital Heights, MD 20743
Tel: 301 499 0499
Fax: 301 808 0872
My Trip to India & Bangladesh
In January 1995, I went to India and visited the
State of Mizoram, Northeastern India. Then I
went to the tri-border of Bangladesh, Burma, and
India. From there I went to Chittagong and
Dahka. From Dahka I went to Calcutta, from there
I traveled to Bangkok. It was a few days after
the fall of Karen stronghold Kawmoora, so I
proceeded to Maesot and visited the KNU temporary
camp in the state of the Karen. From Bangkok I
stopped at Tokyo, to see some relatives and
friends who came to Japan to earn some money.
Mizoram
Mizoram is a state in India. The people of
Mizoram, the Mizo or the Zo people, are the
brothers/sisters of the Chin of Chin State,
Burma, who call themselves Zo or Lai. The Zo
People were thus divided by the colonial policy
of the British. When I wrote "Zo History" I
called the Chin Hills and the areas inhabited by
Zo people in Burma as East Zoram and Mizoram and
Manipur as West Zoram. When I was in Aizawl the
Zo Reunification Organization (ZORO) suggested
that the land occupied by Zo people in Bangladesh
and Tripura, India should be West Zoram, the
state of Mizoram, the Central Zoram, Zo inhabited
areas in Manipur, North Zoram, and the Chin State
and other areas inhabited by the Zo people in
Burma, the East Zoram. I believe this to be a
good idea.
Because of my book "Zo History" many people know
my name. Therefore I met many interesting people
in Mizoram. One of the high lights of my trip was
the visit to Mimbung, a village of 200 houses at
the Chin State and Mizoram border. When I
visited Pu Chawngkunga Chawngthu, minister for
Arts and Culture in the Mizoram state government,
Pu Chawngkunga immediately invited me to come to
the Art and culture meeting. They called it
"Cultural Meet" which was to be held in Mimbung.
I willingly accepted the invitation because
Mimbung and surrounding areas are inhabited by
the people call Paite, to which I also belong.
Paite is a sub tribe of the Zo main group. Paite
has its own culture and dialect. Also people of
villages from the border areas in the Chin State
were also invited
Minister Pu Chawngkunga could not come to the
"Cultural Meet" but Pi Bawichhingpuii, the
Director of the Art and Culture Department, took
me in her jeep, which took 18 hours to travel
some 220 kilometers of zigzag and sometimes
unpaved, muddy, and bumpy road. The "Cultural
Meet" itself was a program of singing and dancing
in the traditional way. There were over 30
groups participating, some were in competition
with each other and some groups were just dancing
away. The meeting was such an important occasion
that the Chief Minister of Mizoram State took
part.
The culture of the Zo people are disappearing
fast because the Zo people are converting en mass
to Christianity so that Christian songs and
Christian cultures replaced many traditional and
cultural practices. Traditional celebrations and
festivals are replaced by new religious and
political festivals therefore traditional dances
and songs are becoming sadly obsolete. The
Mizoram government and Art and Culture department
is to be complimented for holding such an
important meeting for the Zo people so as to
preserve and develop the Zo cultural heritage.
The Chief Minister of Mizoram State, Pu
Lalthanhawla has one of the most difficult jobs
in India and perhaps in the world. While villages
like Mimbung beg for paved roads, electricity,
schools, hospitals, and telephone, the villagers
themselves contribute little to the state coffer.
They live like their forefathers concerning
mainly to cultivate rice with the slash and burn
method destroying their environment.
Mizoram State has a budget deficit of 89 % or 55
crores rupees. Thus the Chief Minister is on the
one hand very concerned that the villagers should
get what the modern industry offer but on the
other hand his hands are tied because the Indian
central government demands that he contributes
something back. He is balancing on a tight rope.
He is very concerned with the environmental
destruction and the too little incentive shown by
the people for progress.
I also had a chance to tell the people about life
in America. I emphasize that progress in America
is the result of individual incentives.
Therefore I encouraged them to take initiatives.
Without their incentives there will be no
progress I told them. They should not depend
too much on the government for their development.
It is time for them to change their method of
cultivation and most importantly their way of
thinking.
After three days of watching and participating in
the singing and dancing, the time has again come
for a bumpy ride back to Aizawl. In the mean
time, however most of muddy roads had been
repaired most obviously because the Chief
Minister was traveling and what a shame for the
Public Works Department to have the roads in such
a condition.
Meeting the leaders of the
Chin National Front
It took me 5 days on foot from the last possible
jeep ride in Mizoram State to reach the
headquarters of the Chin National Front, in
Paletwa district, Chin state, Burma. I stayed
there two days, the 11 and 12th of February,
1995. I met the central committee of the Chin
National Front (CNF). The leaders of the CNF
are:
President Roger Biak Hlei Thang
Chief of Staff T.K. Thomas
Vice Chief of Staff Jing Cung
Foreign secretary Dr. Sui Khar
General secretary Benjamin Turing.
The CNF was founded in mid 1980 by Pu Tial Khar,
a former member of the Mizo National Front. No
Than Kap alias John Khaw Kim Thang was the
foreign spokesman until 1988. With the people's
uprising in 1988 several hundred students, Chin
and Burman combined fled from Burma and the Chin
State to Mizoram. Some students joined the CNF.
No Than Kap, who declared himself president of
the CNF, when he visited Manarplaw, was well
liked by the students thus he became the
president of the CNF after 1988. In 1993 Roger
Biak Hlei Thang took over the presidency of the
CNF.
In meeting with the central committee of the CNF
I gain the following impressions. ( President
Roger Biak Hlei Thang was not at the camp at the
time of my visit.)
1. The leaders of the CNF were students in Burma
during the 1980s and they experienced the
brutality and stupidity of the Burma Socialist
Program Party regime with ever declining living
standard in Burma. They were driven by the wish
of making Burma a democratic country. Thus their
primary objective is the democratization of
Burma.
2. The CNF also realize that the administrative
system existed in Burma serve only the interest
of the majority Burman. U Nu and the AFPFL
government adopted the colonial administration,
the central government was the colonial power
with the states as its subjects. The democracy
that existed under the AFPFL was not a genuine
democracy and the quasi-federalism that the
Burman created was far from genuine federalism.
The government under U Nu groomed General Ne Win
to become a dictator.
The Burma Army was always independent in carrying
their brutality against the Karen, Mon, Karenni,
Shan and other ethnic groups. The so called
democratic government did not find political
solutions to the ethnic problem, similar to the
SLORC today. Burma was balkanized. Then the
military dictatorships put the country under
central control with no right for Chins to rule
themselves. Thus the CNF is fighting for equality
and self-determination and should this be not
possible they opt for a separate sovereign state
for the CHIN, an independent CHINLAND.
3. During the 47 years that the Chin joined
Burma there had been little improvements in the
living condition of the Chins. The schools and
the hospitals sanctioned by the Burman were of
low quality. The schools lack facilities and
qualified teachers and the students from the
schools in the Chin Hills can not compete with
the students of urban Burmese schools. The
result is the denial of Chins by the educational
system of the BSPP and SLORC from becoming
doctors, engineers, and other prestigious
professions.
4. The Burman are incapable of running the
country by themselves without the cooperation of
the ethnic minorities. Ne Win and the BSPP were
jealous of the rich Europeans, Indians, and
Chinese, who were successful businesspeople. But
it is not the Burmese way to compete. They SLORC
and BSPP simply kick these hardworking people out
of the country and try to dominate the ethnic
minorities. Now the generals of the Burma Army
are rich but not because they work hard but
because they know how to steal from the state.
Sadly, under Burmese leadership Burma is not
going to progress like its neighboring countries.
The people of Burma can expect any kind of
economic progress only if the Burman share the
political leadership in Burma.
The activities of the CNF are:
1. The members of the CNF see as
their duty to educate the Chin people on the true
condition of Chin. They want the Chin villagers
to know that they should stop expecting help from
Burma because the rulers of Burma do not know
how to help themselves how they help the Chins?
They know only how to destroy. In 47 years they
have destroyed what the British had built. They
have shown no ability to run the country and
therefore the Chin should not expect any help
from Burma.
2. The CNF's message is to tell the Chin that
development of the Chin is left to themselves.
The Chin have to drive for self-reliance and for
their own self-sufficiency.
3. The CNF encourages the Chin to change their
way of cultivation. Emphasize should be on cash
crops, and the conservation of fruits and
vegetables. Systematic cultivation using
agricultural expertise.
4. The CNF is very concerned with the
environment. Cutting wood indiscriminately in
the Chin Hills has caused so much soil erosion.
Today in some areas of the Chin Hills even
firewood is difficult to obtain. The problem can
be solved only by regulations. Replanting of
trees and restricting cutting of woods or making
new forest reserves.
5. The Chin people should feel responsible for
the improvement of roads, education, and health
care. For example instead of complaining that the
Burmese government is not allowing them to teach
their own Chin language in the schools, the Chin
villagers should teach the youngsters by
themselves by opening evening schools.
6. The CNF also teaches the villagers the evil
of Burma's military dictatorship. They speak
about democracy, federalism, and the current
condition in Burma.
7. Since Burma's independence Burma has not
produced a single credible and honest politician.
The only one that comes close is Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, but she was illegally detained before
she could be tested of her honesty, ability, and
credibility.
8. All-in-all the main occupation of the CNF is
a non-violence activity. They are teaching
political, social, and economical realities of
the Chin. They stress their goal of making the
Chin a self-reliance and self-sufficient society.
9. As CNF visits remote villages they come face
to face with realities of life in the under-
developed Chin State. They saw with their own
eyes the lives, the difficulties, and hardship
faced by Chin families in remote villages. They
experience the poverty and the despair. There are
many parents who have more dead children than
live ones. They learn the diseases and the
shortage of medicine. One of the activities of
the CNF is therefore to bring basic medicine to
the villagers. against diarrhea, malaria,
headache, or wound dressing.
Conclusion: The Chin National Front is a
political defiance organization. Their aim is
not a military victory but rather a victory
through political, social, and economic
education. They are armed but it is to protect
themselves from the brutality of the Tatmadaw.
General condition in the Chin State
The SLORC followed the footsteps of the AFPFL
government and the Burma Socialist Programme
Party and put the Chin state under the direct
rule of the SLORC. Thus the Chin state is under
direct Burmese central control without any Chin
participation to decide matters concerning the
Chin. The living condition of the Chin has gone
from poor during the early years of independence
to extremely poor under the SLORC. The
authorities from Burma had built a 15 mile long
paved road for the Chin in 47 years. Recently the
SLORC signed an agreement with India in order to
improve the border trade. The Indian government
agreed to build roads connecting Champhai and
Falam, Kalemyo and Champhai, and Mohree and
Kalemyo because the Burmese government is too
bankrupt to take such an undertaking.
The Chin have desperately tried to change their
way of life. They built roads connecting
villages but oil dried out in Burma. They
produced silkworms but soon they produced too
much and there was no market for it. They
produced apples in good quantities but
transportation eat up the earning. Orange rot in
the fields because there is no buyer.
Conservation of fruits was not known in the Chin
Hills. The Chin need guidance for improvement.
SLORC and Foreign Exchange
Inflation eats up the value of the Burmese kyat.
The hardest hit are public servants whose salary
is fixed by the SLORC. The monthly salary of
government servants are so low that a gazette
officers salary just barely buy rice for him and
his wife. A clerk can not buy rice to feed him
and his wife. There is absolutely nothing to do
for the people. The new rich in Burma are those
seamen, who are lucky enough to land a job as a
laborer in the ocean going vessels. Many people
invest all their belongings and money to go out
of the country and look for work.
There are thousands and thousands of Burmese in
Thailand, some say over 250,000. Using Thailand
as a stepping stone they try to go to Japan,
Korea, Singapore and Malaysia to look for work.
Faked passports are available at the Thai black
market. Visa to enter the United States or
Europe exchanges hands at several thousand
dollars a piece. Japan seems to be the most
prestigious place, and visas to Japan are sold at
premium price of some ten thousand dollars.
Many Chin left their hills, sold everything and
anything they own so that they could go to
Singapore, Malaysia, Korea or Japan. From the
small village of Limkhai, which has about 300
population, 35 of them or over 10 percent of the
village population, landed in Malaysia and work
illegally. There are over 1000 Chins (close to
100,000 from the whole of Burma) working in
Malaysia.
Whether in Thailand or Malaysia people from Burma
are hunted by the police. In Malaysia the police
sent these illegal workers from Burma to the
airport to be deported. Some escaped deportation
by bribing but many Malay police did not accept
bribe. Thai police can easily recognized a Burman
including Chin from the way he walks or look, and
the Thai police love to get some bribe from him.
Some Chin worked in Thailand for several years
but every time they were arrested money or bribe
was paid. This cycle consumed any money they
earned. Thus the Burman including the Chin are
the most looked down people in Thailand and
Malaysia.
The people from Burma (there are about 100 Chin)
who are lucky enough to land in Japan. Those who
landed in Japan usually earn more money than
other countries. There are high school
headmasters or dentist, who gave up their jobs in
Burma to work in Japan as laborers. Their salary
in Burma did not buy them even rice for the
family. Many more laborers would have gone to
Japan but the Japanese could no more be fooled.
They just refused Burmese citizens to enter Japan
unless properly documented. It is shameful to
hold a Burmese passport. No land welcome them
with dignity.
But these laborers are one of the most important
source of foreign exchange for the SLORC. They
have to pay the SLORC ten percent of their
monthly income. The Burmese Embassy simply refuse
to renew their passport and the reentry into
Burma barred if they do not pay their income tax
to the regime. The laborers from Burma share
apartments, living together ten or twenty people
in one apartment to save money. And these
undocumented laborers in Japan, Malaysia, and
Thailand send their hard earned money home
bringing the much needed foreign exchange to the
SLORC. That was why the regime allowed so many
people to go out of the country. They profited
from it.
SLORC's Religious
Persecution
When the SLORC studied the ethnic landscape of
the Union of Burma, Chin State is the only state
or division, where the people are of one
ethnicity. While most of the people in the
states and divisions profess Buddhism, Chin Hills
is the exception. Even in Kachinland a
substantial percent of the population are
Buddhists. But not in the Chin State.
Christianity and animists are the dominant
religions with Buddhists counting to less than
0.01 percent. The SLORC, therefore, is attacking
this condition by religious persecution. The
SLORC is increasing the number of soldiers
stationed in the Chin State from about 100
soldiers in 1988 to some 7000 today. There is a
battalion in every major town.
The main purpose of the SLORC army seem to be the
burmanizing of the Chins. Some believes that
massive militarization of the Chin State is to
guard the heroin refineries in the Chin State. In
the last two years Christian Crosses, which were
placed in Chin landmarks were torn down and were
replaced with Buddhist shrines.
Christians from the northern Chin State were
sending missionaries to the southern part, where
most of the people profess animism, under the
project of Chin Christianity in One Century
(CCOC), The CCOC were successful in converting
the animists to Christianity until two years ago,
when the SLORC stopped the project. The SLORC
Army then launched its religious persecution.
They prohibit Christian missionaries and
evangelists including the CCOC from the northern
Chin State to go to the south. The SLORC then
sent Buddhist monks to the southern Chin state.
The SLORC soldiers on seeing the CCOC workers
stripped them of their white uniforms. Some women
missionaries had to walk to the next village
wearing only their underwear as the Burman
soldiers confiscated all their other clothing.
SLORC soldiers, who are posted in the Chin State,
are promised promotions if they marry Chin women,
and if they convert the women to Buddhism. The
soldiers who are sent to the Chin Hills are young
and single. Though these soldiers do not
understand the Chin language, Churches in the
Chin Hills are full of soldiers during services.
The soldiers attend the Churches in order to come
in contact with the girls. The same method of
burmanization was practiced in the Shan State
during the early 1950s, which was one of the
reasons of the Shan armed uprising. The SLORC
hope that with this kind of racial and religious
manipulation, they could make the Chin angry
enough to rise up against them.
The Chin people have not rebelled against the
central government and the Burma Army had no
chance to destroy Chin Hills. The SLORC having
cease-fire arrangement with many resistance
groups intend to show their might and cruelty to
the Chins. They have to instigate and provoke
the Chin to get angry. The instant the Chin
showed some resistant movement the SLORC is
planning to strike. Their mission is to destroy
the Chin. If the trend continues a religious
conflict is unavoidable.
Higher Education for Chin Youth
For the last three years the SLORC authorities
collected several hundred youngsters by deceiving
their poor Christian parents by promising to give
higher education to the children. These children
were taken to proper Burma where they kept in
detention and not allowing the parents,
relatives, and friends to see them. These
innocent children were forced to convert to
Buddhism by making them Buddhist novices without
the consent of the parents. The SLORC is
practicing spiritual robbery to the Chin
children.
On May 30, 1994 the chairman of the SLORC in
Thlanthlang demanded from the chairmen of
village peace associations youths under the age
of 14 years to be sent to Rangoon or Thlantlang
for purpose of giving them higher education.
Emphasis was made on the non-religious
discrimination irrelevance of their religion.
Thus six children:See Photo
1. Biak Tha Fam
2. Bawi Thawng
3. Par Tin Rem
4. Dawt Tin Sung
5. Ni Ro Pui
6. Ceng Bik Thang
from Thlantlang area were sent to the SLORC
office at Thlantlang. The SLORC sent the six
children to Rangoon where they were placed in a
monastery and were forced to become Buddhist
novices. However, the girls refused their heads
to be shaved. When the parents learned the fate
of the children they went to Rangoon to reclaim
their children. The SLORC refused to return the
children. Because the parents of three children
brought letters of recommendations for the
children to be returned to them, they were
allowed to see their parents, although they were
refused to return home. The other three, whose
parents were without the recommendations from
SLORC in Thlantlang, were not allowed to see the
parents. They were held captive. All the
parents pleaded with the SLORC authorities to
spend Christmas together with their children. It
was in vain.
SLORC's offer of brotherhood to the Chin
The Burma Army today consist almost purely of
ethnic Burman as the Chin and other ethnic groups
kept away from the Burma Army as they are
discriminated in promotions and duty assignments.
There is not a single officer from the non-Burman
who reach the rank of a Brigadier.
The SLORC army units in the Chin state roamed the
country side. They accused young people in the
villages of belonging to anti- government forces
such as the CNF. They beat up the young people.
They went into peoples homes and took anything
they want: rice, beans, clothing, pots and pans.
They told the villagers that they are "beggar
soldiers" to justify their looting. They shot
villagers' pigs and they catch chicken. They
did not pay for anything. If somebody protested
the SLORC soldiers beat up the person. For
example: The headman of Haicin village Pu Suan
Khan Thang fled to Hiangtui village in Mizoram,
India after he was badly beaten by the SLORC
soldiers.
The SLORC Army also demanded porters and laborers
from villages. Forced porterage and forced labor
is the trade mark of the SLORC. Their demands
become more inhuman as they go farther away from
the towns. For example: A SLORC Army unit went
to the village of Laungadu in the Paletwa
district and demanded three girls. When the
village headman refused to supply the girls the
headman was executed. The villagers then ran
across the border to Bangladesh. The Laungadu
village was ethnically mixed between Chin and
Arakanese. When the villagers fled to Bangladesh
the Chin village in Bangladesh welcomed the Chin
group so they were given land for cultivation.
The Arakanese were however, were not allowed to
settle among the Chins, so the Arakanese moved to
south of Mizoram where they settled for the time
being.
SLORC and CNF Clashes
The CNF people stationed themselves at border of
India and Burma (Mizoram and Chin State) at Tio
Sakhan. On February 2, 1995 the CNF members saw
the Burmese immigration officer beating up a man
from the Chin State. So the CNF in turn beat up
the immigration officer. The soldiers of the
SLORC Army Battalion 89, who were stationed
nearby saw the beating of the immigration officer
by the CNF soldiers. There was an exchange of gun
fire. Bawi Kham a CNF soldier was hit. Bawi Kham
rolled under a jeep and killed himself by
exploding a hand grenade.( He rolled himself
under the jeep so as not to hurt other people
with his suicide.) Some members of the CNF had
been taken into custody by the SLORC army and
they have endured the torture methods of the
Military Intelligence Service. They decided that
they would be better off to take their own lives
than be captured and tortured by the MIS.
Burmese Courage
In June 1994, a unit of the CNF and a unit of
SLORC Army Battalion 50 from Gangaw met
accidentally at the village of Daljaling in the
Matupi district. There was an exchange of
gunfire. A SLORC soldier was wounded, by which
time the SLORC army retreated to the top of the
village mountain. The CNF retired not far from
the village. The SLORC army unit bombarded the
village with mortar. The leader of the SLORC
Army, a Captain said while bombarding the
village, "If somebody dies it will be Chins."
Four villagers were wounded in the attack.
Burmese courage!
In May 1994, the CNF was collecting border tax on
the road between Tedim and Tonzang. As there
were several pony's carrying the goods from India
to the Chin Hills, the CNF closed the road and a
sentry was posted. While they were negotiating
how much the tax should be, a jeep approached
from Tedim side. The sentry knew that it was a
civilian jeep. But when the jeep came close to
the sentry, the realized that the passengers of
the jeep were members of the SLORC Army. He shot
at the jeep. The driver, who was the owner of
the jeep and the commanding officer of the SLORC
Army battalion in Tedim were hit. The jeep was
taken by force by the SLORC Army unit. The driver
died. The CNF fled from the scene because
another vehicle was approaching with more
soldiers.
The SLORC Army unit accused the traders of
helping the students (CNF) and confiscated all
the goods including the ponies.
Rape Cases
There were two rape cases since the start of the
year 1995. In Haka a young girl of 12 years of
age was cutting firewood with her mother at the
outskirts of the Haka town. A group of SLORC
soldiers raped both of them. The young girl died
at the hospital from internal bleeding. The
mother could not identify the rapists because she
was blindfolded. The SLORC authorities did not
pursue the case because the mother could not
identify the rapists.
In Matupi a girl porter was raped by SLORC
soldiers. When the girl reported to the SLORC
authorities she was given 5000 kyats and was
asked to keep quiet.
SLORC's Forced Labor
Under the SLORC's border area development program
the Pakokku-Kalemyo railway line construction
was started four years ago. From the start the
villagers of the area had been forced to provide
their labor. Each household has to contribute a
laborer for a certain period mostly one to two
weeks. The demand was sometimes continuous.
Within a period of six months some families have
to provide four or five times which leave them no
time to cultivate their own fields. The fine of
1300 kyats payable if a family cannot provide the
laborer. However, the fine is not affordable to
most families. It is already difficult for most
of them to take their own rations for the
duration of their assignment and pay the cost of
transportation.
At the construction site soldiers of the SLORC
Army guard the laborers with bamboo sticks or
canes to control the progress of the work. The
soldiers often beat the workers.
How much the soldiers could use their power
against the laborers might be exemplified by one
incident which happened in December of 1994.
Because her husband was away when the SLORC
authorities demanded their labor. The young Chin
woman had to go to the construction because she
had no body to look after her baby and because
she was breast feeding the baby. She kept her
baby close to work site as there was nobody to
look after the baby. At break times she breast
fed her baby. One day the baby was so hungry
that it was still sucking the breast when the
soldiers called the workers to begin their work.
As the baby was still sucking, the mother did not
join the others. A soldier came and kicked the
woman and demanded she joined the others
immediately. So she put down the baby and joined
the others. However the baby was crying so badly
that she went back to the baby and breast fed
some more. This time the soldier came with a
knife and cut off her breasts. She later died
of her wounds.
Over 1000 people have been killed by the
brutality of the SLORC soldiers and through the
lack of food and medicine since the start of the
railway line between Pakokku and Kalemyo.
Chin Political Prisoners
Religious persecution seem to be one of the main
targets of the SLORC. As mentioned earlier the
propagation of Buddhism is the main objective of
stationing the SLORC Army in the Chin State.
They look for clues to protect the interest of
Buddhism thereby incriminating the Christian
worshippers. Promotions in the SLORC Army or
civilian departments were conditioned on
conversion to Buddhism. Chin high ranking
officers had converted to Buddhism before they
were given promotion. Prominent among them were
Colonel Van Kulh, Brigadier General Tuang Za
Khai, and Colonel Pau Khan Thang. Where as they
officially kneel and bow before the Buddhist
statues these high ranking army officers pray in
the name of Jesus at home.
The SLORC clearly prefers the religion, started
by an Indian, Buddhism, than the religion started
by a Jew, Christianity.
In January 1995 an Assembly of God evangelist Pu
Pum Khan Thang
was arrested in Tedim. The reason: the MIS
confiscated a book at the Tedim bazaar. They
traced the source of the book to the children of
Pu Pum Khan Nang. The children had brought the
book for sale at the bazaar. The pages of the
could be used as wrapping paper.
On the title page of the book was a picture of
Jesus on top of a Hindu clergy man in wrestling
match. The book was most likely printed in
India.
Pu Pum Khan Thang was arrested in Tedim and bail
was refused. He was transferred to Monywa jail,
the MIS torture chamber, where he sits now.
Pastor Pauno
Pastor Pauno was an evangelist with no
affiliation. He was free- lancing in the Naga-
Hkamti areas. He was very successful in
converting the Nagas that it alarmed the SLORC
authorities in the area. Thus the MIS sent its
agents and Buddhist monks in order to study how
to counter his teaching. However in a short
period of time Pastor Pauno converted the MIS
agents and the Buddhist monks to Christianity.
The SLORC authorities therefore arrested him in
Hkamti and transferred him to Monywa jail. Why
Monywa jail? Because it has the MIS facilities
of torture. This is the reason why these
religious and political prisoners are sent to
Monywa.
Pauno was in contact with jail mates U San Thein
and U San Kyi Lwin, who were Christian
evangelists from Arakan, and who were arrested in
the Chin Hills (Falam) and jailed also in lined
with SLORC's religious persecution. U San Thein
and U San Kyi Lwin were released at the beginning
of this year after they served over three years
in Monywa jail.
Pastor Pauno was severely tortured that he has
lost the will to live. He therefore requested U
San Thein and U San Kyi Lwin to pray for him to
die soon.
Political Prisoner: Za Renh Lian
Za Renh Lian, who was born in 1978, was arrested
in Haka on November 3, 1993 for sticking posters
in the town of Haka. The poster were written by
himself. It said: " Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the
National League for Democracy will become the
Government and YOU will be beheaded".
He was sentenced to a three years jail term and
sent to Monywa jail. That means he had to go
through the serial MIS torture procedures.(He was
15 years old when he was arrested.)
General observations
1. I met the student refugees in Aizawl, Burmese
as well as Chin. They were in Mizoram since 1988.
Because they were given quarters in Champai
village, they were not expected to go anywhere
else in Mizoram. Some of them had been arrested
for being in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram.
They have no difficulties communicating with the
Chins, and there are also plenty of girls
according to some of them. Some students open a
tea shop in Aizawl and make their living. One
wish they expressed was that they would very much
like to attend classes and take some courses.
So I went to Mizoram government ministries. I
met Pu Zosiama, the minister for education, but
he told me to go to the Chief Minister. The Chief
Minister in turn told me that I would have to go
to Dr. Silva, the Minister in the central
government. Because I did not go to New Delhi, I
could not see Dr. Silva. I requested Ni Ni Lian
of the Chin Over Seas Organization to see Dr.
Silver. I hope something can be done for the
student refugees. I believe that we have a
chance because those students who applied for
political asylum in New Delhi with the UNHCR were
granted the permission to attend schools or
universities.
2. There are probably around 50,000 refugees
from the Chin State in Mizoram State. These are
not necessarily political refugees. Most of them
came to Mizoram because there is nothing to do in
Burma and the Chin State. Some came because they
can not survive on the salary they earn in Burma.
Many of science teachers in Mizoram came from
the Chin State. In Aizawl many people work as
weavers. Even the Member of Parliament from
Monywa is working as a weaver in Aizawl.
Definitely it is better for him to work than
spending time jail in Burma. 1 in 20 are
political refugees.
These refugees expressed their wish to be active
in politics to bring down the SLORC and to do
something for the people. But they seem to have
no clue to what they could do. They would like
to be in an organization that fights for
democracy and federalism in Burma. They believe
that by forming an organization their main job is
done. Here there is definitely something that
need attention.
3. Many people are aiming at many unrealistic
aims, for example the students in Manipur have
the wish to unite their area with the Paite
speaking areas bordering them and the Tedim
district of the Chin State, where the Paite
dialect of Zo language is spoken. They want
this state to be a sovereign state by itself.
Overall, the situation for the Chin people is
getting worse. Economically the situation remains
terrible. The Tatmadaw terror of the villagers
is so bad that some villagers begged me to ask
CNF to stop fighting...and other villagers had
the opposite request to fight along side of CNF
as soon as possible. Politically, the Chin have
no say in their own affairs. Persecution of
Christians is increasing. Many Chins are losing
their culture from Burmanification and
Christianification.
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NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BF: BURMA FORUM
BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
CPPSM:C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
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