KHRG #96-23

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	 FORCED RELOCATION IN CENTRAL SHAN STATE

  An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
	  June 25, 1996     /     KHRG #96-23

[PART 4 OF 6 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT & APPENDIX]

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				  #11.
NAME:    "Phra Wi Yaw Na"    SEX: M    AGE: 47        Shan Buddhist monk
ADDRESS: Nam Ho Hai village, Lai Kha township         INTERVIEWED: 31/5/96

Nam Ho Hai village is east of Lai Kha town, not near any road.  Our
temple had one monk and 20 novices.  We left the village on March 4th.
The Burmese soldiers came to the monastery.  They said to the monks:
"The village must move.  If we come back again and the village hasn't
moved we will burn the village and the monastery."  They said this to the
monks, then they went into Wan Ho Hai [i.e. into the village; the
monastery is outside the village].  They said that to everyone.  They
[SLORC soldiers] said there are 90 MTA soldiers near the village, and if
those MTA soldiers surrender then the village doesn't have to move.  If the
90 MTA do not surrender, the village has to move.  These MTA soldiers
were near the village, out in the jungle.  The Burmese gave us 8 days.  If
we
didn't move within 8 days, the Burmese soldiers would burn the village.

Q:  Did the soldiers come into the temple?
A:  They did not bring their weapons inside [the temple building], but they
were in the compound.  Wherever the Burmese soldiers go they carry their
weapons.  They had them hanging from their shoulders. They had the
straps over their shoulders and were holding them pointed like this.
[Hanging by the strap but held pointed in firing position.]  In their
country
they are obedient to Buddhism, but when they arrive in our villages they
think we are just jungle people with no knowledge, that we are just MTA
villages.  So when they arrive they are afraid of Shan or MTA, and they are
always on the alert.

If they see villagers running away they shoot their guns.  When they came
to Nam Lin village they saw villagers running and they shot their guns but
they didn't hit anyone.  Six villages were ordered to move, and Nam Lin
was one of them.  The others are Pah Mai, Bang Hsa, Nam Ho Hai, Bang
Ka, Gong Mong, all six villages in the area were ordered to move to Bang
Paen village.  Another one [ordered to move there] is Wan Tsee Tsoh.

First we moved to Gong Mong, the villagers were there for 15 days and
made their huts, they hadn't finished their huts, and then the Burmese
soldiers ordered them to move to M'Lang.  They were in M'Lang just a few
days, then they were ordered to move to Bang Paen.  To Gong Mong is 2
kilometres.  Gong Mong is not far from the car road.  From Gong Mong to
M'Lang is about 1 kilometre.  Bang Paen is very near there, about 20 miles
from Lai Kha and 10 miles west of Mong Nong.  Bang Paen is not near the
car road, but it is a big village.  The fifty households of Gong Mong and
about 50 households of M'Lang also moved to Bang Paen.  They all moved
together.  Six other villages were moved to Bang Paen.  Each village moved
had about 50 households.

The Burmese soldiers are not in Bang Paen, they are in Wan Tsing.  Wan
Tsing, Mong Yang, and Bang Paen are all near each other.  The Burmese
soldiers from Wan Tsing ordered us to move.  These soldiers are from Kun
Hing.  #524 [Battalion].

At Bang Paen the Burmese gave no place to stay, the people had to make it
themselves.  The Burmese soldiers don't allow them to farm.  They must go
to live in Bang Paen and there is no work for them.  They cannot go back
to their village.  They eat what they brought from the village, and those
who
have nothing borrow food from others.  When they have nothing more, I
don't know what they will do.  The Burmese give them nothing.  For now
the Burmese soldiers don't call them for work, but the soldiers are planning
to rebuild the bridge at Nam Wan.  The bridge is on the road from Mong
Nong to Lai Kha, 2 miles from Mong Nong.  It is an old bridge, but they
plan to rebuild it.  If they rebuild the bridge they will call the villagers
for labour to do it.

No one stayed in their villages.  Everyone moved.  They moved to Bang
Paen, Mong Yang, and Wan Tsim - the 3 villages.  The 3 villages are near
each other.  Some didn't obey and are hiding in the forest, but not in the
village. The Burmese soldiers didn't allow the villagers to take their
houses
apart [to re-use the building materials].  Their houses are still in the
village.  The Burmese soldiers said, "Just tie your 'kien ho' [Shan
headdress] on your house to mark it".  Now the people just have to build
huts to stay in Bang Paen or in the forest.  The soldiers said, "Do not
build
your huts well".  I don't know what is in the Burmese soldiers' hearts.
They
said if all the MTA surrender to them then the villagers can go back home.

We could not stay in our monastery.  They ordered the monks, "Move to
Bang Paen".  We share food but it is not enough.  We sold everything and
stayed together with the villagers in Bang Paen.  I don't know how the
future will be.  On April 21st, at night, I came from Bang Paen to Thailand.
On the way I saw people moving to stay in Hai Neng near Ko Lam, and in
Ko Lam many people were moving.  Ko Lam is between Nam Sang and
Kun Hing, near Kun Hing.

The Burmese soldiers are just trying to make the Shan people poor.  The
ninety Shan soldiers [near Wan Ho Hai village] will not surrender.  They
are Ker Lao's group [Ker Lao is with Yord Serk].
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				 #12.
NAME:    "Sai Wan Na"      SEX: M    AGE: 37          Shan Buddhist farmer
FAMILY:  Married, 2 children aged 8 and 15
ADDRESS: Bah San village, Chiang Tong township        INTERVIEWED: 31/5/96

["Sai Wan Na" had been working in Thailand for one year, then tried to
take his family home to their village in Shan State in April 1996.]

Just two days after the water festival we left and went back [on April 17].
By the time we got to the village where I was born, we found that all the
villagers were moving to different places.  I had my wife and children with
me, they followed with me everywhere.  We came to Thailand together, we
went back to our village together and we came back here again together.
By the time we got to our village everyone had moved already.  No one was
left.  I was shocked.  Nobody had told me.  I just arrived and it was empty.
There used to be about 120 families.

When I saw that no one was left, I went right away to the temple and the
monk told me "Your relatives moved already", so I followed them.  They
had moved to Ton Hoong village, about 2 kilometres away, on foot about
30 minutes.  Most of the people had gone there.  They were ordered to go
there.  They had 5 days to move.  At the end of 5 days the soldiers came to
check.  If there were chickens or pigs or cattle, they took them.  Including
the outskirts, Ton Hoong has more than 500 houses.  It is where 2 roads
meet - Nam Sang to Ton Hoong and Kun Hing to Ton Hoong, and Mong
Nai to Ton Hoong - 3 roads.  Ton Hoong is one of the quarters of Chiang
Tong.  In fact, there is no single place called 'Chiang Tong'.

All the villages had to move except for the only 3 villages that remain in
Chiang Tong area:  Ton Hoong, Kun Mong and Weng Kau.  All the others
had to move.  Around Bah San, Nong Tau, Nong Un, Wan Nong Nung,
Nam Un, Nam Tong, Nah Sah, Wan Tau, Wan Ka, Loi Lai, Ho Kun, and
Nah Pok villages were all supposed to move to Nong Hi village tract.  There
are three quarters in Chiang Tong - Nong Hi, Kun Mong, and Ton Hoong.
There are two Nong Hi's.

All the villagers have to find places on their own.  It's up to you.  Some
of
them stay at the monastery, or wherever they can.  By the time I arrived at
Ton Hoong there were many villagers there.  The quarter of Ton Hoong is
full of villagers, staying in every corner, everywhere.  In paddy field
shelters, and where the farmers pile their straw, even in the cattle
corrals,
people are staying everywhere.  By the time I got there it was raining very
heavily [throughout the region the monsoon rains began early this year, in
April].  Some of the villagers tried to bring their house construction
materials, but they have very few. When they get sick there is a hospital
but
there is no doctor there, so they have to rely on herbal medicine.  Some
have died.  First they had coughing, like lung problems.

The Burmese take all their rice, then ration it back to them.  They rotate,
each time they distribute rice to 50 families for 5 days.  People can go
back
to farm their fields, just for 5 days, one person at a time. After 5 days
you
need an extension.  At night the villagers have to guard the town perimeter,
always 2 villagers together with each Burmese soldier.  The families have to
rotate.  There is only one Battalion in Ton Hoong - #551.  Soon the
villagers will also have to build guardhouses for them.

We stayed for 8 days with my older sister and her family in Ton Hoong.
Five families of my relatives from Bah San were also staying in my sister's
house.  It is a 2 storey house.  Each family has 3, 4, or 5 people.
[Joking:] And in our country we have no medicine to prevent pregnancy
either!
There's not enough shelter or food or anything, but somehow people
survive.  The food in the market is brought from Nam Sang and Kun Hing
by bullock cart.  When they carry rice from Kun Hing to Nam Sang, each
person is not allowed to carry more than 5 litres of rice.  One pyi [about 2
kg.] is equal to 3 litres.  One litre is 25 kyats.  It's expensive.  It used
to be 12.  In the end, no one will be left in Chiang Tong area if it goes on
like this.

I intended to live there again, not just visit.  But due to the situation
there I decided to come back to Thailand again.  I was upset that I couldn't
go back and live in our old village and I had to come back here again.  The
rest of my relatives also want to come here, but they can't afford the
expense
of the journey.  It costs 8,000 Kyat to come from Chiang Tong to Thailand;
truck fares, ferry fare to cross the Salween, and money to pass the
checkpoints.  We also have to pay the soldiers.  Some try to come, they even
carry the older people on their backs, but along the way their money runs
out
or they can't carry anymore, and they have to turn around and go back.  Some
of the richer people from the villages also can't go anywhere, because they
have too many valuable properties there.  They try to sell it but no one
will
buy it, so they cannot leave there.
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				#13.
1) NAME: "Phra Wi Lay Ka"       SEX: M   AGE: 36    Shan Buddhist monk
2) NAME: "Phra Kay Ma Sa Ra"    SEX: M   AGE: 19    Shan Buddhist monk
ADDRESS: Mong Nong town, Kay See Township           INTERVIEWED: 31/5/96

"Phra Wi Lay Ka":  Eighteen village tracts around Mong Nong were
forced to move.  Five village tracts south of Mong Nong - Mong Song,
Keng Hau, Bung Tsan, Mong Lim, and Nong Tau village tracts - had to
move to Mong Hong.  Two village tracts, Wan Tung and Nong Ya, had to
move to Mong Nong.  West of Mong Nong, King Hae and Mong Yai
village tracts moved to Mong Nong.  Mong Nang, Mong Bon, Wan It, and
Nong Wo tracts moved to Mong Nang village.  North of Mong Nong, Wan
Hai and Hong Tsan village tracts moved to Wan Luoi Nam Hong.  Duh Ya,
Mun Kam, and Nah So tracts moved to Mwee Taw.  The others I can't
remember.  Each village tract has many villages.  Some have 5 villages,
some have 2, some have 10 villages.  All of them have to move.

We live in the town of Mong Nong.  Two village tracts had to move there,
Wan Tung and Nong Ya, on 16 March 1996.  From the 16th to the 18th of
March they ordered all the villages to finish moving.  The villagers were
all
ordered to finish moving by no-moon day of the 4th Shan month [18
March].  The Burmese gave them a place to stay but they didn't give any
food to eat.  They gave them a place to stay in the forest outside the town.
It's just an empty space.  The villagers cannot go back home.  If they go
back the soldiers will shoot and kill them.  There is no work for them.

Each village tract was moved to a different place.  One near Mong Nong is
15 rai [4-5 acres], and there was also one of 5 rai [1-2 acres].  Nam
Wong, Mwee Toh, Wing Kau, and Mong Nang [relocation sites] are near
Mong Nong.  Another is Nong Aye.  The soldiers stay in Nam Wong, near
Mong Nong.  Sometimes they go to Wan Kai.  They also stay in Muong
Mae and Bang Pon.  They are from Kun Hing.  #524 Battalion.  The
soldiers who gave the orders to move stay north of Mong Nong, in Wan Ho
Na.  They are from Pang Long, #249 Battalion.  The soldiers don't stay a
long time, they are always changing.  The soldiers order people to make
fences for their Army camp, to clear the roadsides, to make roads for the
Army and to stand sentry along the roads.  The road is from Lai Kha to
Mong Hsu.  All of the people are used for this work, the relocated people
and the people who live there have to rotate.

Q:  Do the people who had to move have food to eat?
"Phra Wi Lay Ka":  No, not enough.  They weren't given any food, they
just eat what they brought from their villages.  Some have to beg for food.
There is no work.  Some monks came to our temple.  Everyone had to
leave the villages, including the monks.  They are all going and staying in
other temples.  The Burmese soldiers said in 3 months they will let the
people go back home.  They say that within 3 months they will destroy all
the Shan soldiers.  We ran away.  We didn't want to see the people being
oppressed like that.

[At this point he began referring to notes he had made in his diary.]  On
18 March 1996 they ordered people to guard the Mong Nong-Lai Kha road
from Mong Nong to Hai Seng, about 11 kilometres going west.  They
ordered every household to go.  If they didn't go they were punished.  They
ordered them to guard day and night for 5 days and nights.  That was
during the relocation time.  They said it was to see if MTA soldiers crossed
the road.  They divided the people into groups of 4 or 5 to guard the road.
They had to stand guard at places about one kilometre distance apart, as far
as you can see - on corners, closer together.  If a person guarding saw an
MTA soldier cross the road they had to report it up the line to the Burmese
soldiers.  There were men and women guarding the road together.  Also
children 10 years old guarding the road, and old men 60, 70 and 80 years
old.  On 18 March 1996 at night, between 7 or 8 o'clock and 6 o'clock in
the morning, about 30 Burmese soldiers from Pang Long, #249 Battalion,
came and shot the people who were guarding the road.  Three people were
wounded.  The wounded people were Sai Tu, age 16, Sai Kya, age 25, and
Sai Mun, age 15.  One was wounded in the hand, the other two also not
seriously.  Later they said it was Shan soldiers who did this shooting.  We
know the Burmese shot, but the Burmese soldiers want to make the Shan
villagers see the MTA as being very cruel.  They said "Even though Khun
Sa surrendered there are still Khun Sa's soldiers around, and that is why
you have to guard this road."  Three people were shot and wounded, but
not dead.  After that, the Burmese came to them and said, "See?  These
were shot by MTA".  They went to the villagers and said, "Those who shot
you were MTA.  If you say you were shot by us, you'll be killed".  The
Burmese Army said "If the Khun Sa members don't surrender, you will
always have to guard the road."  They are making it so Shan people cannot
live anymore and will disappear.  They want to conquer Shan State.

If the MTA come and the people don't report it they'll be punished.  If the
dogs bark in a village, the Burmese say that the MTA soldiers have come in
the village and they come in the village and kill the dogs, and then they go
to the headman and say "There are MTA soldiers in your village, why didn't
you report it to us?", and punish him.  They make many problems for
people.  One man went to the forest to cut trees, and they took him and
killed him.  I don't remember the date.

They also order girls to go and sew their uniforms.  They cannot do it in
their home, they must go do it at the army camp - each day, 2 girls.  That
is
#249 Battalion.  The girls have to go from 6 o'clock in the morning until 4
o'clock in the evening, then they can come back.  They sew the Burmese
soldiers' uniforms.  For one year already, the girls have to rotate and
every
day 2 girls have to go.  They took a villager's sewing machine to keep in
their Army camp.  They also take people's video machines to watch videos.
Each day one man has to take a video and TV to their camp to show
videos, day and night.  If they run out of [generator] fuel, they collect
money from the people to buy more fuel.  Also, between 8 o'clock and 12
o'clock at night the village has to supply electric power to the Army camp
[from their generators, apart from the power for the TV/video].  From 8
o'clock to 12 o'clock at night, if the villagers go out they must carry an
oil
lamp or else they will be punished.  After 10 o'clock you cannot go outside.
It has been like this for one year now.

On the [Lai Kha-Mong Hsu] road, if there are no Burmese soldiers on a
car the checkpoints take 250 or 270 Kyat per person from the driver, and
90 Kyat for motorcycles.  The trucks run between Taunggyi and Mong
Hsu.  Mong Hsu is a place where people dig for rubies.  The place where
people dig for rubies is east of Mong Hsu, and there are relocations
happening west of Mong Hsu.  There are SSA [Shan State Army] soldiers
there.  I don't know why they are moving villages there.  Even though SSA
has a deal with the Burmese, still they are under the pressure of the
Burmese.  [SSA has had a ceasefire with SLORC for several years, but
even so relocations are being conducted in their area to cut more of their
civilian support base.]  The SSA are not close to the ruby mines, they are
far from where people dig.  They're not close to Mong Hsu town.

They're relocating villagers in the south, but we heard they're doing
relocations around Mu Seh and Nam Kham also [on Shan State's northern
border with China].  They're doing relocations everywhere in Shan State,
not in the towns but in the countryside.  Also at Lang Ker, Mong Nong,
Nong Long, west of Kun Hing, and around Nam Sang.  Especially all the
areas where MTA operated, they are clearing them out.

Q:  Do SLORC soldiers come to your temple in Mong Nong?
"Phra Wi Lay Ka":  They just come and visit it.  They don't come to
make offerings.  They go to their own temples, in Burma.  They don't come to
ours, except when the villagers have a celebration.  If there's no specific
reason, they won't come to make merit.  They come in, they ask nothing
and say nothing, they just look around to see if there are MTA soldiers.
When the soldiers come into the countryside, they have no religion.  If
anything happens in the temple they don't take their boots off, they just
come in and enter the temple.  They take care about that only when they're
in their own towns.  When they go in the temple they take their weapons,
without taking their boots off, and they search in the rooms.  They are so
rude.

Q:  Do they build their own pagodas in the area?
"Phra Wi Lay Ka":  Yes they did, near Mong Nong and Mong Hsu.  In
Loi Hseng [the ruby mining area near Mong Hsu], each time a new Major
comes he hangs up a sign and receives offerings [for the pagoda],
whenever people are making merit he sits and accepts offerings, and then
when he has enough money he goes home and uses it for himself.  For 3
years this pagoda has been under construction, and it's not finished yet.
It's not a big chedi either, only 10 metres high!  Not even half of it has
been built yet.  By doing it this way they push down the fortunes of the
Shan
people [by leaving it half-finished], so that the Shan people will not be
prosperous and will sink down.
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  - [END OF PART 4 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR PARTS 5 TO 6 AND APPENDIX] -