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KHRG #96-23 (r)
FORCED RELOCATION IN CENTRAL SHAN STATE
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
June 25, 1996 / KHRG #96-23
[PART 5 OF 6 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR OTHER PARTS OF THIS REPORT & APPENDIX]
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#14.
1) NAME: "Sai Heng" SEX: M AGE: 35 Shan Buddhist farmer
2) NAME: "Nang Kham" SEX: F AGE: 33 Shan Buddhist farmer
FAMILY: Married, 2 children aged 15 months and 13 years
ADDRESS: Wan Bah San vlg, Nong Hi tract, Chiang Tong twp. INTERVIEWED:
31/5/96
["Sai Heng" and "Nang Kham" are husband and wife.]
"Sai Heng": Our village used to be in Mong Nai [township], but now
they've made a new township of Chiang Tong. The village is south of
Chiang Tong, about 2 miles. We left on the 6th of this month [May]. The
Burmese burned down our house. We couldn't stay there anymore, that's
why we left. There was nothing to eat. Even clothes, we had to ask other
people for clothes.
They burned our house at 6 o'clock in the evening, on February 1st. Our
rice mill was a bit apart [in a separate shed], but it all got burned down
too. The village has more than 400 houses, and they burned 12. The
soldiers came up from Mong Pan area, and when they got to Bah San
village they asked "Did the Shan [soldiers] pass by this village?" We said
no, we didn't see them, and then they set fire to the houses. They came up
from Mong Pan, Mong Nai, and Lang Ker - 3 towns. Battalions #99 and
#520. [99 is in Lang Ker, 520 in Mong Pan.]
When the houses were burned I was not there - we had to run away all the
time because they always arrest the men to use us as porters to carry their
things. So we cannot be at home all the time. But when the house was
burned, my wife was still in the house. They started to set fire to the
house,
and she ran out and ran away. The children also were with my wife. There
were 3 [people] in the house. Our daughter is 13 years old. They ran
down from the house. The soldiers chose the nicest houses to burn. Only
the big and beautiful houses, they know that "this house is very rich", so
they burned those houses. Ours was a wooden house, all teak. The floor
and walls were made of teak, but the roof was just ordinary, made of
bamboo and grass. They tied a bunch of straw, lit it and then put it on our
roof.
"Nang Kham": I was holding my baby and doing nothing, because it was
6 o'clock so all my work had been done already. They used dry straw and
held it up to the roof. They said nothing, no warning. Even though they
knew that we were still in the house they set it on fire. I was just
holding
my baby. As soon as I knew the house was on fire I just held my baby and
ran out of the house. I couldn't take anything - we just tried to escape
from
the fire. I got nothing out of the house with me. We ran into the field,
to
a field shelter. After that I didn't go back to see, but people told me our
house had burned down completely. So we just kept going, on to Wan Ton
Hoong.
"Sai Heng": The soldiers arrived in our village about 3 p.m. At 6 o'clock
they set fire to the houses, then half an hour later they left the village.
When they came only the children and women were left in the village.
When they started burning the houses the soldiers were watching the
stairways to the houses and the paths. The houses started to burn, and
some people from the other houses not being burned also ran out from their
houses, and they were stopped by the soldiers. The soldiers stopped them
and took all of the belongings they had with them. Not only that, but they
took everything from all the villagers' shops in the village. They arrested
the headman and they beat him up. He almost died. He was the Ya Wa Ta
[Village LORC] headman, elected by the villagers. Later they released him
at Ko Lam village, near Nam Sang. He was the only one arrested. They
just hit him all over, in the head, in the back, ... The more you deny
[seeing
the opposition], the more you are beaten. I was told by the other people
who were beaten by the soldiers. There were 5 people who were seriously
beaten and they were badly hurt. They asked them all the same questions
[about the Shan soldiers].
"Sai Seng Wan": ["Sai Seng Wan" is from the same village - see his
interview in this report.] They beat whomever they caught, including two
of the village secretaries.
"Sai Heng": I was hiding from the soldiers. I was in the fields. I met my
wife there, and we went on together to Ton Hoong. We went to the town
but we could not find a place to stay, that's why we came to Thailand.
When we arrived at the town we didn't know how to go on living. We left
on April 26th, before they gave the order to move [their village was
ordered to move on May 1]. When we thought about our future, we could
not live there peacefully. The Burmese oppress us Shans very much. They
don't let our people have any opportunity. Wherever they see Shan people
they despise and look down on us very much. They consider us as country
bumpkins and treat us very badly, like beating and other kinds of abuse.
When we meet them on the road, we are caught and used as porters. As
we spend our time farming we don't have time to resist them. That's why
we had to flee to Thailand. After the village was burned we tried to find
hope for the future but we couldn't see any hope. We won't even be able to
do farming like before, or trading. We felt that there's no hope at all to
live in 'Union of Myanmar'. For these reasons, whatever may come, we made
our decision and left for Thailand. We do as others do. Three quarters of
the villagers have come, only a quarter of the people are left behind. Some
are older or not able-bodied, and some people still have many domestic
animals, and some don't have enough money for the expense of the journey
- if not for these 3 reasons, everyone would come.
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#15.
NAME: "Loong Kyong" SEX: M AGE: 45 Shan Buddhist planter/farmer
ADDRESS: From Chiang Tong area, now 12 years in Thailand INTERVIEWED:
31/5/96
["Loong Kyong" lives and works with many people who pass through the
area when they flee Shan State. His comments are included here to help
give an overview of the situation.]
I have lived in Thailand now for 12 years. I do farming growing garlic and
onions. February, March, April, May, through these 4 months, each day
between 50 and 200 people have come in through the Fang area [only one
of at least 4 main routes]. Now it is decreasing, now only about 25 people
each day coming into Fang area. Those who are able to spend money for
the journey come in through Fang, but those who can't pay and those who
can't walk the distance stay in Mong Ton area or places along the way [the
roads are being made impassable by the rains now]. They are still giving
the [relocation] orders this month. Even right now, in Lang Ker, Mong
Nai and Nam Sang areas. Lai Kha also. All of the areas in Loi Lem
province. Mainly west of the Salween River - Chiang Tong area, Kun
Hing, Mong Nong, Mong Kung, Lai Kha, Nam Sang, Mong Nai, and Lang
Ker areas. They gather the people from all these areas for forced
relocation
and forced labour. The reason is because of the MTA, their soldiers pass
all these villages, they rest there, etc. If the villages are small with
only
15 or 20 houses, it's the kind of place where they like to stop and rest.
The
Shan armies also ask these villagers for rice, because they are the same
race.
For this reason, the Burmese troops want to cut off shelter and food from
the Shan soldiers. That's why they force all the villagers to move.
All the small villages had to move. So right now, Chiang Tong is the size
of
3 villages [i.e. 3 times as many people as before]. Before, there were 5
village tracts in Chiang Tong [township]: Nong Hi, Hin Long, Ton Hoong,
Kun Mong, and Tambon Waeng. Now all these have been moved into just
3 villages: Kun Mong, Waeng, and Nong Hi. The main relocation place is
Wan Ton Hoong. Those who cannot stay like that have moved to Mong
Nai, Nam Sang, or Taunggyi. Most of them have come to Thailand.
At the relocation places they're used for forced labour on road construction
between Chiang Tong and Kun Hing, and Kun Hing and Nam Sang.
They're also building a new road on the east bank of the Salween River,
another from Mong Hsat to Loi Lang, and another from Mong Tung to Loi
Lang. They're using 500 people to build each road, still now. And they're
using forced labour to extend the airfield at Mong Tung, and also for their
camp because they're going to add another 2 Battalions at Mong Tung. So
people are being used to clear sites for the Army camps. The people for
this are being taken not only from Chiang Tong, but also from Chiang
Kham and Sai Khao. They take them by truck. I know this from people
who have fled from there.
In Chiang Tong area, most of the villagers have already come to Thailand.
There are 2 or 3 big companies in Fang area [a Thai border district] that
own orange, lychee, and longan plantations, and each of their farms has
about 500 or 600 people working there. Most of the people who come to
Fang area already have a relative in one of the villages around here. Those
who have been in Thailand and have blue travel ID cards [Thai 'hilltribe'
ID cards] earn better money. Those who don't have that card are the
second class. The third class are the newcomers. Each class gets a
different job and a different income. [A woman present added: The police
are always trying to take advantage of the newcomers. Also the
motorcycle-taxi drivers, if they see a watch, a chain or a bracelet, they
just take it from them. Life is very hard.]
Some go to Chiang Mai and work as construction labour, and some go
down to Bangkok too. But it's very hard, sometimes they have to face the
police and they are arrested. Some go to Bangkok and they have to be
scared all the time, always hiding from the police. That man there, he used
to stay in Bangkok and he's used to being arrested and sent to prison. He's
not afraid of them anymore, because he knows he'll be in jail for not longer
than 3 months, then released. In jail at least he can eat rice. Not like
in
Burma. Here is much better than life in Shan State. Before they came
here, even though they had the chance to work for themselves, they had
rice and crops, but in the end it was all taken by the Burmese. Over there
we could barely survive. So what have we to fear from the police? We
have been oppressed by the Burmese, forced to be porters. There you
never know when they'll free you - 10 days, 20 days, or until they find
someone else to take your place. Some just die along the way. Sometimes
they suspected us of supporting the opposition groups with food, and then
they beat us, sometimes even to death. In fact we just go to farm, and then
they say "Where are you going? Where are you coming from?" We say
"We're just coming from the farm", but they say "We don't believe you,
you're taking food to the rebel groups, right?" When we say no, they start
beating us. Life here is much better - even though they arrest us, later
they
release us so never mind, we can always find another job. At least we won't
die.
There's a man named Sai xxxx from Chiang Kham, he just arrived and he
said some Shan youth are being forced to work on a farm, a wheat farm.
After growing the wheat, they will make the people plough the land and
grow opium poppy there. Then when harvest time comes, the Burmese will
buy it. Those who don't have wet paddy fields but only hillside rice fields
now have to grow opium, and when the harvest comes they must sell it to
the Burmese. The Burmese said "No need to grow much rice". The reason
the Burmese say not to grow rice is that if you grow rice you have to give
some to the rebel groups, and to others, etc., and you have to get your rice
milled. So they say just grow opium and you can easily get money and buy
your rice. The military will buy the opium. That area is north of Chiang
Tong and south of Kun Hing. Each day they use about 150 people to work
on that farm, so you can imagine the size. 150 people had to go to clear
that farm for 10 days. Forced labour, they are paid nothing. This man here
has been here only 3 days and he experienced it, and so did that man over
there. The area of the field is about 9 or 10 rai [2-3 acres]. In Chiang
Kham, about 500 rai [100-200 acres] altogether, not only in one place -
different Burmese group, different area. This area 150 rai, the next area
another 150 rai.
There's also a lot of forced labour in the north [of Shan State], especially
on the road from Lashio to Mu Seh and Kyu Kote [trading towns on the
China border]. Now they are going to pave that road, so all the way from
Lashio to Kyu Kote will be paved, and the road is being widened to about 8
metres wide. The purpose of paving this road is to increase trade with
China. They use forced labour of people from Lashio area. They've
divided the forced labour into 2 groups, road construction and building
construction. One group has to build a big warehouse and a hotel in
Lashio, and another group has to do the same in Kyu Kote. The warehouse
will be 2 storeys, with a zinc roof. The walls are made of wood. I heard
this from a man from Mu Seh named Sai xxxx and his family, they came
here from Lashio just recently but they are originally from Mu Seh. They
arrived here in Thailand on May 27th. Now they are staying in xxxx. He
said this [Lashio-Mu Seh] road has been dirt road for years, and now it is
to be paved and made wider than ever. All the way to Kyu Kote, no dirt
road anymore. The wages for this labour they just collect from the people.
They force people to move there too but not around the towns, just some
places far from the towns. Mostly villages that only have 10 or 15
households.
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#16.
1) NAME: "Sai On" SEX: M AGE: 25 Shan Buddhist
FAMILY: Married, 1 child aged 7 months
2) NAME: "Sai Long" SEX: M AGE: 21 Shan Buddhist
FAMILY: Single
3) NAME: "Sai Sai" SEX: M AGE: 18 Shan Buddhist
FAMILY: Single
4) NAME: "Sai Ok" SEX: M AGE: 21 Shan Buddhist
FAMILY: Single
ADDRESS: Lai Kha town INTERVIEWED: 29/5/96
"Sai On": This is the first time for all of us in Thailand. We came two
months ago, together. We came just before Water Festival [in mid-April].
We went to work in xxxx [a Thai town] but we weren't paid at the end of
the month so we all ran back here. We worked in an ice factory. We all
have parents living back in Lai Kha. We came because the Burmese made
us work without paying anything. Every household has to give one person
to work for 10 days, and if they can't send anyone they have to hire
someone to go.
"Sai Sai": Each month we have to go one or two times, for 10 days each
time.
"Sai On": Either building roads or carrying things - carrying supplies and
ammunition for the soldiers, in the jungle. They are building roads
everywhere, all kinds of roads. People have to split the stones and carry
the
stones. We've all hired people to go for us, we've never done it ourselves.
For 10 days we have to pay 1,500 Kyat. We hire poor Shans, those who
work by the day. Some people can hire others, but if people have no
money they must go themselves. There are women, there are old people,
12 and 13 year olds as well as 50 year olds, all working there. They just
sleep where they must work, in the jungle or wherever, and they have to
take their own food with them.
"Sai Long": There are Burmese soldiers watching, and if you don't work
hard enough they scold you.
"Sai On": If you don't go for the work they come and use force such as
beating you, or they arrest you. I've seen it happen. It is Battalions 515
and 64 - they are the two Battalions in Lai Kha. #64 is an Infantry
Battalion, #515 I'm not sure [IB or LIB]. In the town they don't take
people's land, but in the villages they take people's things.
We have to pay about 3,000 Kyat per month. It depends - if they call for
labour twice, we have to pay 3,000, if three times it's 4,500. Also rice -
the more rice you produce, the more you have to give. Even if you're not a
farmer you still have to pay "land tax". To build a new house you have to
pay 20,000 or 30,000 Kyat as tax - and so on. Rice is more expensive over
the past year, even though Lai Kha is the second-highest rice producing
area in Shan State, second to Mong Kung. The parents must rely on the
children. The children either get work as labourers in the fields and
orchards in the area, or they go to Thailand.
Q: Are there any Shan opposition groups operating in the area?
"Sai On": There are Shan soldiers, but we don't know from what group.
We've heard they're always changing.
Q: Has Khun Sa's surrender had any noticeable effect on people around
Lai Kha?
"Sai On": No, it's still all confused in Shan State.
Q: Have you heard about the forced relocations?
"Sai Long": We heard that it's a policy, to stop the villagers from
supporting the Shan soldiers. So under this policy, all the villagers must
move to the towns.
"Sai On": The villagers were told they had 3 days to move, and were
threatened that if they didn't move within 3 days their houses would be
burned.
"Sai Long": Our relatives have suffered this. They had to move. Those
who have relatives in the towns, some of them move to the towns. As for
the others, the headman has to try to arrange a place for them to stay.
"Sai On": When we came [to Thailand] there were 2 trucks carrying 40
people, just from Lai Kha. They're coming every day. We crossed at xxxx.
It cost the people 4,500 Kyat each to come from Lai Kha to xxxx [an
exorbitant amount considering the short distance].
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- [END OF PART 5 - SEE OTHER POSTINGS FOR PART 6 AND APPENDIX] -