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Rhododendron News: Chin Human Right
- Subject: Rhododendron News: Chin Human Right
- From: chinhro@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 22:28:00
Subject: Rhododendron News: Chin Human Rights Organization
==========================
RHODODENDRON NEWS BULLETIN
==========================
CHIN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
50 Bell Street, N #2, Ottawa, ON K1R 7C7,Canada
Ph/FX : 613 234 2485.Email : chokhlei@xxxxxxxxxx
_________________________________________________
Volume II No.3 March 1999
_________________________________________________
LAND CONFISCATION USING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
=============================================
(The following interview is conducted on Jan.9.1999 in New Delhi,
India)
Name : Thangkhanpau ( name changed )
Age : 48
Sex : Male
Nationality : Chin
Religion : Christian
Marital Status : Married with 8 children aged
between 23 and 6
Occupation : Farmer
Political affiliation : NLD organiser for Pyin GoneGyi
Village Tract, Kaleymyo
township
I am a farmer. I used to have some land in Pyin Gone Gyi village
[near Kaleymyo], but I sold it in 1994, because it was too far from
our house, about 8 miles, and also because all my children were at
school, so they could not help in the farm work.
Then in December 1996, I left Pyin Gone Gyi because I no longer felt
safe as an NLD organiser. I moved to Aung Chan Tha, a remote village
along the road between Kalewa and Monywa. Aung Chan Tha is a Burman
village in Kalewa township [Kalewa township is mostly Burman]. It
has about 160 houses, and is located in a malaria-infested jungle
about 24 miles from Kalewa. Back in 1995, my eldest son had stayed
with the headman in that village, and found some land to clear for
cultivation. I paid 50,000 Kyats for over 20 acres. This was quite
cheap. Of course, the area had no irrigation system, and the harvest
would depend on the rains. I moved in Aung Chan Tha with 8 other
Chin families. We created a new ward in the village and cleared the
land.
Q. To whom did you pay that money?
A. To the villagers who owned that land. In Burma the land belonged
to the government, but people can registered it and used it. The
previous owners had registered that land, and it was recognised by
the village head, who is the Village Tract PDC Chairman. The
transaction was signed in front of the headman [a perfectly legal
transaction].
However, we could only get one harvest of paddy. On 2.8.1997, the
SLORC Township Secretary, Major Khin Maung Than, came to the village
for the school opening ceremony. Without inspection, he called the 9
Chin families, including mine. Immigration and Forestry officials
came along with him. He requested us to sit in one line in front of
him. He took photographs of us, and ordered: "You, Chin people, you
must go back to your native land in the Chin Hills! This is not your
land!" He ordered us to leave by the end of December 1997. I pleaded
him: "We have already planted our paddy. Please let us harvest it,
and allow us to stay until the month of March!" In the end, the
Major forced us to sign a document that we agreed to leave the land
before the end of February 1998. The Major then returned to Kalewa,
and never reappeared after that. We went to Kaleymyo and left a
letter of complaints to the District PDC [Kalewa Township is under
Kaleymyo District].
We broke the agreement, and in April 1998, we were still using our
land. Then, during the first week of May, the head of the Forestry
Department from Kalewa Township, U Tun Than Oo, came to order us to
vacate the land and leave the village immediately. He ordered the
village head to call 'volunteer labourers' [forced labour] from each
family, and plant teak seedlings on our land. Even in our house
compound. They didn't order us to demolish our house, but they
ordered the villagers to destroy our vegetable garden and plant teak
saplings in it. Even to put saplings under our house! My sugar canes
besides my house were cut down, and left lying there. We were even
ordered to participate in this labour on our own land, but we
refused. They never took action for that. The other villagers had a
lot of pity on us.
Q. Did the order come from the Forest Department?
A. Yes, but Tun Than Oo was given all authority by Major Khin Maung
Than, the Secretary of the Kalewa Township PDC.
Q. What happened after they confiscated your land?
A. We had no money to move back to Pyin Gone Gyi. One family left
for the Chin hills, and we finally managed to go back to Pyin Gone
Gyi in September 1998. At that time, the political situation was
very tense in Kaleymyo, and many NLD members were arrested. My party
advised me not to go back to Pyin Gone Gyi village with my large
family and no money, but rather leave the country. I borrowed money
for the transportation costs and I arrived in Mizoram in October
1998 with my whole family.
Q. You said Aung Chan Tha is a Burman village. Was there any local
tension when the 9 Chin families moved there?
A. Not at all. We had absolutely no problem with the Burman
villagers. My son was even chosen as a Village PDC Chairman for a
while. Our 9 Chin families being all Christian decided to build one
church in our ward. The Burman villagers, all Buddhist, even helped
us to build our Church and lend us their bullock cart to carry the
building material. At the church opening ceremony, a pastor from
Kalewa was invited, and all the Burman villagers came. We shared a
meal together. We never had any problems with the Burman villagers.
It was all created by the SPDC authorities. Tun Than Oo also
complained about the Church because it was not registered at the
Ministry, but our headman had recognised it.
INTERVIEW WITH A COLLEGE STUDENT
=====================================
(Source: Chin Student Union)
It was since during the Ne win's regimethat Burma had claimed
total primary literacy in its 45 million
population. However, its subsequent enlistment in the world's least
developed counry had proved totally different. Again in the areas of
SLORC/SPDC which succeeded the Ne Win's regime, it had claimed that
Burma has been improved and developed in its every espects, the
education system and prevailing closure of colleges and universities
proved the same to what was decades ago. During the ten-years rule
of SPDC, formerly SLORC, schools and colleges have been kept close
most of the time in fear of unrests. In 1996 it was again closed
after a massive crack down on students demonstrators demanding the
right to reformation of Students Union and the end to military rule,
which was known to be the largest students uprising next to the 1998
pro-democracy movement brutally suppressed by the same rulers.
In August 1998, after two years of continuous closing, the SPDC
reopened the schools and forced the students to sit exams without
learnings. Shortly afterwards, demonstrations broke out from
engineering students amidsts government's precaution. The best
solution for the junta was exactly that of the 1998 and 96. Crackdown
and arrest. College students have to take their exams at their
nearest high schools.
The following interview was conducted by Chin Student Union on 29
October, 1998 at the Indo-Burma border with a Chin student who
had sit the recent exams in Kalaymyo.
Name : Salai Thangliana(name changed)
Age : 23 yrs.
Address : Kalaymyo, Sagaing Division
Education : 2nd yr (Geog)
Nationality : Chin
Religion : Christian
Q. when did the college reopen and when did you take your exam after
it was annouced?
A. We were informed one month prior to the exam about the
possibility. But students who took ordinary subject like me did not
get preparatory learning since we sat our exams on the day the
schols were annouced reopened while engineering and medical students
have two weeks before they did theirs.We also have to sign before we
took our exams that we will not cause any unrest.
Q. Why the exams held at local high schools not at the college?
A. I think this is a precaution for the authorities that students
might gather and cause unrest if we were allowed to sit at colleges.
However, medical and engineering students were allowed to do at
their previous colleges in Rangoon and Mandalay.
Q. Then, were high schools closed during your exams?
A. Yes! students from primary to high school had to rest for two
weeks during the exam.
Q. Can you please brief us how the exam was about?
A. Classes were classified according to our subject and the exam just
went on the basis of one subject per day through a fortnight.
Q. Since you sit the exam without learning, did you then
haveanything to write or answer?
A. We scarcely used our brains. We just copy off what we had written
during the two months period in 1996.
Q. How about the security condition during the exams hour?
A. It was quite well, we did not see any police nor soldiers wearing
uniforms. But we beleived there were pretty numbers of Military
Intelligence with civilian dress. We just saw some firemen roaming
around the entrance of the gate. During the examination hour, the
rector, Township Education Officers who were the rank of Major woud
frequent us and would warn us that we ( the students ) are the one
who would suffer if anything happens.
Q. So, was there anything happened during the exams?
A. No, there weren't any. But on the the second day of the exams
five students were arrested for allegedly sticking posters in
support of the NLD's movement. We also heard that 20 persons
including students were arrested for the same incident on the
following night.
Q. Do you know what were on the posters?
A. As far as I remember, it included about an appeal to the people
to support the NLD's call to convene Parliament and the SPDC to
implement the NLD's demands, failure of which would result in a
massive unrest.
Q. How do you (students) think this education system, i.e sitting the
exams without learning?
A. We did not regard it as examination but as a copy-off
competition. There is no reason we took our exams without learning
anyhting. There were even some who did not sit because they felt
nothing about it. Some would sit in substitution.
Q. When is the result expected to be out?
A. There were rumors that it would likely happen the following month
and schools will be reopened in November.
DEFORESTATION IN CHINLAND
==========================
Since 1990, the Burmese military junta has rapidly extended its
control over Burma's north-west region in Chinland and Sagaing
Division. This expansion program has resulted in the establishment of
over 20 new battalions of soldiers throughout this remote and
mountainous areas. The principal outcomes of the increased military
presence have been persecution and impoverishment of local
population.
The North-Western command issued an order to its army battalions to
collect food and anything they want from Chin civilians whenever they
are in need. A villager said," It is very difficult for us to feed
thousands of these soldiers while we are beeing forced to be porters,
laborers and treated like prisoners of war or slaves. We have no time
to work for our own living. We have no reqular income or earning.
Moreover the soldier frequently collect forced contribution money for
building pagodas, porters fees, any kind of festivals etc., or
impose a fine for making up reasons. In the past decades we never
lock the door at night. We could leave our house without beeing
locked. We never lost our possessions. But today our belongings
disappear within our twingkling eyes. I think, people will do
anything to make money. If you don't have money to pay the soldiers,
you would be punished. No one wants ill-treatment". The Chin people
who have no alternative to make money are doing hunting animals (
Tiger and Bear ) and seeking wild orchids in the forest which for
them is the only and an easiest way to make money. The existance of
wild orchids in the forest is beeing pushed to extinction and the
forest itself is rapidly deteriorated. China's demand of forest
products and wild animals is threatening the Chin forest and wild
life.
CHRO interviewed Pu Ralkap ( name changed ),aged 20, from
Leitak village, Thantlang township on December 3, 1998 regarding
forestry bleakness caused by seeking wild orchids.
Q. In Chinland people are saying deforestation in recent year has
been increased because of seeking wild orchids. Is there such
happening in your areas? If so, when did you begin seeking ?
A. Yes! it started since 1993, till today.
Q. How did you collect them?
A. We climb up in the tree and pull them off which we can reach. If
there are some which we can not reach, we cut the tree down and trim
the branches off and collect the orchids. Where there are plenty of
orchids, all the trees are smashed like elephants went through.
Q. Do the forest department prohibit doing this?
A. Yes! They prohibit only cutting trees. But it is not a very
serious prohibition. How could we get them without cutting the
trees! Since there is no Forest Department in our village, no one
gets trouble with this Forest Law and Regulation so far.
Q. How do you sell them?
A. There are people who buy these orchids in Thantlang and Haka. So
we carry them there and sell them to those buyers. The buyers then
transported them to the merchants (smugglers ) in Mandalay. And
those merchants smuggled them to China. Probably, it is not useful
in our own country. In 1993 it is worth Kyats 40 per 1-viss( about
1.5 kg ). and went up about kyats 600 per viss in 1995. And now it
is worth kyats 2,000 per viss. Ofcourse the price vary depending on
the color of the orchids. Generally there are two kinds: white
orchids and red orchids. They pay kyats1,700 per viss for white
orchids and kyats 2,000 for red orchids.
Q. How much money you could make in a day by collecting these
orchids?
A. We could make from kyats 400 to kyats 3,000 in a day.
Q. Is there any one hurt or died from searching these orchids in the
forest?
A. Yes! there are not only hurt but also died from falling the
tree. We heard that many people from different villages get injury.
Q. Do you mean other villages also doing the same, seeking wild
orchids?.
A. Yes! people from different villages are doing collecting wild
orchids. Some people even take risk to go to Kalaymyo area in
seeking wild orchids. Before the price went up, we could go anywhere
and collect them. But after the price went up we are no longer
allowed to go to another place. The village elders forbid us to
go to another village areas . We can do only within our own
village area.
Q. Why do the elders prohibit it?
A. They know that our forest is going to be destroyed.
Q. Of what seasons these wild orchids are obtainable?
A. They have a very short life. From November until the end of
January. The buyers want to buy only those that are from this period
of time.
Q. Do you have any concern about caused by seeking wild orchids?
A. Yes! I am really concerned about it because I have seen destroyed
and smashed the forest in our area. The forest is now turned into
desolation. Soil erosion has also taken place which causes
frighteningly the decreased of crops production . And it also raises
environmental concern. No rain. Rivers and streams have almost
dried up.
Q. Do you see any advantage?
A. There is an advantage in some way for the poor people like us. We
have no earning or earning access. We could pay for some of the
forced contribution money to the army and escape from punishment.
But not all the time. And also we could buy some salt, cooking oil
and medicine ( basic necessities ) with the money we get from
selling wild orchids.
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