Window on Burma #15

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BINA  -- The Burma Independent News Agency  --  

Window on Burma  #15

(From MoJo #5, August 1999)

1)  Is the Army Starving?  Major Aung Soe of LIU #8 Steals Food
2)  SPDC Troops Take Land and Labor from Villagers in Magwe
3)  Four Die, 70 Hospitalized from Forced Labor in Meiktila
4)  Arresting Teenagers Provides Army With New Recruits 
5)  Strangling of Schools and Monasteries Impedes Daily Functions


IS THE ARMY STARVING?  
MAJOR AUNG SOE OF LIU #8 STEALS FOOD

Under SPDC Brigade #44, Major Aung Soe of Light Infantry Unit #8, led his
troops into Paing Kyone Township, Pa-an District, on June 3rd, 1999.  There
they forcibly took whatever they wanted from the people there. 

In Htee Pae village, they took one pig; in Haw Htoo Kaw village, 2 chickens
and 3 large tins of rice; in Htee Maw Kee village, they took 32 chickens,
one goat, 3 large tins of rice, 2 pots, and 2 chopping knives.  All this
was reported by the local villagers.


SPDC TAKES LAND AND LABOR FROM VILLAGERS IN MAGWE

Commanding officer Kyaw Lwin of #4 Armored Car Regiment in Magwe Division
took possession of 40 acres of villagers' land in Ma Gyi Kan village, for
use by the army.  He then demanded seeds for sesame and beans for the
"regimental fund".  Finally, the villagers were forced to clear and plow
the land, and plant, harvest, and store the produce in their barns.  No
permission was asked of the villagers, nor was any compensation paid.

The army also confiscated land for road construction from Ye Nan Chaung and
Nat Maut to Myo Thit, and then demanded forced labor from the local
villagers to build the road.  Myanmar Television announced that the road
cost three million kyat to build, but the workers got nothing.  Many came
with their families and all suffered from lack of food, as only small
amounts of poor quality rice were available.  Families who lost their land
are now in dire conditions, because they can no longer even sell their
labor, which is continuously demanded by the army.

The Kyant Put Company, which works closely with the army, also confiscated
land to build their telephone exchange and many restaurants.  They closed
roads to traffic between Magwe and Taung Dwin Gyi, Aung Lan, and Rangoon,
and took priority for electric power.  This company therefore caused great
resentment among the local people, even more than the army did.

Furthermore, Magwe Traders Group Chairman U Tun Saing, together with the
Vice-Chairman, two Secretaries, and member Ko Kyone Sein, managed to take
control of the bean and sesame markets, adjusting commodity prices to suit
their needs.  This activity caused many small owners of sesame oil grinding
machines to become bankrupt.


FOUR DIE, 70 HOSPITALIZED FROM FORCED LABOR IN MEIKTILA

The SPDC's Government Industry and Farming Department in Meiktila Township,
Mandalay Division, called for 270 workers for their earth-moving project at
the Green Gold Company.  To attract workers for the one-month program, they
promised salaries, training for tractor driving, and other assistance.  

Conditions, however, were not what had been promised.  Food was poor at the
work camp, often just boiled rice, and sometimes they had no dinner.  As a
result, many became ill, but no health services were provided.  Over 70
workers contracted malaria, one dying in the forest, one on the train,
another in the Meiktila hospital.  A fourth worker died on returning home.  

Because of the hardships, only 1200 acres of the 3000-acre project were
completed.  Therefore, the workers could not finish their training nor get
their certificates.  And finally, the Green Gold Company failed to pay any
wages to the workers, so the job became forced labor through
government-conspired deception.  


ARRESTING TEENAGERS PROVIDES ARMY WITH NEW RECRUITS

>From Madaya Township in Mandalay Division, information comes that
teenagers have been disappearing from the streets.  It is now known that
the SPDC has been arresting these teenagers in the public places to get
more new soldiers.  While fishing in the ponds with nets, visiting
wholesale markets to sell or buy produce, or simply walking in the streets,
local teenagers are arrested by soldiers and taken without their consent
into the army.  

About 30 children were found at Mandalay Road #78 (between Lanes #38 and
#39), where the army recruiting office is located.  When the children were
found at the army center, some of them were crying and begging people to
inform their parents about what had happened.  One eyewitness said that
children as young as 14 years old had been taken.

Military Trainer Tin Mar, of Training Course No. 2/20 Division, had a list
with the names of all the ?lost? children inscribed.  But even after the
parents had located their "lost" children, they were not permitted to see
them until the two months of training were completed.  Some parents, not
knowing where their children were, had contacted the police.  This is how
the news got out. 

Several parents have since written to Gen. Than Shwe about the problem,
asking for help, but they have received no response.


STRANGLING OF SCHOOLS AND MONASTERIES 
IMPEDES DAILY FUNCTIONS

Although the primary, middle, and high schools are still open, the SPDC is
increasingly fearful of students.  They have sent orders to all schools to
forbidding any public demonstrations or distribution of pamphlets.  If
students are found to have participated in any such activities, serious
action will be taken against teachers and headmasters responsible.  The
teachers feel greatly intimidated by these threats.

Moreover, if young monks are found to be involved, the abbot of the
monastery and the head monk (?maha nayaka?) of the township will be
punished.  These rules make some daily monastic activities difficult or
impossible.


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