"In February 1997, 5 villages in Kywe Thone Nyi Ma village tract of Ye Pyu Township, Tenasserim Division were forced to move by SLORC: the villages of Mae Taw, Cha Bone, Chaung Phyar, Mae Yaung and Mae Than Taung. These villages lie just 10-15 km. north of the Yadana gas pipeline being built by SLORC's MOGE oil company, French company Total, and American company Unocal. American company Texaco is also beginning work on the Yetagun pipeline in the area. The forced relocations were conducted by SLORC Light Infantry Battalion #273, which is directly responsible for gas pipeline security and is based in Kanbauk, on the pipeline route adjacent to the oil companies' base camp. LIB #273 also provides security for the base camp itself. The gas pipeline is to run just south of the Heinze Basin, a large inlet on the Andaman Sea coast. The 5 relocated villages lie near the coast just north of the mouth of the Heinze Basin,while the pipeline is to come ashore near Hpaungdaw, just south of the mouth of the Heinze Basin. The reason given for the relocations was that there is a 'dacoit' (bandit) group operating along the coast between these 5 villages and Hpaungdaw. Ostensibly to seek out this bandit group and its stash of loot, SLORC troops stormed Mae Taw village, tied up and tortured the village leaders, disrobed, abused and robbed a monk, kept everyone in the village tied up at the monastery for 4 days while they searched and looted every house, then burned 4 houses and said that every villager in the region must move to a village which has an Army camp. They then went to the 4 other villages in the area to do the same, though they found many of the villagers there had already fled after hearing what happened in Mae Taw village. The 5 villages now lie abandoned, the villagers having scattered to the large village of Kywe Thone Nyi Ma (on an island in the Heinze Basin, with a camp of LIB 273) or northward to Ye or Thanbyuzayat..."