KAO WAO NEWS No. 67
An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in
May 1- 15, 2004
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READERS’ FRONT
MON FORCED OUT OF THEIR SCHOOLS
FAT CATS RULE THE VILLAGE: THE POWER OF MONEY
SMUGGLING VEHICLES SEIZED IN YE
HUNDREDS OF MIGRANT WORKERS WAITING AT THE BORDER
WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?
MON TO JOIN IN NATIONAL CONVENTION
UNITED NATIONS URGES LAST MINUTE DEAL
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READERS' FRONT
Dear Readers,
We invite comments and
suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that
Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking
social justice in
Regards,
Editor
[email protected],
[email protected]
____________________________________
Dear Kao Wao,
I appreciate your work and
support the cause you are taking step for social justice and freedom in
Sam Rainsy
Member of Parliament
_______________________________________
Dear Kao Wao,
Cease-fire groups make a right
decision to attend junta’s National Convention.
Even though I don’t believe in their Road Map, we need some other option
to push the junta to compromise.
Ko Ko Aye
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MON FORCED OUT OF THEIR SCHOOLS
(Kao Wao:
A Mon school was forced to shut
down after the State Peace and Development Council authorities confiscated land
to build a government office, according to a source from Ye,
“Colonel Myint Aung
accused the Mon national school of competing with the SPDC’s
School,” said Mi Norn, a woman leader from Lamine community. About 425 children from the Mon primary
school are now out of class for an indefinite period even though the school is
still standing and has yet to be demolished.
The SPDC, she said, has
confiscated land in Lamine, northern Ye township since April 2004.
The local source reported the
reason for the confiscation was to build a new office after the village was
promoted up to the town level earlier in the year.
The villagers built the Mon
school with an area of 200 by 130 feet after the NMSP reached a cease-fire
agreement with the military regime over eight years ago. The villagers hired
Mon teachers to teach according to a Mon national education curriculum
supported by the community.
When Lamine,
the biggest village in northern Ye,
Located on the
*********************************************
Unscrupulous
village headmen in Mon and
FAT CATS RULE THE VILLAGE: THE POWER OF MONEY
(Reported by Taramon and Gong Ong)
Villagers
from Mon and
According
to a Mon community leader from Zobbu, village headmen
in his township are not elected by the local people and instead are chosen by
township authorities and local commanders who work together as thick as thieves
in robbing the local community blind.
Most
are corrupt and resort to criminal behavior involving robbery, destruction of
the personal property, environment, forced labor, illegal taxation and the
selling of land and properties belonging to the community.
Assigned
power positions in the village, members of Village Peace and Development
Council (VPDC), traditionally known as village headmen, work hand in hand with
military officials by paying them off with bribes with one hand and committing
and threatening people with abuse with the other; some village headmen have
become more notorious and dangerous than local commanders according to the community
leaders.
Among
them, Nai Nyein Maung and Nai Winn Kyi, from southern Thanbyu
Zayat (Zobbu) are the most
infamous and brutal. They closely work
with the BA against the civilians, being involved in cracking down on
anti-government groups and function as the eyes and ears, an appendage for the
BA’s Counter Insurgency Force in the area.
For
several years now, Counter Insurgency Force leader Nyein
Maung is well known for his brutal suppression against An Khae
villagers. He tortures people routinely who are rivals to his power. As a
consequence, many have to move, especially to
According
to Nai Hlaing from An Khe, the militia leader and village headman extorted money
from villagers and killed innocent civilians suspected as being rebel
sympathizers.
In
order to gain support and privileges from the BA, they are more suppressive
than the Army said a social worker in the village.
“Without a trail, he killed three people while
they were out patrolling in a remote area.
The villagers, including three NMSP soldiers were arrested and tortured
by his militia group. Some remain at the police detention center, the source
from the NMSP said.
The Anin Village Chairman Nai Winn
Kyi cut down some very old trees around the area and sold the wood off to
logging businessmen for his own benefit.
Nai Karin from Anin
village was brutally tortured by this village chairman whom he criticized for
cutting down trees belonging to his garden.
The farmer had to spend up to 500,000 Kyats for his medical treatment
from the serious injuries inflicted by the headman, said the source from the
village.
“They
do whatever they want to make money.
They open gambling dens and collect various taxes. These villains have
more power than the local military, they also are involved in the vehicle
smuggling chain from
Nai Cartoon,
another headman of Kraok Poi confiscated lands
belonging to villagers for his shrimp pond with full cooperation of senior
military officials. Poor villagers are
forced to pay for road construction in this village and their houses must be
fenced in with concrete to show the Burmese authority that it’s a model
village, designated by the SPDC.
A
community leader from Kraok Poi said village headmen
must pay bribes to the local military officials amounting to about two hundred
thousand kyats monthly to stay in power.
The
headman of Wae KaWai also
sold traditional land belonging to the community. The villagers from Proi
also protested that their headmen and militiamen are stealing cows.
Some
headman such as Pe Myint
from Pa Nga has chosen not to get involved in the
corruption network, says Layeh a youth leader. His community is more organized and has more
political leaders such as Nai Tin Aung, the son of Nai Ong Tun,
Mon National Affairs Minister during U Nu’s
parliament government.
The
village headmen in
Nai Taw (not real
name) from Kroung Baer, southern Pa-An township,
“The
person who wants to be headman must bribe the authorities as much as they can”,
said Nai Mon. “They must borrow money to bribe and
they can pay back in a short time after they rule the village”.
In Ye
township, the headmen extort their own people by cooperating with the township
policemen. Maw Ka-Nin village headman threaten those
who oppose him and metes out punishment at will with the cooperation of
township authorities.
A Mon
politician says the SPDC uses this divide and rule tactic to control the
public, some village headmen are Burma Army veterans or civil servicemen, not
Mon nationalities, and so thrive on greed, spite, and hatred of the local
people.
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Tactics
of SPDC self sufficient policy
(Kao
Wao:
New Mon
State Party documented human rights abuse committed by the Burma Army in 15
villages. Apart of rape and torture, the
BA uses the area as a supply source to support the army’s perverse
entertainment and self-sufficient economy.
While
the military continues with its offensive in southern Ye
township local, unarmed villagers flee to the border and
During
28 days of operation which started from December 12 to January 8, 2004, large
villages such as Khao Jaer
(Khaw Zar) that consist of
over a 1,000 households were told to pay two millions kyats for illegal tax and
extortion or face immediate torture and displacement. Yang Reah,
which consists of over 500 houses, paid over one million Kyats and small
villages such as Chang Guu, which consists of over
200 households paid over 400,000 Kyats.
Twenty
villagers from southern Ye township were arrested and
forced to pay from 100,000 to 200,000 kyats so they could be released from
torture.
Being
accused as supporters of Mon armed group Hongsawatoi
Restoration Party, 13 people were arrested and detained at the Military
Strategic Office, in Khao Jaer
village. The villagers paid from 100,000
to 200,000 to escape torture and 7 people were released after paying 100,000
each to the BA commander who pockets the money for his living expenses.
Among
13 arrested, 7 were from Kkao Jaer
and 6 were from Kwan Tamoi Tao Tak
village. All men were arrested during
December 2003 when the BA launched a major offensive in the area.
In
December 29, Yang Reah village was forced to buy a
guitar and a piano worth 20,000 kyats for some unknown reason.
In
In
January 3, 2004, Colonel Myo Winn ordered three villages Sai
Khum, Chang Guu and Ham Gam to buy Johnny Walker Black Label whisky and an ice box,
worth about a half million kyats.
(Imported alcohol is extremely expensive in this remote area).
In
In
In
In
Krone KaNyar villagers were forced to pay for the dance troupe
(Pew) of a Buddhist monk cremation worth about 500,000 Kyat.
In
In
3
battalions, No 586, 31 and 61 have jointly operated offensives against the Mon
armed group HRP in this area. Extortion
is the junta’s number one policy in maintaining order; villagers are at the mercy
of roving bands of battalions bent on clearing out any insurgent activities
while exploiting and pillaging village resources, as reported by village
headmen who manage to escape to the Thailand Burma border.
*********************************************
SMUGGLING VEHICLES SEIZED IN YE
(Taramon:
Sangkhalaburi
– twenty-six vehicles smuggled from
Eyewitness from Ye said the
motorcars were seized in eastern Ye near the New Mon
State Party’s Headquarters and taken by the Burmese Army and Military
Intelligence to the Southeast Military Command near
“The MI officer told us if we want our cars
back, we must pay money equal to the current price,” said a car owner from Ye.
Among several vehicles, which
were temporarily parked at Wae Zin
village of eastern Ye for sale inside
About 20 vehicle owners including
some
Nai Hla, a businessman from Mudon
said the pro-Rangoon DKBA office in
“The situation is complicated. Fighting
between the Karen and Burma Army also broke out in this area on May 6,” he
added.
According to the source close to
the MI in Thanbyu Zayat,
the SPDC will seize all illegal cars starting from this month. The military has
also given advice to their business partners to keep illegal cars at safe
places until the situation returns to normal.
Last month, about 30 vehicles
were seized and taken to
“This could be a signal of junta
pressuring the New Mon State Party to join their National Convention,” said a
Mon political analyst who lives in Sanghalaburi Thai
Burma border town. The arrest occurred
while the cease-fire party was debating whether it should join the state
sponsored National Convention or not.
The source said some NMSP members were involved in the vehicle smuggling
business.
About 40 Japanese second-hand
(used) vehicles were smuggled to
***************************************************
Migrant Watch
HUNDREDS OF MIGRANT WORKERS WAITING AT THE BORDER
(Kao Wao,
Hundreds of migrant workers have
gathered at the Burmese border town of
A Mon village headman from the
area estimated that close to two thousand were in the border area.
Nai Phe Sein, a former university
student from
Last week, four cars carrying
migrants were stopped in Kanchanaburi province across
the border in
“As the deadline to register for
the work permits is approaching, migrants, especially from Mon and
Some migrants have been
attempting to sneak into
Even though large numbers of
security forces are deployed along the road inside
******************************************************
(By Caroline Irby, BBC News)
In a bakery in
The US State Department has
called human trafficking "the emerging human rights issue of the 21st
century", and many organizations have sprung up in response to the problem.
But despite their best efforts,
60% of the Thai women "rescued" by these organizations end up back in
brothels.
To disrupt the trade seems
practically impossible, and the scant returns from counter-trafficking
initiatives can be frustratingly slim.
Trafcord,
an organization formed with
But local advocacy groups
complain that the brothel raids organized by Trafcord
net more Burmese women voluntarily engaged in prostitution than victims of
coerced sexual labour.
Ben Svasti,
programme coordinator for Trafcord, admits it can be
difficult to differentiate between women who have been victims of trafficking
and those who are there of their own volition.
"It's a very imperfect
operation," he said. "I haven't come across a happily-ever-after
case. "As time passes, poverty
pushes the child or young woman to go out and work again. Success depends on
where you end your story."
Breaking the cycle
Five hundred miles south, at
The children know each other well
- they lived on the streets of
Acknowledging the difficulties of
breaking the trafficking cycle, the IOM recently launched a campaign to address
trafficking from a pre-emptive angle.
60% of girls who are 'rescued' return to prostitution
An animated film, Shattered Dreams, tells the story of a young girl who leaves
her village for the city, where her life becomes a nightmare when she is forced
into prostitution. The film has been
translated into several languages and will be shown in
Children trafficked to work in
factories in
Demand and supply
But while measures to raise
awareness have proved effective in the past, the incidence of trafficking
itself has not diminished - its source has just shifted.
Demand for cheap labour and prostitution remains, and if one potential
source of recruits dries up, agents simply look elsewhere.
Mr Svasti estimates that 90% of trafficked sex workers in
northern
Pierre Legros,
director of the Cambodian counter-trafficking organization Afesip,
says the cycle of trafficking can only be broken by new laws.
To this end, he has challenged a
young British lawyer, Aarti Kapoor,
to write a model law addressing trafficking.
United Nations protocol and
"Our starting point,"
she says, are "the maximum standards".
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Debate on National Convention
WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?
(By Lawi
Weng)
Some Mon leaders are proud of the
idea that the cease-fire has entitled the Mon political party to participate in
the national convention.
"Because of the ceasefire,
we can maintain our land," stated a New Mon State Party leader. Yes,
because of playing politics for three years, 7,889 acres of land were
confiscated from the local Mon people by the Burmese troops. Was this a
consequence of the cease-fire?
Regarding Mon politics today, it
makes me think of a village headman from my hometown. He became the leader
because he was well educated, but to keep the peace he had to feed and bribe
the Burmese troops at every turn. When his term was up, he sold three gardens
to them.
When the cease-fire ends should
the Mon give up their land? Today the
Mon live in a military zone. During the term of the cease-fire, more than 30
military camps were moved into Monland. Some people
were forced from their land and became internally displaced persons. Even those who still have land are not
allowed to go freely about their farms because the Burma Army controls the
area. Thousands of IDP have escaped into the Mon controlled areas or have fled
across the borders.
Is the New Mon State Party
concerned to see thousands of IDP fleeing into their controlled areas? The Mon
people will slowly disappear day by day if Mon politics becomes too diseased,
like a person afflicted with polio, they must take a firm position and challenge
the regime. Many Mon have escaped to
"Land is our mother. We are
born and brought up in her lap, and to her we must return as we die. It is the
living link between our ancestors and us", said a Maori indigenous people
from New
Do the
overseas
Kao Wao asked some of the Mon diasporas whether or not they agree with the Mon attending
the convention? Most disagree, but the NMSP will not cancel their invitation to
the national convention because they have already accepted Khin Nyunt's invitation and they are worried the ceasefire will
be broken and fighting will continue.
The Mon should attend the
national convention to seek a political solution and not be pushed into
whatever the regimes wants. The convention should be an intensive debate to
gain recognition and their basic rights, so the Mon can study and teach in
their own language and live freely on their land. These are legitimate concerns
among all Mon people today who want to return to their homeland.
************************************
MON TO JOIN IN NATIONAL CONVENTION
(Taramon:
Sangkhlaburi
–
According to a source from the
NMSP, two third of its Central Committee members had decided for the party to
participate at the convention which will be held very soon in May.
A Central Committee member said,
“It was a tough political debate. 16
delegates voted in favour against 8. We decided to attend at last because this may
be an option for further dialogue and we will demand the freedom of expression
and change of some principles”.
Public opinion varies among the
In March, politicians and
community leaders from various areas in
After an invitation by
***************************************************
(Cited from Reuters, by Darren Schuettler:
Yangon says it will press ahead with the National Convention "in the interests
of national unity", but a boycott by Suu Kyi's
main opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and a group of ethnic
minority parties has stripped the talks of what little credibility they had,
diplomats say.
"What can the military say? They are holding talks with none of the major
players. I don't see any daylight," a Bangkok-based Western diplomat said.
On Friday, the NLD opted out of the constitution-drafting talks after the junta
refused to
free party leader and Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and Vice Chairman Tin Oo from
house arrest.
Their release, and the reopening of party offices nationwide, was key
conditions for joining Monday's convention, organized by the military
government which has ruled the former
More than 1,500 delegates, most of them handpicked by the government and from
all walks of life in this impoverished southeast Asian
nation, have been invited
to the convention, which is being held at a compound outside the capital.
Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were not among the 54 NLD members invited, and the party had
demanded to choose its own representatives.
Facing Western sanctions and under intense diplomatic pressure to free Suu Kyi
and restore democracy, the government unveiled its so-called "road map to
democracy" last year.
It says reconvening the convention -- abandoned in 1996 after the NLD walked
out accusing the military of manipulating the process to stay in power -- was a
critical first step in its plans for democratic transition.
"We hope that a strong and enduring constitution will soon emerge so that
Myanmar can achieve its objective to becoming a peaceful, stable and
sustainable democracy in a reasonable period of time," the government said
on Saturday.
RECONCILIATION HOPES FADE
But most observers now see little chance of that happening without the NLD,
which won 1990 elections but was barred from taking power,
and the ethnic minority parties at the table.
The United Nationalities Alliance, grouping nine minority parties including the
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy which won the second largest number of
votes in 1990, have also spurned the convention.
"Without the NLD and ethnic political parties, it will not achieve a
breakthrough. There is no chance for national reconciliation in
Diplomats and pro-democracy groups are watching to see how
react.
Asian countries say
But
"The regime is not giving any respect to the views of its neighbouring countries, let alone those of the western
countries -- the European Union and the
****************************************************
UNITED NATIONS URGES LAST MINUTE DEAL
(Cited from Reuters,
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan asked
Ms. Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991
Noble Peace Prize, has been confined to her home since September, her telephone
is cut off and visitors are restricted. Before that, she was detained at a
secret location.
Ms. Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD) demanded her freedom, and that of vice
chairman Tin Oo, as a condition for joining Monday's convention. The convention
is organized by the military government, which has ruled
The secretary-general urges all
parties concerned, even at this late hour, to make every effort in the next two
days to reach an agreement, taking into account suggestions made by the NLD,
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters on Friday.
Annan
again called for the removal of all restrictions imposed on Suu Kyi and Tin Oo,
and the reopening of the democracy leagues offices, ‘so that the National
convention can be reconvened in an all-inclusive manner.’
The junta shut the league's
offices in May last year when Suu Kyi's 58, was
detained.
The government said the
convention would go ahead without the leagues' participation. But diplomats and
critics say the talks will have no legitimacy if Suu Kyi remained confined, her
party-which won a 1990 election by a landslide but was denied power by
junta--played no part.
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