KAOWAO
NEWS NO. 127
Newsletter
for social justice and freedom in Burma
May 2-17,
2007
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Villagers taxed by local
police for working in Thailand
4 Mon migrants dead, 7 wounded in car accident
Thousands of poor
migrants streaming across the Thai-Burma border
Mon
people face hard labor in military development projects
NMSP President urges for
the reestablishment of Monland
Thousands of Burma’s children deprived of education
Fall of Honsawatoi unites Mon organizations around the world
The day before the fall
of Hongsawatoi on 8 May 1757
Communists in Bhutan? The contribution of the US, UNHCR, India
Burmese Media-in-Exile: Is it Biased,
too?
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Villagers taxed by local
police for working in Thailand
Kaowao: May 17, 2007
Civilians in northern Mon State are taxed 10,000 kyats each for having worked in Thailand by the local police, Kaowao
has learned.
A villager from Pangone of Paung
Township said they could not refuse the district police officer because the
policemen checked the people who pay taxes at their homes.
“The police officer Aung Min
Lwin asks for money from those who have worked in Thailand. He (the police) does not care whether they have made
any money or not or if they were arrested by Thai police and repatriated home
without any,” he added.
Another villager of Kyaikpaw, in Bago Township also talked to the media about police extortion to
the civilians who worked in Thailand. After the news was released, the villagers
were more restricted from working in Thailand according to local witnesses.
Burmese migrant workers
contribute to the development of villages in Mon State, building schools, for example, and boosting the
local economy with much needed cash.
The collection of tax by the police in the villages has occurred for over a
year, but no one dares to speak out to the exile media groups, according to the
villager.
The SPDC has restricted Burmese people from working in Thailand and issued a statement that perpetrators would be
sentenced as human traffickers if caught transporting migrant labourers into
neighbouring countries.
When not fighting against opposition groups, corruption and exploitation is
standard practice among Burmese military personnel, officer’s salaries are not
sufficient to pay for their daily needs. Low ranked civil servants
receive 15,000 kyats ($12) while the top-ranked officials take 200,000 kyats
($160) per month.
A Burmese migrant worker in Thailand earns about 120 Baht a day ($US 3.30). In contrast,
if on the rare occasion that one lands a job in Burma, they would find it difficult to make ends
meet. And with inflation continuing to rise in hand with unemployment,
human rights violations, and displacement, thousands decide to leave to search
for jobs in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and even in Europe
where they take on low paid 4 D jobs: dirty, difficult, dangerous, and distant.
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4 Mon migrants dead, 7 wounded in car accident
Reported by Lawiweng, Kaowao: May 7,
2007
Sangkhlaburi -- Three women and one male Mon migrant died and
seven were wounded in a car accident as they were driving to Kanchanaburi on 4 May 2007.
The car crashed before
arriving in Kanchanaburi, according to a migrant
worker who lives in Three Pagodas Pass, Thai Burma border, while the migrants were trying to
sneak into Thailand.
The truck left at 7 pm from Paline Japan village and the accident occurred around half past ten, according to the agent. Seven wounded people
were sent to the hospital in Kanchanaburi, she said.
The source could not confirm
yet whether the people were from Mon state. According to the source, the people
were afraid to say where they were from.
More than two thousand Burmese migrants arrived on the Thai-Burma border
between 18 April and 6 May 2007. Multiple push factors such as rising inflation, high
unemployment, and human rights violations force many to leave via dense jungle
routes to look for jobs in neighboring countries. Thai industries, as a
pull factor, have become dependent on a cheap, reliable labour force of up to
one million, some of whom are illegal since the early 1990s. After Burma’s water festival every year, the border area, as
porous as a fishing net, is usually crowded with
migrant workers.
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Thousands
of poor migrants streaming across the Thai-Burma border
Lawiweng, Kaowao: May 6, 2007
More than two thousand
Burmese migrants arrived on the Thai-Burma border between 18 April and 6 May,
according to a member of KPF (Karen Peace Force), who is in charge of the
checkpoint in Chaung Zon,
Three Pagodas Pass.
"The motor way is
damaged as the rainy season has started and less people are coming. But a
couple of hundred people are arriving everyday,” said the officer.
Affected by high inflation,
poor employment opportunities, displacement, and human rights violations in Burma, many are heading to Thai factories and other
industries in search of jobs in their neighboring countries.
There are Thai VIP buses for
transporting people on the border and every day ten VIP buses are filled with
Burmese workers, said a resident in Three Pagodas Pass.
There are a thousand Burmese
workers without Thai legal travel documents and they are waiting to sneak into Thailand. Many face uncertainty and risk their lives while
crossing over including being shot at by Thai authorities, drowning while
crossing streams, illegal trafficking schemes, contracting diseases such as
malaria, deportation, and punishment.
Migration is seasonal with
high numbers crossing over during Burma’s water festival, Songkran,
and peaking again during the rainy season. However, this year there were many
Burmese workers returning to Thailand, which offers better work opportunities than in Burma. Migrants make on average about 1,500 to 5,000 Baht
($40-140) per month with many remitting money home to their families.
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Human Rights News Report
Mon people face hard labor in military development projects
(By Lawiweng)
More than one hundred Mon civilians have been forced to work for multiple
development projects in southern Mon State. For three weeks of each month,
civilians have been conscripted to work on bridge
constructions. The civilians are
forced to labour on 46 bridges, which includes large and
small bridges along the main road from Ye township to Kaw
Zar sub town.
Alongside reports of forced labour there have also been reports of the military
increasing the transportation of military equipment to their battalion in Kaw Zar. The construction
of bridges has now made it possible for the transportation of army supplies to
their artillery battalion in Kaw Zar
sub-town
The local Burmese army base
IB No.31 commander had ordered the village headmen to provide one person
from each household for the construction projects, reported a local civilian
who was also a victim of forced labour. A Mon Human rights worker
interviewed a villager from Kaw Zar
sub-town who had been forced more than three times in the last month to go to
the bridge construction in Ye township. The amount of forced labor is more
serious now than it was in January 2007, said the villager.
There are many
civilians who would like to refuse to work, as they are too poor. Forced
labour means that they can't work in their gardens thus they can't provide
for their families. However, SPDC still calls forced labour ‘Ko Htoo Ko Htta’, which means that
the civilians are working as volunteers.
The SPDC has not cooperated with the ILO to allow the investigation
of ongoing forced labor in southern Mon State. They insist that the security situation is bad
due to a Mon rebel group operating in the area. There was some
international media that criticized the SPDC regarding its prohibition of
the ILO traveling to these areas.
According to IMNA (Independent Mon News Agency), the forced labor order had
come from the military officers based in those areas. The news report mentioned
that the order came to the headman village. When the village headmen ordered
the villagers to work, he told them that the army would pay them 2,500 kyat per
day and that they had to bring their own food and equipment, however they
received no payment.
Many civilians including women and children were forced to labour in the
construction of the bridges. Women and children were forced to pile
sand and collect stones from the stream. Some constructions sites are far from
where the civilians live. “We don’t want to go to the bridge between Han-Gan and Sin Kuu. It is about 15
miles from our village. But the leader of Kaw-Zar Township asks us to work for half a day,” said a 40-year-old
mason from Kaw-Zar Township. Actually, the bridge was not finished even though
they worked the whole day. They had to sleep overnight at the
construction site because of the long distance to their home, the next day they
finished.
Meanwhile, the SPDC often broadcasts propaganda on its television network,
Myanmar TV, the state run TV station. The bridge projects are good, they
report, they will provide transportation for the local Mon people. However, the
NMSP said in their statement on Mon National Day that they were not happy that
the SPDC was using forced labor.
The NMSP had peace talks with SPDC in 1995, but before the peace agreement,
southern Ye belonged to the NMSP. After the
ceasefire agreement, the SPDC deployed many battalions to within the cease-fire
areas. The SPDC didn’t want the NMSP to have influence or control within these
areas again if the cease-fire failed.
(Lawiweng is a human rights reporter working for the Mon
Forum that produces monthly reports on human rights in Mon State.)
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NMSP President urges for
the reestablishment of Monland
MUL: May 8, 2007
Sangkhlaburi -- Nai Htaw
Mon in his opening speech urged the attendees that even though the Mon people
regret the enormous loss of their nation, including men, women, children and
Buddhist monks who died during a genocide campaign committed by Burman king U
Aung Ze Ya (Alaungphaya)
250 years ago, they must keep the movement alive with a strong will until the Mons can re-establish their nation or achieve their rights
to self determination again.
He recalled how the Mon first lost their nation when the Burman king, Anoratha annexed Thaton Mon Kingdom in the 11th century, AD, but the Mons were later to re-establish
their kingdom through diligence. There are always opportunities for the Mons to re-establish their nation and we must struggle to
keep unity and find better strategies, and most importantly, be consistent in
our commitments.
He pointed out there has been domestic and international recognition of the Mons as a people ever since the Burman leadership refused
us our national rights prior to when we gained independence in 1948 from Britain. Burman leaders constantly bring up this erroneous
idea that, “The Mons and the Burmans are identical” a
negative attitude embedded in their ‘Assimilation Policy.’ Today we are a people
without a country and we must find a way to re-establish our nation with
greater autonomy and hope.
Over the course of 250 years, when Burman King U Aung Ze
Ya annexed Mon Kingdom in lower Burma, the king attempted and “collaborated in genocide”
with fellow Burmans against the Mon people, especially targeting Buddhist
monks, said Nai Kasauh Mon,
the General Secretary of the Mon Unity League.
Based on historical records written in Mon palm leaves and verified by western
historian books titled the “History of Rangoon and the Mon, the Civilization of
South East Asia,” there is ample evidence of the event, namely, that the Burman
king planned to kill all Mons and uproot the Mon
culture. The president explained that the foreigners recorded eyewitness
accounts in the executing of a large number of Mon monks in Rangoon in 1755 before U Aung Ze Ya
overthrew Hongsawatoi. As the story goes in written
accounts:
“His Majesty Aungzeya was of a very fierce
and cruel disposition and make no account at all of life. He put to death many
monks, and their iron alms bowls and silk robes were taken away, and the
homespun robes were made into foot mats. Of some they made pillows, of
some they made belts, and of some they made sails. The monks’ robes were
scattered all over land and water.”
We must take a closer look at history, in that, successive Burman dominated
governments never wrote the true history of their leaders but rather praised
them as heroes. However, according to our accounts and other Asian texts, U
Aung Ze Ya was a notorious and inhumane king in
treating other non-Burman people.
Following his speech, Nai Htaw Mon combined the
memorial with a candle lit prayer and vigil at Buddha Gaya
Pagoda. In the evening at 7 pm,
about 50 Mon people in Sangkhlaburi District attended
the Buddha Gaya Pagoda in Wengka
Mon village to honor their ancestors at Buddhist alters. A well-known Mon abbot
Rev. Uttama built this lovely pagoda about 20 years
ago.
Attendants, according to Buddhist tradition, pray for those who passed away during
the Hongsawatoi Fallen Day. They prayed for Buddhist
monks, royal families, leaders and ministers, children and women, soldiers and
other innocent people who were executed in 1757.
An elderly Mon led prayers while attendants honored the dead. At the alter,
they gave flowers to Lord Buddha, lit candles and incense for a brighter life,
and prayed that the Mon people would never again face genocide.
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Thousands of Burma’s children deprived of education
Reported by Lawiweng: May 9, 2007
Mudon: From dusk to dawn seven days a week people gather
around local bars to drink beer and chat into the early morning hours in Mudon Townhip of Mon State, southern Burma. Fourteen-year-old Tun Oo works every night until the early morning serving the
patrons at one such crowded beer garden in Kwan Hlar
village. He works alone for over 12 hours a day and enjoys serving beer to his
guests.
“I get 30,000 kyat per
month and I feel satisfied with my stipend. Before I got 15,000 when I filled
gasoline,” said the slim young boy. Poverty, however, is seen as the major
reason why parents send their children to work. Tun Oo from Kyaik-Htaw Township is the youngest son in his family. He has two sisters
and his family has difficulties making ends meet. Having no other option, he
went to work in Mudon Township where he could get a better salary.
He likes the cowboy style
and wears a cowboy hat along with camouflage short pants. He is very familiar
with the guests. There are many boys like Tun Oo who serve beer, coffee and tea at shops in Burma. The owners often do not hire adults, as they must
pay them more than children.
According to coordinator
Mrs. Jarai Non of the WCRP (Women and Child Rights
Project), which is based on the Thai-Burma border in Sangkalaburi
and who collects news reports regarding child labor, many children are involved
in family businesses because their families are poor.
According to Save the
Children, Burma’s children face some of the worst poverty in Asia. Due to economic decline and the political situation
that affects aid allocation, rates of child mortality are high with over 27,000
children nationwide dying from preventable diseases while others suffer from
malnutrition and endure long hours of labouring for
their families. Other problems relate to lack of education, which has fallen in
recent years from lack of public investment. Unskilled and without legal
protection, children under the age of 18 make up approximately 40% of the
population.
There are many children who
work collecting bottles, plastic bags, and those who sell food and water at bus
and train stations along the way from Mawlamyine to Rangoon. Some children sit at bus stations and ask passengers
if they would like drinking water when the bus stops. These children are not
able to study at school, as their families cannot afford to pay for their
education.
Burma became signatory to the UN Convention on the Right’s
of the Child (1991) and enacted the Child Law prohibiting child labour (1993).
The concept that children have rights is not widely known in the country.
Unfortunately, for these poor children and their families, there are no real
options to continue their education at present. At a UN Committee meeting in
2004, some Burma officials feel that these parents have no choice but
to send their children to work and should be allowed to do so.
A popular expression from
taxi drivers in Burma is, “You don’t need to be educated, but you need to
know how to find money.” Indeed, many people in Burma are not proud of their education and do not pursue
it. Some people who graduate still cannot get a job and cannot provide for
their families. Because of high unemployment of those who are educated, many
families encourage their children not to complete their education. The majority
of children finish only to middle school.
“Children who work at coffee
and tea shops have to live in small compounds in poor living and working
conditions that affects their health,” confirmed Mrs. Jarai
Non. “Many children get paid a small amount of money even though they have to
work day and night. They have to wake up at 5 am
and continue working till 10 pm
leaving them exhausted. Some children don’t want to work and they would prefer
to continue their studies,” she added.
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Fall of Honsawatoi unites Mon organizations around the world
Kaowao: May 2, 2007
After losing their
sovereignty 250 years ago, Mons around the world organized to commemorate this very
important day for their nation
This year will mark the
250th anniversary of the fall of Mon kingdom Honsawatoi
with Mon communities organizing to commemorate the event back home in Burma, Thailand, and overseas.
The Overseas Mon
Coordinating Committee (OMCC) was working hard to motivate Mon organizations to
hold ceremonies in their respective locations. Efforts included the
issuing of a joint statement, publication of a memorial magazine, the release
of a Mon album along with commemorative T-shirts with Mon insignia,
presentation of Mon history to the younger generation, and staging a
demonstration.
The OMCC is comprised of
community leaders and individuals from Australia, Canada, Europe, the United States, Malaysia, and Thailand (specifically Bangkok and the Thai-Burma border). The OMCC drafted a
letter to Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the
United Nations, representing Mon organizations around the world.
In the United States, the Monland Restoration
Council (MRC) will hold demonstrations on May 7 in front of the Burmese Embassy
and at UN Headquarters in New York. They will also meet with the representative of the Permanent
Forum for Indigenous Issues.
In Thailand, Hongsawatoi Memorial Day
ceremonies will be held in Mahachai, Sangkhlaburi, and Maesot.
According to Nai Monjean,
an event organizer in Bangkok, guest speakers will present speeches in the morning
followed by food offerings to monks then seminars in the afternoon, and a
candlelight dedication closing the day's events.
"The purpose of this
Memorial Day ceremony is to remember the independent Mon kingdom and to devote
merit to a large number of innocent ancestors who were killed by Burman
soldiers. To strengthen unity among the people, discussions will be embedded in
the agenda to provide leaders an opportunity to share their experiences and
adapt strategies to their society's development," said Monjean.
"Not only did we lose
our independence to the Burmans in 1757, we also lost our sovereignty,
including the right to preserve our culture and teach our language to our
children, the right to determine our political, social, and economic status,
and the right to determine our own future," said Nai
Pon Nya Mon, Chairman of
the MRC.
This commemoration is
significant for the Mons due to what happened after the 1757 invasion. After Alaungpaya invaded Hongsawatoi, it
is recorded that he implemented oppression to wipe out the Mon culture, its
people and their language.
The Mon kingdom Hongsawatoi was invaded by Burman king Alaungpaya
in 1757 after decades of war with the Mon. Thousands of Mon left their
motherland to seek refugee in Thailand after many thousands were killed when the Burman army
unleashed a scorched earth policy, a tactic still employed to this day. Alaungpaya spared the lives of the Mon royal family and
held them as prisoners, but thousands were executed along with Mon monks who
were especially targeted for helping to resist the invasion. According to
historical records, the monks were trampled to death by hundreds of elephants.
The city never recovered and from this day forward, the Mon language, its
people, and culture have been oppressed.
In the past, the fall of Honsawatoi was modestly celebrated in the liberated area of
the New Mon State Party but after many resettled in the third countries, the Mons in the USA first celebrated while in exile to draw attention to
the general Mon public.
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Sunthorn Sripanngern
provides a fascinating historical account of events leading up to the Hongsawatoi invasion in 1757
The day before the fall of Hongsawatoi on 8 May 1757
By Sunthorn
Sripanngern
Continue from: "weak points of Mon during war with Brumese"
Having defeated the Mons in Upper Burma, Alaungpaya pursued them
southwards and in February 1755 entered Prome. By May of the same year he had
entered Dagon. It would appear that Dagon escaped the worst of these disasters;
no attempt was made by the Mons to hold the town and
thus no fighting occurred, but there was as yet no general submission of the
delta, and Dagon became the scene of a good deal of fighting. The Mons still held Pegu and Syriam, and Alaungpaya
therefore made Dagon his headquarters from which an attack on Syriam across the
water might be projected.
But for the time being it was rather Syriam, which attacked Dagon. The Mons were better equipped than
the Burmans in arms and ammunition, and had the further advantage of enjoying
the assistance of the French establishment there, which was under the command
of the Sieur de Bruno. Alaungpaya's
obvious course was to seek the assistance of the rivals of the French, the
English who were now established at Negrais (at the
mouth of Bassein River). And as early as March he had approached the head of
the factory at Negrais, but his proposal was without
effect, for the policy of the East India Company was to maintain strict
neutrality in the contest, since their commitments in India were too great to allow of further liabilities
elsewhere.
After occupying Dagon Alaungpaya received a visit
from Sieur de Bruno, who professed a desire to
congratulate him on his conquests, but the king realized that no sincere
assistance could be looked for from that quarter, and in June he dispatched a
second mission to Negrais bearing various presents,
and since then it seemed evident that the Burmans were the winning side, the
English sent two officers to him with a present of, among other items, a
twelve-pounder gun, three nine-pounders,
eight shot, and four chests of powder.
Meanwhile, Alaungpaya had persuaded the English
shipwright, who was almost the only Englishman still resident at Syriam, to
come to Dagon, and with him came four English ships that happened to be in the
port. The English had suffered much at Syriam from the Francophile propensities
of the Mons, and were doubtless glad to place
themselves under the protection of the Burmans; so much so, that Alaungpaya appears to have received over assistance from
them, for when in May, a week or two after the king's arrival in Dagon, the Mons crossed the Pegu River and established a stockade at Tamwe to the northeast of the town, Alaungpaya
had the aid of Indian soldiers from the four ships in expelling the Mon force.
At the beginning of June another English snow "Arcot"
(square-rigged vessel on which a large trysail is hoisted) appeared in the
river in need of repairs, and the shipwright, "Stringfellow"
by name, sent a message urging the captain, "Robert Jackson" to come
to Dagon where the king would give every possible assistance. On the sixth
June, "Arcot" anchored off Dagon. Alaungpaya was at once visited by a company's officer, John
Whitehill, who happened to be on board, and, Whitehill,
gave him a present of a fowling-gun and two bottles of rosewater, the king
extended to him courteous reception, promised the needed assistance of
carpenters and caulkers, and also agreed to send river-boats to Negrais with letters.
But Alaungpaya wanted a quid pro quo; the Mons had the aid of the French vessels that were in the port of Syriam, and under their protection might come up the river
and attack Dagon; he therefore needed guns. So the following day he invited all
the Englishmen of the various ships to come ashore, and in their absence sent
men to demand all the guns, small arms, and ammunition that "Arcot" carried, as well as a statement of her cargo.
Jackson, who had not gone ashore, replied that this demand was contrary to
established usage and that rather than comply he would go to Syriam. The day
after, the Burmans came and threatened to take the guns by force, but Jackson prepared to resist and made his ship ready to sail. Alaungpaya, having no desire to see his enemies
strengthened by the accession of the English vessel, sent his son to explain
that the demand was made under the apprehension that it was the custom at
Syriam to land all arms, but that if it was not the custom the demand would not
be persisted in. Nevertheless, the Burmans managed to get possession of all the
arms and ammunition of the country vessel "Elizabeth" that had come up from Syriam before the arrival
of "Arcot".
Alaungpaya was no doubt disappointed, but he could
not afford to alienate the English at the moment, especially as the Negrais staff seemed well-disposed and sent him at this
juncture a dozen muskets and some powder as a foretaste of the heavy guns which
were to come later. Moreover, it was not possible for him to stay at Dagon any
longer; a son of Mahadammayaza-Dipati had effected a rising in upper Burma, and Alaungpaya left Dagon
towards the end of June to secure his authority in the north. The rains had
begun, and perhaps those weather conditions would prevent much activity during
his absence. He had taken measures for the safety of Dagon; a large force was
left to hold the town under Zeyananda who had been
appointed as Governor, and a moat and fortified gateways had been projected. He
appointed about 15,000 men to maintain the post at Dagon. As he passed by every
place, gave orders to call in the former inhabitants, and obliged them to build
a number of fighting boats, in proportion to the number of the people.
Although Alaungpaya did expect that all would be
quiet at Dagon in his absence, he was disappointed,
the Mons took advantage of his departure to make several
attacks. Like Alaungpaya, they realized the effect
which the English ships might have on the fortunes of the day, and even before Alaungpaya departed, they had sent a letter to Jackson stating that an attack on Dagon was impending and
asking the English not to fire on their boats, and at the same time offered Jackson a friendly welcome at Syriam. Jackson, who was
disturbed at the difficulties he had got into with the Burmans and was
disgusted because the help in repairing his ship which Alaungpaya
had promised had not been forthcoming, was inclined to listen to such
suggestions. So he replied that he would not oppose the Mon forces and that he
would come down to Syriam at the first opportunity.
A few days afterwards the Mons attempted a surprise attack, their boats coming up
the river with the night tide while another force crossed the Pegu River and advanced by land. The boats, however, were
repulsed by the fire of the Burmans who lined the bank of the river, while the
land force, finding that the Burmese post on the Pagoda Hill could be carried
only by assault, and disheartened by the failure of the attack from the river,
made only a feeble attempt. And after sporadic firing had gone on through
the night and most of the morning, the Mons withdrew. By noon
the attack was over. During this affair the English remained strictly neutral,
but the Burmans suspected them for that very reason of favoring the enemy since
Alaungpaya seems to have extracted from them some
sort of promise that they would aid his men in the event of an attack.
The Burmans were not far
wrong in their surmise; a week later another message came from the Mons announcing a further attack, and to this Jackson and
the other English officers replied that if the Mons would aid them to escape from Dagon they would give
active assistance in the fight. They at the same time gave the Mons information about the strength of the Burmans, which
consisted of eighty river-boats, of which nine were armed with guns, a Dutch
Brigantine which they had commandeered and manned with their own men, and two
guns mounted on shore. The Burmans, however, became aware of these
conversations and demanded a definite assurance that if the Mons attacked the place the English would resist them. The
English replied that without express orders from the Company they must remain
neutral but that if the Mons attacked them they would assist the Burmans.
The Burmans were far from being satisfied with this, and kept a strong guard of
boats around the "Arcot" for several days.
Meanwhile the Mons, assured of the assistance of the English ships
which, they hoped, would give certain victory, prepared for battle. And early
one morning, the Mon flotilla of two hundred boats and one snow, headed by two
French vessels, could be seen down the river. They had dropped down the Pegu River with the tide overnight, and lay at the junction of that
river with Hlaing River, waiting for the turn of the tide to carry them up to
Dagon. As soon as daylight enabled the enemy to be seen, the Burmese commander
sent an urgent message to Jackson demanding his support, but, in the words of Jackson, very little notice was taken of this application.
Owing to the time of the tide, it was two o'clock in the afternoon before the flotilla arrived off the town.
The French ships anchored and opened fire with their cannon while the Mon
musketeers commenced firing at the Burmese boats. The Burmese had withdrawn
their boats into a creek, probably the old creek running up to the Sule Pagoda, where they hoped to be protected by a small
battery consisting no doubt of the two guns mounted on shore, the existence of
which had been reported to the Mons that these guns
had been placed behind hastily constructed works in a mango grove by the river
bank. As soon as the firing commenced, the English ships also began bombarding
the Burmese position, and unable to withstand the combined force of the enemy
artillery, the Burmese were compelled to abandon their boats and took shelter
among the mango trees. There they put up a determined resistance, and though
their cannon were not well managed, nevertheless they managed to do some execution
with their musketry that killed two Mons on board the "Arcot".
It appeared to the French and English that if the Mons had gone in shore they could
have taken all the Burmese boats, but they were afraid to face the Burmese
musketry at close quarters, and despite the persuasions of the Europeans they
remained out in the stream.
Firing went on until nightfall, and after dark the English ships moved farther
out into the stream, to be out of range of the Burmese muskets. The bombardment
went on for seven days, and then having exhausted their ammunition and achieved
nothing. The attack had been ill managed, no diversion was made by any land
force, and the Mons refused to engage in hand-to-hand fighting. Thus
their seven days' attack left the Burmese still in possession of their
fortification. When the Mons returned to Syriam, the English ships went with them.
Jackson, who had apparently gone to Syriam after the first day's fighting,
afterwards explained his conduct in preferring the Mons
at Syriam to the Burmese at Dagon on the grounds that he was sick with
dysentery and needed medical attention from the doctor attached to the French
factory: there every thing was to be got for his assistance, at Dagon nothing
nor had they seen a fowl since they had been there, and no water but what was
very bad which had thrown him into a bloody flux and a strong fever. For the
time being Dagon was safe, but its position was precarious, for now the Mons were reinforced by the
English ships as well as the French.
The king was greatly angered by the conduct of the English in assisting his
enemies. When the mission from Negrais bringing the
canon reached him at Shwebo in September, he
expressed his wrath: "Your ships that were at Dagon with Mr. Whitehill, I treated with kindness", he said,
"and supplied them with what they wanted, and at my leaving that Place, to
come here to keep our fast, desired him that in case it should be required in
my absence, on an emergency, to assist my people; or at least not to join the Peguers against them; which though he promised to observe,
yet was the first that fired on them". This episode implanted in his mind
a suspicion of the English which was never eradicated and which led to the
massacre of the English at Negrais when opportunity
offered four years later.
Alaungpaya now sent a new commander, Minhla-Minkaungkyaw, to Dagon, who brought reinforcements
with him and took energetic measures to improve the defenses. At Syriam,
meanwhile, preparations were in hand for a further attack on Dagon, and the
English were compelled to take part in this also, it being made clear to them
that unless they rendered such assistance they would not be allowed to depart.
The English had found the Mons if anything even less
easy to deal with than the Burmans; the Mons also
were suspicious of their good faith, and when the chief of the Negrais factory wrote demanding the surrender of four guns
belonging to the English factory at Syriam, the Mon commander refused, saying
that "he knew Mr. Brooke wanted to give them to the Burmans that he might
get some Rubies from the Dagon Pagoda".
In December Dagon endured another onslaught of even greater magnitude than the
last. Three English ships, one French ship, the snow belonging to the Mon King,
and three hundred boats participated; while ten thousand men were landed to
march against the fortifications on the Pagoda Hill and at the mango grove. The
Burmans found it impossible to hold the town, and withdrew to their fort at the
Pagoda. There they maintained themselves, and the Mons proved unable to dislodge them. When the Burmans sent
down fireboats on the tide, the Mon flotilla and the European ships had to slip
their cables and retreat; the land force, unsupported from the river, made an
ineffectual attempt to storm the fort but was easily repulsed. So the attack
was brought to an end. After this abortive effort the English ships were
allowed to depart, though the Mons retained five of the Arcot's
guns.
Here Sieur de Bruno proposed neutrality to Alaungpaya, which he did not respect; when the king marched
on Syriam, where the fort was supposed to be impregnable, Bruno anchored his
ship near the emporia and prepare to defend them against the Burmese. But soon
Bruno proposed a new accommodation to Alaungpaya. The
Mons intercepted the message and locked Bruno up in the
fortress at Syriam. Alaungpaya took advantage of this
and seized the emporia and the French ship.
Then in July 1756 the council at Pondicherry decided to send two ships to Pegu, the
"Diligent" and the "Galathee" with
troops, munitions and provisions.
Alaungpaya besieged the city and fort of Syriam and
took them in July. The "Galathee" had
already arrived at the Burmese coast but went up the Sittang
instead of the Rangoon River. When this mistake was discovered and the ship was
put back on the right course, it was too late; by the time that the vessel
arrived at Syriam the city had already been fallen two days before. Alaungpaya forced Bruno to order the captain of the French
ship to proceed to Rangoon. The captain's papers proved that his cargo was
intended for Banya Dala.
The Burmese king thereupon put Bruno, captain and the officers of the Galathee to death, and took the soldiers prisoner, whom he
intended to use against the capital, Pegu, together with the weapons that had
been recovered.
(The "Diligent" arrived six months later because adverse winds had
blown her off course to the Nicobar Islands, and escaped in time.)
In the mean time the Burmese troops instituted a scorched earth policy around
Syriam and soon in the entire province. The villages were set on fire and
all the Mons, who were easily recognized because of the way they
wore their hair, were either killed or deported, depending on whether or not
they were marketable. Once again nothing was left but smoking ruins, corpses,
and harvests laid to waste. Only those settlements
which gave themselves up before any of the troops arrived were spared by Alaungpaya and his men.
When the sides began to parley, Alaungpaya offered to
show clemency to the Mons, declaring that he was a divine reincarnation
destined to become a Buddha. The last chance for
reconciliation? The Mon king offered him his daughter. But it was only a
ruse on the part of the Burmese, who hope it would get them inside the walls.
The siege of Pegu was particularly bloody. The moats ran red with blood, and
this was a fatal omen to the Mons who remembered what happened in 1538.
The Mons rallied, but the firearms taken from the French did
the rest, and on 8 May 1757 the city fell. The customary carnage and pillaging followed.
Nevertheless, Alaungpaya spared the lives of the
royal family, whom he held as prisoners. Most of the city was destroyed and it
never recovered from the tragedy. If one is to believe Sayadaw Athwa, Alaungpaya took out his fury especially on the monks, three
thousand of whom he ordered to be trampled to death by elephants and whose
monasteries he pillaged. "The monks helped the city to resist," he
said. Even if this horror was exaggerated by the chronicle, by turning
the monks over to wild beasts Alaungpaya made it
clear that he wanted to destroy the culture of the Mon; from this date on the
Mon language was vigorously discouraged in Burma.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dalrymple: Oriental Repertory
D.G.E. Hall: The Tragedy of Negrais (Journal of the Burma Research Society XXII)
R. Halliday:
History of Kings (Journal of the Burma Research Society XIII)
Konbaungset Yazawin
Sonnerat: Voyage aux Indes Orientales (1782)
M. Symes: Embassy to
Ava (1800)
H.H. Wilson: Documents
Illustrative of the Burmese War (1827)
Emmanuel Guillon:
The Mons, a Civilization of Southeast Asia (1999)
*******************************************************
In the region
Communists in Bhutan? The contribution of the US, UNHCR, India and et all
Weekly commentary from Asian
Centre for Human Rights: 16 May 2007
From 28 May 2007, Bhutanese refugees will launch fresh movement
demanding their right to return to Bhutan in the wake of programme for resettlement in third
countries, offered mainly by the United States. All eyes of the diplomatic community in Nepal and neighbouring India would be on the role of the Communist Party of Bhutan
(Marxist-Leninist-Maoists), the CPB-MLM.
On 3 May 2007, the activists of the CPB-MLM prevented the
representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
from holding consultations with Bhutanese refugees at Beldangi
camp regarding their resettlement in the United States. They demanded return to Bhutan. The UNHCR has undertaken the consultation programmes
following the proposals from the United States to resettle over 60,000 Bhutanese refugees in the US over the next 4-5 years. The United States is reportedly setting up an overseas processing
entity (OPE) in Kathmandu to start resettling the refugees from 1 July 2007.
The UNHCR is too eager to
wash off its hands. On 7 March 2007, Representative of UNHCR in Nepal, Abraham Abraham stated
that the proposal of third country resettlement was a "very important
offer" and encouraged the refugees to accept it.
Since 1990s, over 100,000 refugees from Bhutan have been
languishing in the camps in eastern Nepal. Because of the
failure of the international community to censure Bhutan for its ethnic
cleansing policies, no solution could be found on the vexed issue. Nepal often
responded to the proposals from Bhutan, and in June 2003, it agreed to classify
the refugees into four categories:
Category 1- Bonafide Bhutanese who had been evicted
forcefully; Category 2 - Bhutanese who migrated on their own; Category 3 -
Non-Bhutanese; and Category 4 - Bhutanese who have committed criminal acts. The
categorization of refugees has been reiterated as racist.
Out of the total refugee
population of 12,183 at Khudunabari
camp,
the Joint Verification Team of Nepal and Bhutan found 293 persons
of 74 families under Category 1; 8,595 persons of
2182 families under Category 2; 2,948 persons of 817 families under
Category 3; and 347 persons of 85 families under Category 4.
I. The flawed US offer
The United States' offer to accept as many as 60,000 refugees sounds
sexy when the western countries turned into fortresses for the refugees and
asylum seekers in the post cold war period. In the post September 11 th period, immigrants from the
Muslim countries are no longer welcome, especially in the United States. Therefore, unless the United States adopts a comprehensive policy for resolving the
Bhutanese refugee crisis, its offer might be mis-construed.
After all, the Bhutanese refugees, who are mostly Hindus and Buddhists, fit the
American requirements for immigration in the post September 11th period.
The determination of
citizenship status of the all the refugees is indispensable for any solution to
the crisis. Unless citizenship status is determined it is highly likely that
those who are bonafide citizens of Bhutan even as per
the discriminatory and illegal yardsticks of the Bhutanese government will be
considered for resettlement and those refugees whose nationality is being
questioned by the government of Bhutan will be left out.
If the United States is serious about the solution of the Bhutanese
refugee crisis, it must give first priority to those refugees who are unabale to prove their nationality. But such a process
might include those who are illiterate and cannot speak in English irrespective
of their nationality and therefore do not meet the criteria for resettlement.
One does not have to be a communist but the United States and its implementing agency, UNHCR, must clarify as
to what will happen to the remaining 40,000 refugees if the United States accepts only about 60,000 refugees.
II. The internal crisis of
the Bhutanese refugees
In 1990s the demand for
democracy in Bhutan by southern Bhutanese to a large extent was
influenced by the success of the Jana Andolan
(Peoples' Movement) in neighboring Nepal. The government of Bhutan unleashed repression and expelled thousands of its
citizens for simply being ethnic Nepalis.
As thousands of refugees
fled, the government of India washed its hands off by sending them to Nepal. The government of India also repeatedly blocked the return of the refugees to
Bhutan. Most western governments supported the virtual
ethnic cleansing policy of Bhutan in the name of preserving the socalled
Shangrila of Bhutan.
In 1990s, the donors rushed
to assist the refugees. NGOs with active support from the donors mushroomed in
the refugee camps and each NGO developed its own constituency in the camps. The
movement of the Bhutanese refugees got lost; the refugees like all exiled
communities became divided and disillusioned. As conflicts in other countries
erupted, donors gradually withdrew. Only the NGOs with posters and postboxes
remained.
The plight of the Bhutanese
refugees became a lost cause.
The offer of resettlement in
the United States of late has become the rallying point for all the
Bhutanese refugees.
Enter the Communist Party of
Bhutan (Marxists-Leninists-Maoists) in this critical scenario. The activities
of the CPB-MLM might have already raised alarmed bells. Questions are also
being raised whether the success of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) in Nepal have once again encouraged the Bhutanese of ethnic
Nepali origin. And the government of Bhutan is once again having the last laugh.
It would be unfortunate if
the genuine concerns of the Bhutanese refugees – determination of their
nationality first – is to be overshadowed by the Communist Party of Bhutan
(Marxists-Leninists-Maoists). If the United States is serious, it must evolve a policy involving the
government of Nepal, government of Bhutan and representatives of the refugees. The government
of Bhutan must undertake the responsibility to rehabilitate
those who can prove their nationality under international supervision, and the United States will undertake to resettle those who cannot prove
their nationality. The principle of own volition by an individual refugee
and/or her family members must be the determinant factor to decide about
resettlement.
Without such a solution, the
United States and UNHCR might have just given necessary shot in the
arms of the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxists-Leninists-Maoists). That is
also precisely what the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) wants – extension of
the moral and ideological influence. After all, the cold war was all about
colonialism – expansion to bring under ideological fold. The Himalayas are slowly becoming the ground for a new kind of war between the US and the neo-Communists.
From the WEEKLY REVIEW of ACHR (Asian Centre for Human Rights), 16 May 2007
http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2007/167-07.htm
**************************************************************
Readers' Front
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_______________________________________________________________
On the NMSP President
urges for the reestablishment of Monland
Why no one is blaming Thailand for annexing Mon kingdoms! Throughout history,
it was not only Burmese kings who were villains, Thais monarchs were as
aggressive and blood thirsty as Burmese. Why Burma was always picked and single out? Guilty
of all ills? An easy target? A
sitting duck?
AKS
(Via Democracy_forBurma@yahoogroups
discussion)
_____________________________________________________________
Burmese Media-in-Exile: Is it Biased,
too?
We have not yet heard news
of the 250th Hongsawatoi Mon Kingdom
Fallen Day from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) based in Norway. The DVB is known for being the center of the
Burmese Democratic Movement. This year, Hongsawatoi
Fallen Day was celebrated by Mon people worldwide, including those who live
near the DVB headquarters in Norway. People celebrated this event to encourage unity
among Mon people and an understanding amongst other nationalities.
Despite comprehensive media coverage on the event from other sources, there has
been no report from the DVB.
This raises an important
question: how is the opposition media acting any differently from the
SPDC? When bad news comes for ethnic people (for instance, the split of
the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army from the Karen National Union) the DVB did
not hesitate to report. People inside Burma have a right to know about Hongsawatoi
Fallen Day festivities, in addition to the recent split among the Karen.
On a separate occasion, the
DVB was hesitant to release news that would assist Karen people in achieving
unity. When they heard the news that Karen were
fighting each other, they jumped to release the story. This further divided
Karen people and caused confusion until some Karen leaders protested against
the DVB's biased approach. The stories stopped only
when the KNU declared that the fighting was between Burmese troops and the KNU,
not between Karen.
Today, the central
government in Burma, dominated by the Burman majority, insists upon a
single united state. However, conflict stems not only from the power
struggle between democratic forces and a dictator. We must not forget that when
seeking solutions to political problems in Burma, and striving for peace and stability, it is crucial
to consider the role of ethnic nationalities.
The international community
is finally beginning to recognize that the denial of ethnic rights is a central
issue in Burma. While the 1947 constitution aimed to build a
federal union, it existed only in theory and was never actually realized.
Since becoming isolated, Burma has been recognized almost exclusively for the 1988
general uprising and 1990 election. In effect, the role of ethnic nationalities
was placed on the back burner while the main political party was given
precedence. The United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD), the second runner-up
in the 1990 election led by ethnic nationalities, remained largely out of view
of the public. The modest attitudes of ethnic groups have always taken a
back seat to Burman pro-democracy medias-in-exile. It's not surprising that the
world believes Burma's root problem to be a lack of democracy.
The failure of the 1988
uprising built some understanding between Burman and non-Burman groups, since
many Burmese students went on to join the armed forces under the protection of
Karen, Mon, Karenni and Kachin armed ethnic groups. There was no doubt,
however, that the Burman majority was in control, and many campaigns were
launched by their democratic forces. The Democratic Voice of Burma and Radio
Free Asia (Burmese program) emerged after 1988.
Unfortunately, the role of
ethnic nationalities and their media have never been at center stage. Only a
small amount of airtime is allotted for ethnic programs in Burma, and audiences are not well informed about the root
of the country's problems. Foreign radio stations such as BBC and VOA
offer comprehensive reports about Burma, and have given unbiased information to the general
public, but sometimes they neglect to adequately cover minority issues. Perhaps
the US and Britain are hesitant to report on topics that in many ways
resemble their own history with minority rights and colonialism.
In recent years, ethnic
nationalities in Burma led by the Ethnic National Council (ENC) have
launched international campaigns across Europe,
America, India, Japan and other countries. These efforts have introduced
the struggle of nationalities to the rest of the world.
It is disheartening that we
can still observe Burman chauvinists and writers dominating Burmese
media-in-exile. A good example is an article from the award-winning Mizzima news by Bo Bo Kyaw Nyein. The former student leader and the son of Burmese
political leader, Bo Bo discredited the role of the
ENC on their prominent web page by criticizing the state-based draft
constitution of the ENC, which granted equal rights and self-determination in
his Tyranny of the Minority (
http://mizzima.com/MizzimaBurmese/Articles/2007/Jan/22-Jan-2006-07c.htm).
Modest ethnic nationalities
have lost power to the dictator by force. Today, we are also losing control of
the media, in a struggle that can only be called psychological warfare.
Banya Htaw
Weang
New York, USA
(Via monnet discussion)
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Kaowao Newsgroup is committed to social justice,
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