DKBA conducts arbitrary taxation in Bilin Township

August 28, 2009

HURFOM: On August 12th the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) Battalion No.333, led by General Kyaw Min Oo, demanded a tax from rice and lumber mills located in DKBA brigade No.1 territory, near Phin Ma Pin Sait village, Bilin Township, Mon State.

According to HURFOM field reporters, there are about 18 rice mills and lumber mills in that area. The tax requires owners to pay 10,000 kyat for operating the mill for one month.

One rice mill owner said, “The demand for the tax is not logical. Sometimes for 3 or 4 months at a time they collect 1,5000 kyat for a tax. That is for food supplies for their troops. If we combined all this with the Burmese battalion taxes, it cost about 30,000 to 40,000 [kyat] a month. We just get 100 to 200 [kyat] for one bucket of rice. There are no advantages for us to do this job anymore.

Villagers have also been forced into working as unpaid manual labor for the local State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 213, according to local sources. Captain Thin Win commended villagers to collect 1,000 poles of bamboo, specifically 8 yards long, for building a barracks for troops from LIB No. 213.

According to local villagers, the DKBA is worried about Karen Nation Union (KNU) influence in the area. The area is officially NMSP controlled area, part of Mon state. However the majority of villagers in the area are Karen. The DKBA has been threatening villagers that if they are found to be talking with members of the KNU, they would be killed. Therefore, villagers don’t dare talk about the KNU.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News