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Residents restricted to villages in Tenasserim Division

HURFOM: HURFOM’s sources report that for the last two months, a number of villages in Tenasserim Division have endured confinement, extortion, and looting at the hands of the Burmese Army’s Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) No. 273 and No. 282,and the Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 31.  

Reports indicate that the first instances of battalion-led abuse commenced on August 10th  of this year, when LIB No. 273  banned the residents of Alaesakhan village from leaving the village limits to work their outlying farms for  two weeks; the battalion limited overnight stays outside of the village a week for a third week. LIB No 273 cited activity from the Rehmonnya and Chan Dein rebel groups as their motivation for the two-week-long confinement imposed on Alaesakhan village.

According to Ko Karat, an Alaesakhan villager, “the troops told us rebel groups in the area were the reason for the operation, and they banned farmers from working on their farms. I am disappointed with both of the groups [the battalion and the rebels].”

Village residents told HURFOM’s field reporter that the LIB No. 273 banned Alaesakhan residents from leaving the village to work on their farms from August 10th until August 25th. After that, the battalion allowed people to leave the village for their farms during the daylight hours, but prevented farmers from staying in their fields overnight, a common practice when farmers’ paddy fields are located a small distance from their villages. As a means of enforcing this regulation, the LIB 273 troops refused to allow farmers to transport more than two days’ worth of foodstuffs to their farms.

While the LIB No. 273 occupied Alaesakhan village, they also instituted a mandatory set of identification and documentation papers needed by the villagers to safely travel outside of their villages to their farms – a policy instituted during previous visits from the battalion. Unfortunately, during Augusts’ occupation, the LIB No. 273 dramatically elevated the cost and shorted the validity period of the papers.

An Alaesakhan villager reported to HURFOM, “Now the LIB no. 273 has increased the cost for documents allowing travel outside of the village. Before, a document for one week only cost 500 kyat. Now they want 1,500 Kyat for documents, and the papers allow us only two days outside of the village in our farms. After that if you want to extend your time outside of the village you need to pay them again. In addition, they have also limited the food we can bring to our farms. The troops just allowed us to bring food for two days.”

HURFOM’s reporters claim that during their operation in the Alaesakhan area, LIB no. 273’s troops, led by Tactical Commander Thein Zaw, looted and raided the village’s farms. Farm owners claim that LIB No. 273 troops stole goods like betel nuts, which they later sold in the village; the troops reportedly also killed farm animals for their own food stores without the farm owners’ permission.

Ko Win Lwin, a 47-year-old Alaesakhan villager who LIB No. 273 forced to aid in their search for rebel forces during their two-week confinement of the village, said, “the troops forced me to show the way when they were searching for rebel groups in the area. When they arrived at the farm where they set up their temporary camp, they picked all the betel nut around the farm. After that, they forced me to carry it on my way back to the village, and they told me to send the betel nut to the betel nut trader who does business with them in villages. They sold it to the trader for 5 Kyat for per nut.”

According to HURFOM field reporters, LIB No. 282 also used rebel activity as a reason to confine various villages in Tenasserim Division during the month of August. Villagers in Kyaukadin, Lort Taing, Nattkyizin, Chabone, and Yapu village all reported being unable to leave their villages to attend to their farms during restriction imposed by LIB No. 282

According the reports of two Burmese cattle traders (who wish to remain anonymous) who recently arrived at the Thailand-Burma border to conduct business, battalion troops have continued abusing and restricting villages in Tenasserim Division, this time in the villages of Danikyar and Paukpinkwin.

One of the cattle traders said, “In the second week of September, the Infantry Battalion (IB) no. 31, led by Lieutenant Say Ya Aung, prohibited the residents of Danikyar from working outside of their village for two weeks. In last week of September, the troops reopened the village again and asked the residents to act as security guards for the village. They commanded 30 people per day to act as a 24-hour rotating security force around the village. The people who didn’t want to guard had to pay them 3,000 Kyat per day. The villagers had to act as guards for about one week. While they [the battalion] were still in the village, they ate a lot of livestock, that they took from the residents without paying.”

An associate of the two cattle traders that HURFOM interviewed for this article, who has migrated to Thailand in search of employment, claims, “Right now, the LIB No. 282, I don’t know the leader’s name, but around 40 troops have been operating around Paukpinkwin village. They asked residents for their food supplies. They [the troops] set up their camp in the jungle. But whenever they see the villagers that travel to Khaw Zar or anywhere else through the jungle, they ask the many questions. If you can’t answer what they asked you, they will beat, torture and intimidate you.”

On June 5th, HURFOM reported on similar violations committed by LIB No. 282 in Yebyu Township, where battalion troops used potential Chan Dein activity in the area as an excuse to confine residents to their villagers and slaughter the livestock of local farmers.

(Editors Note: All names have been changed for security reasons)

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