Continued Forced Portering in Than Tha Bin Township

HURFOM, Than Tha Bin: Reports have surfaced of Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) No. 421 and 261, both based in Than Tha Bin Township in Pegu District, using villagers in the area for forced labor. Both battalions are under the control of Military Operation Command (MOC) No. 7.  

A resident of the area informed HURFOM’s field reporter that roughly 70 Than Tha Bin Township villagers from Yaethagon village were used as forced labor during the second week of January 2010. Villagers from five villages in the township, including Han Tho village, Theit Pu village, Myaught Chaung village, Yaethagon village and Palae Wa village have endured forced labor conscriptions on a weekly basis since the two battalions moved to the area in 2009.

“Portering happens daily in Than Tha Bin Township, the number of villagers [forced to work] is irregular and some time the number is big and sometime it is small. Villagers have no time to work in their businesses”, said a 50 year-old Myaught Chaung resident who ask HURFOM to withhold his name.

During the second week of January this year, LIB No 421, led by Major Aung Myat and based in Yaethagon village, enlisted around 70 Yaethagon villagers, both male and female, to carry cooking materials like rice and cooking oil. Villagers had to carry the foodstuffs from Yaethagon village to Palae Wa camp, also in Than Tha  Bin Township. The march to the camp and back was a 2 day round-trip.

“I saw around 70 villagers, both male and female, carrying things and walking across my farm. I saw them walking, it seemed like [what they were carrying] was very heavy. Some were tired and took a rest on the way. As I heard the voices, they were not only Karen people, some Mon and Burmese speaker villagers were also involved in the portering”, said U Ah Thee, a 48 year-old Myaught Chaung villager.

He also told HURFOM that during September 2009, he was forced by LIB. No. 421 to work as a porter for 2 weeks. Following his experience, he refused to return to the village and instead has remained hidden on his farm.

According to a member of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on duty in Than Tha Bin Township, the Burmese military battalions use villagers not only as porters, but also as human shields and minesweepers during skirmishes with the Karen National Union (KNU).

“I am very unhappy with villagers; they had to do every thing as the soldiers said. Sometimes the villagers have to go in front of soldiers, in the middle of the soldiers and behind of soldiers. Villagers in front of soldiers clear the landmines and those in the middle of the soldiers and behind the soldiers were there to cover the soldiers from ambush” said the KNLA member.

HURFOM’s reporter learned that during the second week of January 2010, LIB No. 261 also forcibly enlisted roughly 80 male and female villagers from various villages in Than Tha Bin Township, including Theit Pu and Myaught Chaung villages, to porter cooking materials, mortar, and bullets for the battalion.

According to a Than Tha Bin resident, many villagers suffer greatly during their portering experiences; porters frequently are forced to walk great distances without rations or rest. ,

“Two months ago, my brother was arrested by LIB No. 261 and forced to porter.  He got a stomachache while he was carrying things, he could not walk and they [the battalion] left him in the jungle for three days. He walked back home. When he arrived at home his stomachache was severe. Since then, he has not been able to work, and he is still in bed,” explained his elder sister, a 30 year-old Than Tha Bin resident.

All of the Than Tha Bin villages victimized by LIBs No. 421 and 621 are mixed Karen and Mon villages; many of the farmers in the area survive through highland cultivation.  The region has been marked by the Burmese government as a “brown area”.