Villagers forced to work clearing brush

October 2, 2008

HURFOM:

Light Infantry Battalion No. 299 is forcing villagers in Komile village, southern part of Ye Twon ship, are being forced to work as unpaid laborers clearing brush on the battalion’s rubber plantations, barracks and roads.

About thirty people are being forced to cut brush, each working four days a month sharing four gas-powered grass trimmers. Villagers are not only unpaid, but must provide all their own supplies; neither food nor fuel is provided. One day of work requires three to four litter of fuel, costing around 5,000 kyat.

If villagers do not work, they are forced to pay 12,000 kyat or hire someone to work in their stead.

House holds who own grass trimmers are required to work four days a month. “Before, we had to clear the bush by hand. Now we have to clear the brush with machines but we are like Army salve the world is change but we are not change from the Army salve,” said a man from Komile.

In 1995, LIB 299 confiscated nearly nine hundred acres of land from Komile. “We have to work on our own rubber plantation, except they have been confiscated by the Army,” added the man from Komile. “We don’t get the benefits, but we have to work for the army. It makes us feel like slaves.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News