Forced sentry duty, travel restrictions in Ye Township

January 5, 2009

HURFOM: Residents of A Pyaing village, Ye Township, are being required to stand sentry and walk security patrols, say local sources. Villagers are also prohibited from leaving the village after 6 pm.

The travel restriction and mandatory security duty began on December 8th, at the behest of Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 343. Each night 40 people are required to stand sentry or make security patrols on a rotation organized by the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC).

“We have been restricted by U Kyaw Hein, 50, [Chairman of the A Pyaing VPDC] and ordered to patrol the village every night since December 8th. All people from the village must implement the duty set up by the Village Peace and Development Council; about 40 people per night on rotation basis. U Kyaw Hein claimed that the order was imposed by Battalion No. 343 and not from him. But he is not a good village leader for us. We think he is using more power then he should,” a 40 year old Mon resident told HURFOM. “Each villager who is forced to provide security has to patrol around the village from 6 PM to 6 AM the next morning, with their own equipment.”

Ostensibly, the security duty is being ordered to protect the village against attack by Mon rebels lead by Nai Chan Dein. “A commander from Burmese Army [the source did not know his name or battalion number] and U Kyaw Hein demanded us to carefully patrol the village from the unexpected attacks by Chan Dein’s Mon rebels,” said a resident who recently stood sentry duty. “The village PDC Chairman demanded all of us to bring swords, knives, black rubber batons and single-shot rifles – if we have one – from our homes,” he added.

According to the order imposed by the village headman, only people on security duty can leave the village after 6pm. The rest of A Pyaing’s 180 households must remain inside the village. This is causing problems for most villagers, who subsist as betel nut farmers and say they need to sleep on their farms to guard against thieves.

“My family has been facing many difficulties because of this order. We have a 10 of betel nuts orchard outside the village. But I am prevented from guarding my plantation. Now, I some betel nuts were stolen by thieves,” said a 52 year old resident as she explained how the restrictions are negatively impacting her business.

“As a hand to mouth worker, I am now in a worse situation,” said another resident, 35. “I have to work the whole day and then have to guard the whole night again. The rotation system goes very fast as we have only 180 households. I have to guard once a week. If I fail to guard, I will receive punishment or penalty from the village PDC or the Burmese Army.”

“People are getting poorer and poorer. At the moment, the prices of agricultural products, such as betel nuts and rubbers are decreasing and local farmer are also facing different type of abuses committed by the local authorities,” said a respected community leader from A Pyaing village. “This is the main reason why most of the young people are deciding to leave their native places.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News