Villagers face an impossible situation

April 30, 2009

HURFOM, Kalaing Aung Sub-township:
Residents of three villages in Kalaing Aung Sub-township are being prevented from working on their plantations by the military due to insurgent activity in the area.

Since the beginning of April Battalion No. 282 have refused to permit farmers from Alaesakhen, Kyaukadin and Kyauktalin villages to leave their homes and work in the plantation area two hours walk away. The military say this is because the Mon armed rebel group, Chan Dein is active in the vicinity.

According to villagers from Alaesakhen, this situation has caused them many difficulties. Most rely on their plantations for food and income and their land requires constant work throughout the year, such as clearing land for new cultivation, planting crops and spreading fertilizer. Different tasks are undertaken at different times of year.

“This is the time to harvest betel nuts from my plantation and if I can’t go and collect my betel nuts now I will lose the chance to earn enough money to buy food for coming year. If they’re left on the trees until later they will fetch a lower price and my family will face a big problem,” said a 40 years old villager and plantation owner from Alaesakhen.

Some villagers have left and moved to a Mon resettlement camp, Panon Pone in Ye Chaung Pyar, a New Mon State Party (NMSP) controlled area.

According to a 55 year old man from Kyaukadin village, as well as being unable to work on their land, many people moved because they had to pay illegal taxes to both the Chan Dein group and the military.

Those who could not pay the Chan Dein were punished by being prevented from working on their plantations and some were also beaten. Villagers have to pay tax every year to Chan Dein with variations in the amounts demanded.

The Kyaukadin villager said, “I arrived at Panon Pon camp two months ago. When I lived in my village I owned two betel nut plantations and I could earn not less than 10 million Kyat a year. But now I have to leave my plantations because I could not work on them and also soldiers accused me of being a member of Chan Dein and tried to arrest me and I had to leave home.”

The area around Alaesakhen, Kyaukadin and Kyauktalin is designated by the military as a ‘black area’, meaning it is not entirely under their control due to insurgent activity. Consequently these kinds of difficulties for local people are common. It is not only movement restrictions and extortion; villagers have also been killed by both the insurgents and the military. Local people find themselves continually caught between the two and facing an impossible situation.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News