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Living between two fires: villager opinions on armed insurgency

I. Introduction

The mountains and thick jungle of the area between Mon State’s southern Ye Township and northern Yebyu District in northern Tenasserim Division make it an ideal staging ground for armed rebels. Burma’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) government’s desire to fully control the countryside – a desire strengthened by the proximity of gas pipelines – have lead to intense militarization of countryside as the government fights to pacify the area. The high concentration of SPDC battalions and the scorched earth tactics they employ in their operations against rebels means that the area is consistently the site of the worst human rights violations on Burma’s southern peninsula.
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Protecting their rice pots: an economic profile of trade and corruption in Three Pagodas Pass

I. Introduction

Control of the Three Pagodas Pass border crossing, which connects Burma’s Karen State to Thailand’s Kanchanaburi Province, has been actively contested for hundreds of years. Fighting was fierce and frequent through the 1990s, and disputes over the border’s exact demarcations persist. In the last decade, frequent border closures driven by conflict and politics have wreaked havoc on legal business in and through the pass. Today, many residents find themselves in dire economic circumstances, made worse by the global economic crisis.
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“I have no more left in my hands:” Human rights conditions in southern Ye Township and northern Tavoy District

I. Introduction

Burma’s southern peninsula, made up of Mon State and Tenasserim Division, is home to some of the country’s most lush jungle and difficult terrain. It has, consequently, become the natural staging area for the operations of a variety of armed rebel groups. Though the area, like much of Burma, saw a decline of armed resistance through the 1990s, it has not been brought under complete control. In the 1990s, the SPDC found extra motivation for its counter-insurgency efforts in the area: the Yadana gas fields, which produce significant volumes of natural gas, lie just offshore in the Andaman Sea. Two overland pipelines transport gas across the peninsula, with one running due east into Thailand and the other running north, through Mon State and into Karen State. Human rights violations surrounding the development of the Yadana gas project in the 1990s have been well documented, and violations continue as the SPDC works to maintain and expand control of the area.
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A silenced anniversary: one year after the Saffron Revolution

I. Introduction
In August and September 2007 hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands of monks and civilians demonstrated in over twenty-five Burmese cities. The peaceful protests, dubbed the “Saffron Revolution” after the color of robes worn by monks who played a leading role, were Burma’s largest mass movement in two decades. Though the digital expertise of Burma’s dissident community ensured the events received international attention, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Burma’s military government, reacted with overwhelming force. Unarmed protesters were beaten and shot. Thousands were detained and held in inhuman conditions. Some were tortured, others killed and arrests continued for months after. Read more

Without a choice: Increased economic migration from Mon State to Thailand

HURFOM:

I. Introduction

Thailand is home to an estimated 1.2 million migrant workers from Burma, though the percentage of this number made up of ethnic Mon has never been surveyed. If Mahachai, in southern Thailand, is any indicator, the number should be quite large, for the city is home to 400,000 Mon workers. The migration of workers from Mon state is not a constant stream, and is affected by a variety of factors. Though not strictly seasonal as can be, for instance, the movement of undocumented Latino agricultural workers in the United States, the number of workers crossing from Mon state is still affected by the seasons. Travel difficulties, as well as agricultural opportunities, associated with heavy rainfall mean that migration typically lulls during the rainy season, and rises through the cold and hot seasons until peaking during the forty-five day period following mid-April’s Songkran festival. Read more

Drugs problem in Burma and Drug Trafficking in Mon Areas

I.Burma: Well-known for Drug Production

Burma (Myanmar) continues to be second largest producer of opium after Afghanistan in this globe. Yet the military junta claims that it will free the country of opium cultivation by 2014. The fact – a corrupt military is known to turn a blind eye for it lines pockets and it is a main concern for the international community that whether they can end the drug problem in Burma, while the ethnic communities in various ethnic States express concern that the drug problems have increased. Read more

THE PLIGHT OF MIGRANT WORKER: SUFFRING ACROSS THE BORDERS

By WCRP:

I. The Background of Migration of Workers from Burma

Southern part of Burma, bordering with Thailand, is a resource-rich area with a strong agricultural based livelihood of diverse ethnic nationalities – Mon, Karen, Tavoyan, Pa-oh, and Burman. It also has natural gas, fishery reserves and large good soil farmlands. However, most of the ethnic local inhabitants have suffered starkly poverty for decades in contrast with largesse, a result of decades of economic mismanagement and corruption within the Burmese military bureaucracy which has taken place since the 1962’s Gen. Ne Win military coup till the present regime, namely State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Additionally and simultaneously, like the previous regimes, this military regime (junta) SPDC has mounted heavy offensives against the ethnic groups in the border regions that have had crippling effects on civilian populations. Read more

Forced Labour Use by Burmese Army in Mon State from Mid-2007 to May 2008

I. Background Information

Since the involvement of International Labour Organization (ILO) in Burma from1999-2007 to eradicate forced labour, the use of forced labour in big cities has been reduced. However, the SPDC authorities and especially local military commanders from various military battalions based in rural area, have not changed their behavior, they continue to use local ethnic Mon, Karen and Tavoyan villagers as forced labour.

Between 1999 and 2000, the ILO informed the Burmese military regime, to stop the use of forced labour. However, the use of forced labour has continued as normal practice in most parts of rural areas in Karen State, Mon State, and Tenasserim Division. HURFOM found that the massive use of civilians as forced labour for government infrastructure projects have continued in some SPDC controlled areas, especially by army commanders. In particular, the SPDC used hundreds of thousands of civilians in Mon State and Tenasserim Division for the construction of the 110 miles long Ye-Tavoy railway. Read more

Suppressed: Freedom of Speech in Burma

History of Restriction against Freedom of Speech

To look at the smiling faces of the people of Burma, one could be forgiven for believing the Junta’s claim that their people are content. But it isn’t true; more like the Junta’s propaganda machines, the smiling faces do not tell you the full story. From the time a person in Burma wakes up in the morning they face conflict and uncertainty. There are no permanent jobs in Burma, no real ownership of anything and very high poverty. Added to all this is the lack of some fundamental human rights; there is no freedom of speech or freedom of press in Burma. Read more

Trouble Brewing; Before, During and After Cyclone Nargis

The Lead-up

Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma on May 2nd and 3rd , with the Irrawaddy Delta and Rangoon divisions the worst affected areas. This was the first large-scale natural disaster to hit the Burmese people and numerous people were killed; to date it is estimated 78,000 people died and 56,000 are still missing, while over 2.4 million people languish homeless and hungry. These survivors are in desperate need of aid, with poor living conditions leaving their health in jeopardy. Read more

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