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Mudon residents extorted by Electric Power Corporation authorities, still without power

HURFOM, Mudon Township, September 30th, 2008

Residents of Mudon Tonwship report that they have been required to pay multiple rounds of exorbitant fees for electricity, but are still without power.

On August 20th, the Mon State Electric Power Corporation (EPC) demanded seven million kyat from villages in Mudon Township for the costs of setting up electricity. Six villages, including Let-Tet, Kyaik-Ywe, Wet-Tae, Nyaung-Gone, Kyone Phaik and Kaw-Kha-Pone, made the initial payment. Barely two weeks later, the electricity supply was cut. Read more

Farmers ordered to grow doomed rice during next year’s hot season

HURFOM : Mudon Township authorities have ordered farmers to grow summer rice crops, in spite of the season’s unsuitability to rice cultivation.

The order, given in a September 25^th meeting between township authorities and village headmen, applies to Mudon Township’s twelve village tracts, each home to at least twenty-six villages. Farmers will be required to grow rice during the summer hot season, even though the weather is not conducive to rice cultivation. “Last year we had to grow summer paddy like they want us to do again. It did not work because the weather is no good for rice. We also had to buy everything even though it is their idea – the seeds, fertilizer and water,” said a farmer from Mudon Township. “We were not allowed to use our native seeds, the Myanmar Agriculture Service (MAS) only allowed us to use their seeds. But their seeds are not good or suitable for our land, and they are more expensive.” Read more

SPDC authorities increase surveillance and patrols in Mon State

HURFOM : Police officers, soldiers and members of SPDC-sponsored civilian groups have increased surveillance and patrols in Mon State, report sources in Moulmein and Mudon Township. Officials are especially targeting monks and students, and have posted sentries at Moulmein University and Kyaik Than Lan Pagoda. The authorities’ increased watchfulness comes as the one-year anniversary of the Saffron Protests approaches.

“The police are in both uniforms and plain clothes, and are patrolling the University and big pagoda in Moulmein. There are about fifty police officers and soldiers patrolling in each place, and they keep watch twenty-four hours a day. The reason the sentries are there is because this time last year monks and student gathered and protested.” Read more

Broken Communities: Just what the junta wants

I was born in Mon State, but recently traveled to Rangoon. I went to get a passport, but the moment I walked into the immigration office, I became afraid I would not succeed. Hundreds of people were crowded around – so many people it seemed as if a wealthy person was making a rice donation to the people.

The office is small and so crowded I felt as if I could not breath. A government official said that three hundred people apply for a passport every day; every person I talked to said they were trying to leave Burma. Read more

Another bloody month

September is a month with a bloody history in Burma. September1988 saw thousands participate in pro-democracy demonstrations, until the military regime – then called the State Law and Order Restoration Council – responded with overwhelming force, killing at least three thousand people.

September 2007 saw more protests, and violent responses. Beginning in August, Buddhist monks and supporters took to the streets throughout Burma. The regime responded brutally – police, soldiers and armed regime-supported civilian thugs crushed the demonstrations. Monks and civilians were beaten and shot, monasteries were ransacked and scores of people were tortured and detained.

September 2008 has been quiet, but only because people are afraid, and the regime continues to bloody its hands every day. The people of Burma have sought help from the international community, especially the United Nations Security Council. But the UN and the international community have failed to end the plight of Burmese people. The regime stays strong, and it is clear that democracy activists, ethnic minorities and other Burmese people will continue to suffer in an oppressive system.

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

Villagers forced to work as unpaid laborers on road repairs in Ye Township

HURFOM :

Inhabitants of the area around Toe-Tat-Ywa-Thit and Yin Ye villages, Ye Township, southern Mon State, are being forced to work as unpaid laborers on road repairs, report local sources. The forced labor began on September 17^th, on the orders of Khaw Zar Sub-township People’s Development Council (PDC) chairman U Kyaw Moe and Kya Zay Ya, officer of Infantry Battalion No. 31. Read more

Informants spying on villagers in Ye

HURFOM : The SPDC authorities’ widespread use of informants and spies is causing inhabitants of Ye Township to feel threatened and insecure, says a HURFOM field reporter in the area. Authorities have been recruiting and training people to gather information in an attempt to capture people giving information to exile news agencies, as well as track the movements of organizations like the Mon Youth Organization or the Mon Literature and Culture Committee. Read more

Cyber attacks debilitate Burmese exile news websites and community forums

HURFOM : The websites of three Burmese exile news agencies, as well as at least two online community forums, have been debilitated by severe cyber attacks throughout August and September.

The Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which render a site inaccessible by overloading its server with data requests, have targeted the English language news sites of the Irrawaddy and Democratic Voice of Burma, the Burmese language news site the New Era Journal and community forums Mystery Zillion and Planet Myanmar. Read more

Women forced to repair army road in Khaw Zar Sub-township

HURFOM : On September 11^th, Burmese Army Infantry Battalion No. 31 forced a group of women to rebuild the mile long road that connects Khaw Zar Sub-township with the battalion’s headquarters, report HURFOM sources in the area.

“I saw a total of nine women including a seventy-five year-old lady being forced to repair the army’s road. They were made to carry stone, sand and soil to fix the road. Read more

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