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Corruption enables illegal logging in Karen State

HURFOM : Corruption continues to make illegal logging possible in the Three Pagoda Pass area, on the Thai-Burma border. Competition has heated up over the last sixteen years as timber stands have declined, as have attempts to profit off the declining industry.

Although with declining activity, Three Pagodas Pass is still an important place for the manufacture and export of wood products to Thailand. Sixty truckloads of furniture and other wood products travel through Three Pagoda Pass into Thailand every month, says Nai Maut, a resident of Three Pagoda Pass who works as a logger, wood worker and truck driver. The Irrawaddy, in a recent article, reports a higher number, estimating the cross-border trade to be one hundred truckloads per month. Read more

Seventeen years old two girls faced trafficking

WCRP:

Two seventeen year-old girls were recently victims of human trafficking. On June 23^rd, said a forty year-old woman from Three Pagoda Pass, on the Thai-Burma border.

The woman saw one of the girls crying on the street corner, and reported that “The trafficker sold her to a brothel in TPP, but she escaped. She didn’t have any money and didn’t know where to go.” The girl said that a trafficker brought her and a friend from Thanbyuzayut, and promised them good jobs in Thailand. Read more

Stop Human Trafficking campaign in Samut Sakhon

WCRP : The Stop Human Trafficking Campaign, which began on September 15th in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province, will show the true plight of Burmese migrant workers.

The campaign is being led by the Labor Rights Promotion Network (LPN), which focuses on migrant worker rights in Thailand, and has been joined by over four hundred Thai and Burmese workers in Samut Sakhon.

The campaign intends to raise awareness of workers’ position, and encourage the Thai government to change laws concerning the rights of migrant workers.

“We want the government to change the laws and policies to make migrant workers more safe. The government needs to protect people from employers or traffickers that abuse migrant workers or use child labor,” said LPN director Mr. Sompong Srakaew. “Right now, we have capacity building training for migrants to empower them. Many people don’t know their rights or how to negotiate with their employer, and face exploitation because they don’t know how to stand up for themselves.”

According to the Associated Press, one million Burmese workers are registered to work in Thailand, while at least another million are in the country illegally.

According to Amnesty International, most migrant workers in Thailand do work that Thais consider too dirty, and are employed in factories, the seafood industry or as cleaners. Read more

A town for no one

By Lawi weng:

The Three Pagodas Pass crossing on the Thai-Burma border has been officially closed for almost two years, . Many businessmen despair because they cannot trade, and many people despair because they cannot work. The Burmese town, former home to a burgeoning furniture manufacturing industry, offers little employment and many people have to cross into Thailand to earn eighty baht a day at a sewing factory. Read more

Mon State authorities accepting bribes in exchange for motorbike licenses

By HURFOM:

Moulmein, Mon State

Authorities of Mon State’s Road Transport Administration Department (RTAD) are accepting bribes in exchange for licensing illegally imported motorcycles, report bike owners in Moulmein. Officers of RTAD, “Ka-Nya-Na” in Burmese, began accepting bribes at the start of September and, depending on the officer, are asking between 50,000 and 300,000 kyat. Read more

Landowners forced to donate to Cyclone victims, worry about the funds’ destinations

Mudon and Thanbyuzayat townships :

HURFOM  : Authorities in Mudon and Thanbyuzayat Townships are collecting another round of forced donations for Cyclone Nargis victims, report villagers, who express suspicion about the funds’ actual destinations.

On September 11^th, U Kyaw Kyaw Aung, chairman of the Mudon Peace and Development Council, instructed the township’s Forest and Land Records departments to collect 3,000 to 5,000 kyat from landowners in the area.

“This time they forced us to donate 3,000 kyat – some land owners had to pay 5,000 kyat, depending on the size of their land,” said a farmer in the area who wished to remain anonymous.

“We are happy to donate as much as we can, but we don’t like being forced by the authorities,” said Nai Yae, a 50 year-old villager from Mudon, who was ordered to donate 3,000 kyat. Read more

Villagers in Mudon forced to provide security for gas pipeline and railway

HURFOM:

Villagers are being forced to provide security for the Kanbauk to Myinekalay gas pipeline in Mudon Township, report villagers from Doe Mar village. The order was issued on September 1^st, by Nai Amyint, head of the Village Peace and Development Council, and required villagers to patrol the 210 mile long gas pipeline.

“The village headmen said that each household must send at least one person per month. For those who fail to meet their obligation, he or she must pay 2,000 kyat per month. Most households choose to pay the fine or hire somebody else,” said a villager. Read more

Travel taxes imposed in northern Mon State

By HURFOM:

Mudon/Thanbyuzayat

The Burmese army is levying new taxes on road users in Mudon and Thanbyuzayat Townships in northern Mon State. According to local sources in Mudon, troops from Artillery Regiment No. 315, began taxing traffic on the Ahbit to Yetagon-Waenaing road. The soldiers, led my Sergeant Myint Htoo Naung, built a checkpoint on the junction near Ahbit village and began levying taxes on July 2^nd. Read more

Burmese Army resells confiscated land

By HURFOM:

Kamarwet village ,mudon Township

The commander of Light Infantry Brigade No. 209 is selling confiscated land, report farmers in southern Mudon Township, Mon State. The battalion’s commander is selling the land before he transfers to another post, reports the 35 year-old son of one the former landowners, triggering fears that his replacement will issue a new round of land confiscation. “My parents’ land was seized seven years ago,” the man said. “It was about seven acres and full of Rubber and Ceylon trees. Recently, the commander sold our land to a businessman from Mudon for five million kyat before he transfers.” Read more

Personal Account: Meeting with group of young victims of torture

During the end of July, 2008, a HURFOM reporter, met with a group of young victims who escaped from Khaw-Zar Subtown in a refugee camp at Thai-Burma border. Read more

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