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Young Boys Threatened with Knife

By WCRP:

Three boys were hunting small birds outside their village when they were confronted by local patrolling SPDC Light Infantry Battalion Number 31 (LIB No. 31), who had been hiding in bushes as they boys went past. One boy, Taw Chan, had a small but sharp military knife pointed at his neck and was questioned in broken Mon about whether they had seen any Mon rebels. He was too fearful to respond so his brother Mon Chai, 15 years old, answered that they had not seen any. Although Mon Chai is very thin and looks young, the soldiers hit him twice. Their cousin Nyi Chan was given 1000 Kyat for answering that they had seen one man. The man he spoke of, a local farmer, was later tortured as a suspected Mon rebel supporter. Read more

Government School Forbids Students from Speaking their own Language

By WCRP:

In June 2008, Daw Kyi Kyi Mar, headmistress of the government high school in Htin Yuu Village, Than Byu Zayut Township Mon State, has forbidden students from speaking Mon language in the school.

According to a mother of the student, “This year is the first time they have banned talking Mon language in the school. They banned it in the classroom as well as outside the classroom.” Read more

Mother and Child Die After Nurse Refuses to Help with Birth

By WCRP:

In February 2008, 24 year-old Mi Hla Kyi and her twin children died after a nurse refused to aid their night-time birth.

At midnight, Mi Hla Kyi went into labor and spontaneously needed emergency assistance for the birth of her twins. Her neighbor from Wai Dot village traveled ten minutes to Taung Pone, and asked Nurse Daw Thun to please attend the birth, as Mi Hla Kyi needed help as soon as possible. Read more

Mon Woman Faces Sexual Abuse by Employer

By WCRP:

A 16 year-old Mon woman working in Thailand, in Samut Sakhon Province, Krathum Bean district, Om Noi subdistrict, in Zin Song Bun village was abused and faced sexual harassment by her employer, including during a massage she was giving him on July 7^th, 2008.

Mi Win (not her real name), worked as a house keeper and was also in charge of taking care of a sixty-year-old patient, who suffers from a number of ailments and is no longer able to walk. Part of her duty included daily massages of the patient, and moving him from his bed to his wheelchair. She was required to follow him should he wish to move. Read more

Concern over NMSP Ceasefire

By HURFOM:

In mid-May, the ruling regime SPDC officially announced that they won the Peoples Referendum with 92% of the vote. However many opposition and ceasefire groups in the country have reported the referendum as a sham.

The SPDC will move forward with its 7-point road map and will soon call for the registration of political parties to contest the 2010 Elections. Since many opposition parties and armed ceasefire groups do not trust the Referendum or the Constitution, it is likely they will oppose the elections. 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

Can Amphetamine be a Threat to the Burmese Community?

By HURFOM:

Sitting together on the boat with some Burmese teenagers who were travelling to work illegally in Thailand, I could hear many of them talking quietly about amphetamines. They said to the boat driver ‘if we could find some amphetamines here that would make the boat trip less boring as we sit here for the whole day.”

The driver replied, “why not, it is easy to find in Three Pagoda Pass, you should have asked me before the boat departed Jai Yin Seik Kyite Township. I could have found some in that town. Anyway don’t worry,” he added, “you can ask any motorbike taxis in Three Pagodas Pass, they will know where to find it.” Read more

Hopelessness among Land Loss Victims

By HURFOM:

The families in Thanbyuzayat Township who lost their lands from the confiscation by the a local military battalions expressed their hopelessness to get back their lands after 3 months of new land confiscation.

In March 2008 the Artillery Regiment (AR) No.315 based in the Waekalae village in Thanbyuzayat Township, confiscated the two house gardens from Wae-rat village and the families of Nai Tor – Mi Aye San and Nai Shaung – Mi Dae lost approximately 10 million Kyat. Read more

Dirty Votes: The Voices from a Observer on SPDC’s May 10 Referendum

By HURFOM:

This is the voices from an “Observer”, a young Mon man, on the SPDC’s May 10 Referendum and how the military regime had tried to make unfair and injustice also violate the rights of people – freedom of expression and voting.

“Before the military regime hold the referendum about a week the military regime started to collect pre-vote (or advance vote) in the whole Mon State. At that time the people didn’t know about the Referendum but the authorities and Referendum commission and their staff ticked Yes in the voting papers.” Read more

Isolated Islands and Assistance Needs for Nargis Victims

Cyclone Nargis and Delay and Lack of Relief Responses

During the Cyclone Nargis stuck into Irrawaddy Division and Rangoon Division, on May 2 and 3, over 130, 000 people died, 80, 000 disappeared, and about the 2.5 millions of people lost their houses and livelihoods as described in many sources and from UN Agencies.

Since the regime, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) responded for the relief and other efforts to the local Nargis victims lately, and restriction against the International Aid Agencies, doubled up the suffering of the people. The cyclone victims for over one week to one month never received any assistance from International Aid Agencies including the UN Agencies. Read more

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