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Villagers face an impossible situation

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. Read more

Power through gun barrels: Abuses related to the DKBA offensive in Dooplaya District

I. Summary

Since early October 2008, the current military junta and its ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) have been mounting a major military offensive to crush the Karen National Union (KNU) and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). During 1997 and 1998, most of Dooplaya district in central Karen State has been occupied and captured by the joint military offensives of the Burmese Army and DKBA troops. Since then, the military regime has changed its name from the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). However, the oppression has not stopped and instead the occupation troops have continued to extend their control over the Karen villages which have been supporting the KNLA/KNU troops.

After the end of the rainy season last year, the DKBA boosted its military offensive and operations in Pa-an, Kawkareik and northeast Kyainnseikyi Townships with the support of SPDC military columns under the command of Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs) No. 545 and No 204. According to the records of HURFOM, armed clashes between the KNLA/KNU and DKBA (combined with the Burmese Army) occurred on least 46 occasions between January 1st and February 28th, 2009 in KNLA Brigade No. 6 and KNLA General Headquarters battalions areas which are situated in the Kawkareik and Pa-an Districts. Among them, at least 5 armed clashes involved only DKBA troops. Because of these ongoing armed clashes between the KNLA/KNU, DKBA and SPDC battalions, many ethnic Karen villagers have faced insecurity in their own villages and some have fled to safer areas. All armed forces involved in this ongoing armed conflict have been increasingly using landmines to restrict each other’s movements. To effectively launch military offensives and protect themselves, the DKBA forces have been using some villagers as human minesweepers. In this monthly report, HURFOM documents abuses in Kawkareik, Kyainnseikyi and Win Ye Townships in Dooplaya District from January to March 2009.
Download report as PDF [ 1.31MB] Read more

Militarization in ethnic areas obstacle to national reconciliation

In order to have control over the different ethnic areas and the non-Burman population, the current military regime had adopted a policy of militarization.  What is meant with this militarization policy?

First, the SPDC is deploying more military troops with various battalions and artillery regiments in the areas where the fighting happens and then moved thousands of troops to there.  Then they also moved soldiers’ families and created soldiers’ villages. In order to create soldiers’ villages, they confiscate more land. Read more

New joint Mon-Burmese force attacks Karen rebels in Tenasserim Division

Ong Rot and Blai Mon :
A joint force made up of soldiers from a Mon ceasefire group and the Burmese army attacked ethnic Karen insurgents in Tenasserim Division yesterday. The attack marks the first combined Mon-Burmese army operation against the Karen forces and adds on to offensives sustained against the insurgent group farther north.

At 8:40am on April 8^th, soldiers from Burmese army Light Infantry Brigade (LIB) No. 594 and the Mon Peace Group – Chaung Chi (MPG – Chaung Chi) attacked a temporary camp of soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in northeast Mergui District. Read more

Mon rebels and SPDC army execute four village leaders in span of 12 hours

HURFOM, Yebyu Township:
A power struggle between the Burmese army and an armed Mon rebel group has resulted in the execution of four village leaders in two separate incidents that occurred in the span of twelve hours last week.

At around 10pm on the night of April 2nd, eight members of the Nai Chan Dein group entered Pauk Pin Kwin village in Yebyu Township and went to the home of the VPDC headman, Nai Bok (45) to demand a ‘tax’ of 700,000 Kyat, which they had ordered the villagers to pay by March 30th. Nai Bok’s Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) colleague, Nai Nyae (43) was then brought to the house and both men were confronted. Shots were heard and the men’s bodies were later found outside the headman’s home. Read more

Burmese army, low prices and climate change cause hardship for cashew growers

HURFOM, Yebyu Township:
Cashew trees in Tenasserim Division have been producing fewer nuts this year, which has meant a reduced harvest for growers. This is partly due to the Burmese military who have been preventing Mon villagers from leaving their villages to work on their farms because of increased activity in the area by the armed Mon rebel group, Chan Dein. Another factor is the much thicker frost settling in the winter, a possible effect of climate change.

As the result, most growers have produced less than fifty percent of the harvest compared to last year and face financial hardship, according to locals. Read more

Villagers caught between Burmese Army and Mon rebel group in Yebyu Township

HURFOM, Yebyu Township:
The Burmese military has been preventing Mon villagers in Kalein Aung Sub-Township, Yebyu Township from leaving their villages to work on their farms due to increased activity by the armed Mon rebel group, Chan Dein. This is causing immense difficulties for the villagers as they are effectively being stopped from earning their livelihoods. Read more

High price of limes pleases farmers and sellers alike

HURFOM, Ye Township:
The high price of limes has pleased many growers and wholesalers around Ye Township. Whilst other products such as rubber and betel nuts have dropped in price, limes have risen to between 70 and 120 Kyat per fruit. Read more

Eleven migrant workers at risk in a Kanchanaburi forest

WCRP: On March 23, 2009, eleven Burmese illegal migrant workers entered Thailand, accompanied by an agent, at Three Pagoda Pass. The group, which included an eleven year old girl, eight women and two men, were subsequently at risk in a Kanchanaburi forest where they fled in order to avoid arrest by the Thai police. Read more