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Sex-Work Industry Rising in our Cities; Government Must Address This Issue

WCRP: Ma Eli Htwe , 20 year-old, is from YaeLalKout Tan, in Rangon. She is working in a massage bar in Own Pinn village, which lies along a gas pipeline that is longer, but less well-known, than the controversial Yadana pipeline that it connects to. Today, Ohn Pin Kwin is predominantly home to ethnic Tavoy people, with a small Mon population. Read more

Another Brutal Assault at the Hands of a Burmese Soldier

HURFOM: On January 26, Mi Cho, 43, was assaulted and beaten by Second Corporal Ye Min Tun, from Artillery Battalion No. 315, which is based west of Wae Ka Lee village, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State. This marks the second sexual assault by a Burmese solder in Thanbyuzayat in just four and a half weeks, and military authorities are trying to suppress any news of the attack. Read more

Extortion and Abuse Continues in Three Pagodas Pass Township

HURFOM: The Burmese government claims to have adopted a democratic system since 2010, but people living in and around Three Pagodas Pass have expressed concerns of continued corruption, extortion, and human rights abuse at the hands of the government.

In late December, 2013, a village administrator from Ywar Thit Village, Three Pagodas Pass Township (TPP), cooperated with the Township Settlement and Land Records Department (SLRD), to measure all land controlled by the township, which stretches through ten villages. Read more

Thanbyuzayat Fire Brigade Extorts Village Residents

HURFOM: On January 21, 2014, fire brigades from the Thanbyuzayat, Karote Pi, Sat-se, Kwan Hlar, and Hnee Pa Daw villages rushed to a fire which had engulfed four houses in Pa-na Village, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State. After the fires had been extinguished, the victims were forced to bribe the Thanbyuzayat Fire Brigade for doing their jobs. Local residents deem it unacceptable for public servants to extort their community in such a way. Read more

The Mon State Government and Private Companies Intimidate Landowners from Speaking out Against Unjust Land Confiscation

HURFOM: The Mon State government and its backing companies have been unjustly confiscating the Burmese peoples’ land for decades. This widespread practice, coupled with the country’s 2012 Farmland Law, Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Law and the Foreign Investment Law, has pushed farmers into circumstances of profound hardship. The government and private companies have systematically intimidated local farmers to sell their lands, or the land would be forcibly confiscated with absolutely no compensation to the farmers. Read more

Rape Victim Attempts to Flee Burma as Infantry Battalion No. 31 Incites Fear

WCRP: On December 24, 2013, a thirteen year-old girl was abducted from her home and raped by local soldier Than Win, of Infantry Battalion No. 31 (IB No.31), based in KhawZar Sub-Township, Ye Township, Mon State. The military has offered the victim’s family a settlement of 500,000 kyat compensation, and has told the victim’s parents that if anyone asks about it, they must say that the soldier only touched the girl’s hand and that Than Win was not able to rape their daughter. The military forced the girl’s family to sign an agreement attesting to these conditions. Read more

Spotlight on Poverty and Child Labor in Burma

HURFOM: It’s 5:00am, and the early morning fog makes the sky look very dark; a limousine from Ta La Mon arrives at the bus station in Myay Nee Gon, Moulmein, Mon State. It’s time for the local children to start their daily search for plastic, which they redeem to buy food for themselves and their families. Read more

Village Residents from Mon and Karen States Search for Electricity at a Fair Price

Last month, it was widely reported that government authorities would provide Mon State with enough electricity for all of its residents for 2014. In Mawlamine city, residents receive free electricity in 24 hours, whereas village residents do not. The government’s promise has not come to pass, and village residents who remain without electricity hope to pay low fees for it, from electric officers who offer honest prices. In reality, that will be hard to find, as electric officers in the electric administration department notoriously deceive the people, and charge unfair, inflated electric fees. Read more

Local Residents Arrested in Effort to Silence Concerns over Land Rights in Ye Ta Gon

On January 10, 2014, an unknown, armed Karen group arrested eight Ye Ta Gon rubber plantation workers, and brought them to Ra Shan village, Karen State. At the time of arrest, none of the individuals knew why the armed group had arrested them. The following day, the Karen group announced they would release the eight plantation workers, in exchange for the arrest of Nai Khoung and Ni Nyain, who have been outspoken about their concerns of land right violations due to the recent Wae Kalee military base expansion. Read more

Residents Voice Concern Over Waekalee Military Base Expansion

Thanbyuzayat: In early January 2014, the Military Advanced Training School No.(4) in Waekalee, in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State announced its plan of extending the size of its base by 300 acres, in order to increase taxation of surrounding rubber plantations. The military plans to tax residents 108,750 kyat in 2014, and residents who cannot pay will be banned from their plantations. Local landowners voice their concern over land right violations. Read more

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