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| Burma Army Kills Two Men and Submits Hundreds to Forced Labor as it Increases Activity in Toungoo District |
| Sunday, March 27, 2011 |
Saw Oo Nay Mya, age 44, was shot by Infantry Battalion (IB) 250 of Military Operations Command (MOC) 7 on 2 February 2011 in Toungoo District, Northern Karen State. The commander of this unit is Major Hla Tun. Saw Ler Maw, age 22, from Hkler Lah village in the same district was killed by MOC 9 on 22 February 2011.
Starting from the middle of January 2011 the SPDC has been increasing its activity in Toungoo district. Currently, the Burma Army has 3 Tactical Operations Commands (TOC) in the area. These troops have been moving food along the car road from Hkler Lah camp to Bu Hsa Hkee camp. During this process the Burma Army has been using prisoners from Toungoo and Insein Prisons as forced labor. The movement of food is possibly a sign of coming attacks.
Burma Army activity
The Burma Army currently has 3 TOCs under MOC 9 in Toungoo District. Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 375 and 376 from TOC 1 have been transporting food from Hkler Lah to Bu Hsa Hkee using more than 100 trucks. Along the car road, MOC 7 is providing security for MOC 9. The military equipment of these troops includes M-81s, RPGs, machine guns and sniper rifles.
Human rights abuses along the car road
All the way from Hkler Lah to Bu Hsa Hkee, Burma Army troops ordered villagers to drive their own trucks on the road to check for landmines. After that, the Burma Army's own trucks would follow. Because this landmine-sweeping job was very dangerous, no one wanted to do it. The villagers drew lots to decide who would have to go. To transport food, the Burma Army used 70 prisoners from Toungoo Prison and 70 prisoners from Insein Prison in Rangoon. The Burma Army used these prisoners to carry heavy loads. Prisoners who could not carry the loads were beaten by the soldiers. One of the prisoners escaped and reached the area under control of the Karen National Liberation Army (local pro-democracy resistance), who gave him permission to find his way home.
In addition to this, 40 villagers from Hkler Lah were forced to transport food by SPDC MOC 9 by motorbike from Hkler Lah to Koh Day on 18 January 2011. The same day, 140 men and women from Klaw Mee Der area were forced to carry food along the road from Pa Leh Wah to Klaw Mee Der and act as human minesweepers by IB 102. On 11 Feb 2011, 5 men from Play Hsa Lo were forced to carry loads and act as minesweepers between Play Hsa Lo and Tha Pyin Nuint by IB 102. The unit's commander is Myint Thine Win.
Finally, during these operations the Burma Army has blocked the car road from Toungoo city to Hkler Lah camp. By doing this, the Burma Army has prevented villagers to go to the city to trade.
Burma Army strategy
The motive of BA for this increased activity in Toungoo District is still unknown. However, one possibility is that it is a sign of coming attacks in the area. The large shipments of food - needed for prolonged activity -- are a strong sign for this. Still, the food movements are on a small scale, making it difficult to come to a firm conclusion of the military's intentions.
Further abuses in other areas
In Papun District, the Burma Army is using forced labor to transport supplies from the Salween River.
(BNN/FBR) |
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 10:45 PM   |
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| Karen refugees flee further clashes |
| Tuesday, November 16, 2010 |
Hundreds of refugees have fled a second wave of fighting along Burma’s border with Thailand close to Waw Lay, a former stronghold of a breakaway Karen army faction.
Estimates of the number of people sheltering in Thailand’s Phop Phra district, in Tak province, vary: a source on the border told DVB that 350 refugees fled, while the Bangkok Post put the figure at 600.
A week ago some 20,000 people, the majority from Myawaddy town in Karen state, poured into Thailand after clashes erupted between a renegade faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and Burmese troops.
While most of these returned several days later, the situation along the border still remains volatile. The fighting yesterday was triggered after DKBA troops returned to their base at Waw Lay, which was captured last week, and encountered a Burmese army soldiers.
A DKBA official told DVB that troops that the group had also attacked the nearby Bayinnaung Hill and Kanaelay army outposts. The Burmese army retaliated by firing artillery shells into Waw Lay, injuring two villagers who are now in hospital in Thailand’s border town of Mae Sot.
Schools in Myawaddy meanwhile have reopened after closing last week as the town emptied of residents. The main market, where several locals were killed in the crossfire in 8 November, has also been teeming with people since it reopened.
Army checkpoints that were set up along the road into Myawaddy prior to elections have also been removed, although one resident said that toll fee for freight trucks carrying goods from Thailand into Burma have been raised from 50,000 kyat ($US50) to 80,000 kyat ($US80) per truck.
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11:04 PM |
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| SWAN denounces Burma Army build-up and rape in central Shan State |
| Sunday, November 14, 2010 |
Shan Women's Action Network
SWAN strongly denounces the Burma Army build-up around the Shan ceasefire area in Ke See township, central Shan State, which led to the rape of a young disabled woman on the eve of the November 7 election.
Since November 3, more than 1,000 new troops have been deployed from other parts of Shan State to areas adjacent to territory of the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) First Brigade. These troops have been conducting patrols and hunting out villagers suspected of supporting the SSA-N 1st Brigade, which refused to become a Border Guard Force under the Burma Army.
On November 6, a fully armed 10-man patrol from Mong Nawng-based LIB 286, led by Major Win Zaw Latt, searched the village of Wan Nawng New, about five miles north of Mong Nawng. One of the troops raped a 25-year-old disabled woman who was alone in her house with her two-year-old niece.
The soldier tied up the woman’s hands and feet, and then bound her hair to one of the house posts before raping her. Neighbours heard her screams but did not dare come to her aid until after the patrol had left the village. No one dared complain about the crime, and the woman herself has fled the village in fear of repercussions.
SWAN is gravely concerned at the fate of this woman, and of other civilians in this area, who are being deliberately targeted under this new military campaign against the SSA-N.
SWAN has repeatedly documented the systematic use of sexual violence by the Burma Army, and is appalled that even just before the election, when the eyes of the entire world were on Burma, troops dared openly commit rape. This is a clear sign that the impunity enjoyed by the Burma Army for sexual violence is set to continue.
“We strongly urge the international community not to recognize the Burmese generals’ new proxy government,” said SWAN spokesperson Nang Moan Kaein. “It is tantamount to legitimizing the Burma Army’s crimes, and will condemn women in Burma to continued systematic sexual violence.”
prachatai |
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6:24 AM |
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| Fighting Erupts at Border Areas Following Burma Election; Thousands Displaced |
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On the day of the election in Burma, November 7th, fighting broke out on the border town of Myawaddy as a breakaway faction of the pro-Junta DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) took control of the border crossing with Thailand and SPDC military and police posts. The DKBA force was led by Colonel Saw Lah Pwe (Bo Nha Khan Mwe) of the DKBA Brigade No. 5. According to DKBA leadership, the SPDC had been forcing them to join the
SPDC controlled Burma Guard force and coercing citizens to vote for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the controversial election. A force of DKBA soldiers responded by taking key administrative and military positions in both Myawaddy and nearby Three Pagodas Pass area. During the initial day of fighting, most SPDC troops fled the area and there were reports of others being captured by DKBA forces. SPDC forces in the area at that time included 120 troops from the Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 283 and 60 troops from the LIB No. 405. On the 8th, SPDC troops responded by heavily reinforcing their troops with a new division size unit (LID 22) and launching an assault on DKBA positions in Myawaddy. There are reports of several deaths from this fighting, including at least three civilians. On the 9th, DKBA forces retreated from Myawaddy, and concentrated their forces at the Three Pagodas Pass area. Fighting between DKBA and SPDC forces continues in this, and neighboring areas. The SPDC have sent LIB 405, IB 283, IB 106, IB 284, and IB 289 to the area and have mortared Mae Ka Tha village, wounding several villagers.
Reports indicate that upwards of 20,000 displaced people have fled Burma into Thailand since fighting began on Sunday. Some are taking shelter in various places including a monastery and the Thai Army Headquarters in Mae Sot and are being given humanitarian assistance. The number of additional internally displaced people in Burma is unclear at this time, but may grow if the conflict is moves to other areas inside Burma. FBR teams are currently in the affected areas and we are waiting for their assessments and trying to help those people internally displaced by the situation.
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6:15 AM |
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| KNU terrorists shell Myawady, Phaya Thonsu, leaving some innocent people dead, injured |
| Wednesday, November 10, 2010 |
NAY PYI TAW, - The KNU terrorists are committing various subversive acts to disrupt State's stability, community peace and tranquility and rule of law, causing innocent people casualties and public panic.
A group of KNU terrorists from south of Myawady opened fire with heavy weapons at five different places in Myawady at about 8.45 am yesterday. A total of three innocent were killed and 20 injured in the incident.
The injured were rushed to Myawady hospital and provided with necessary treatment by officials concerned.
Due to shootings of KNU terrorists, shells of heavy weapons also exploded near Thai- Myanmar Friendship Bridge and Chinese temple in Maesot in Thailand, leaving some innocent people injured.
In similar incident at noon yesterday, a group of KNU terrorists opened fire of small and heavy weapons from north of Phaya Thonsu in Kayin State, causing one member of Myanmar Police Force dead and four Tatmadaw members and one service personnel of the Township Forest Department injured.
Arrangements are being made for convenience of locals and workers in Myawady and Phaya Thonsu by officials concerned, and the Tatmadaw members are in hot pursuit of the group of KNU insurgents.
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10:09 PM |
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| Two Giri victims die during election |
| Tuesday, November 9, 2010 |
Kyauk Pru: Two people in the Cyclone Giri-affected area of Kyauk Pru Township died from diarrhea on 4 November just two days before the election in Burma.
The two deceased are from Sita Ra Village in Kan Ton Gyi Yin Village, 80 miles from Kyauk Pru, on Rambree Island, an area lashed badly by Cyclone Giri.
Another 40 people in the village are suffering from diarrhea since the disease has begun spreading.
A relief worker from Kyauk Pru said, "They received treatment as well as medicine from the authorities and a NGO soon after the cyclone. But now the victims in the area are being neglected by the government and NGOs due to the recent election. Because of this neglect, two victims died from the disease."
In Sita Ra Village in Kyauk Pru, 500 people are still living in temporary huts without roofs or wells.
According to sources, many Giri-affected areas in Arakan State have been neglected by the government due to the election. Many cyclone victims are now living in terrible situations in the disaster areas without any aid.
According to a UN source, the townships in Arakan that were hit the hardest are Mray Bon, Kyauk Pru, Min Bya, and Pauktaw. The UN reported that 70,975 people have been left homeless and 200,000 have been severely affected by the disaster.
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11:32 PM |
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| FBR REPORT: Burma Army Soldiers Kill One Villager, Wound 11-Year Old Boy |
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Mone Township, 12 August, 2010: Burma Army soldiers entered the villagers' farm at Ter Kweh Lay Ko and shot and killed Saw Hsa Htoo, 35, and wounded Saw Moo Wah, 11. They then killed and ate two of the villagers' cows. The soldiers were from Maladaw camp, Infantry Battalion (IB) 48, and had just replaced an outgoing group of soldiers at Maladaw. After returning to the camp, they ordered the villagers to bring the body of Hsa Htoo and the wounded Moo Wah to their camp; later they ordered the villagers to bring the wounded boy to Tha Pyi Nyut, later bringing him to the hospital at Toungoo, and warned them to not say that he had been shot by the soldiers.
Four days later captain Khin Maung Kyaw from Maladaw camp took 30 soldiers to harass villagers in Maladaw, Kyauk Ta, Saw Wah Der and Tha Pyi Nyut; they stopped all villagers from traveling and threatened to shoot anyone they saw on the trail. At the same time, the deputy battalion commander at Maladaw, Htay Kyaw, ordered villagers at Maladaw to make ID cards and demanded 7500 kyat from each of them.
At the same time, in the plains area at Nge Laut Te village, Burma Army soldiers from Military Operations Command (MOC) 10 captured Saw Nay Thaw Htoo, 35. On the 17th of August the villagers from Nge Laut Te were forced to build a clinic at Haw Ko Gaw. Earlier in the month, soldiers from LIB 439 captured four people from Haw Ko Gaw village, including 2 nurses and one medic. At the same time they shut down all medical care and banned the buying and selling of medicine in all of the Mone Township plains areas, creating serious health problems for the people living there.
During the month of August the Burma Army troops patrolling between the plains and mountains where the people work were from LIBs 599, 590 and Infantry Battalion (IB) 48. These patrols regularly capture and otherwise harass the villagers, creating a very insecure situation.
Forced Labor
On September 17, Burma Army troops from IB 60, commanded by Wai Phyo Aung, forced 60 villagers from Ko Pu and Hsaw Mi Lu to build a camp and demanded 60,000 kyat from them for food. Two days later troops from LIB 439 captured a villager and demanded 20,000 kyat for his release. This is part of a general pattern of extortion by Burma Army soldiers in these areas. Also, on 1 October, 2010, MOC 10 commander Thein Tun forced 250 villagers from Ko Pu and Hsaw Mi Lu to clear the car road for 100 yards on both sides, from Kyauk Kyi to Hsaw Mi Lu camp. Then, on 6 October, four army cars carrying Burma Army came and stayed at Thaw Pyi Nyut and Kyauk Kyi Pauk.
Burma Army Control of Elections
On October 1, Burma Army IB 48 invited village leaders from Yulo, Kamulo and Maladaw to meet about the elections. They plan to conduct a training for the villagers on October 23rd, about the elections, which will be held on the 7th of November at Thaw Pyi Nyut. The parties running are called Ta Sa Nya, Pyi Khat Phyo, and Kayin Pyi Thu.
Starting in September, the Burma Army took the villagers' boats from the Aung Zin Yat boat station to restrict their access to Tha Pyi Nyut. This has also caused difficulty in getting enough food, so that the villagers are having to share what little they have and cannot survive much longer in this situation.
The Free Burma Ranger’s (FBR) mission is to provide hope, help and love to internally displaced people inside Burma, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Using a network of indigenous field teams, FBR reports on human rights abuses, casualties and the humanitarian needs of people who are under the oppression of the Burma Army. FBR provides medical, spiritual and educational resources for IDP communities as they struggle to survive Burmese military attacks.
For more information, please visit www.freeburmarangers.org |
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11:21 PM |
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| Concern over forced relocation of 60 Kachin villages |
| Wednesday, November 4, 2009 |
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Over 60 villages are in the process of forced relocation from two dam sites in Burma’s northern Kachin State, said the latest report released on Tuesday by a Kachin Environmental group.
The Kachin Development Networking Group, (KDNG) a network of civil society groups and development organizations in Kachin State, Burma released a report “Resisting the Flood” on Tuesday. It has monitored developments and the likely impact of the 2,000-megawatt Chibwe Dam on the N’Mai River, work on which has already begun, and the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam.
“Over 60 villages with approximately 15,000 people are in the process of being forcibly relocated without informed consent. This dislocation will cause many secondary social problems including conflicts over jobs and land, and an increase in migration and trafficking to neighbouring countries. Women will be particularly impacted,” the report said.
The group also sent an open letter on Tuesday to China Power Investment urging it to immediately stop construction of the Myitsone Dam and other dams in Kachin State “to avoid being complicit in multiple serious human rights abuses associated with the project”.
According to a statement from the group, on October 9, residents of Tanghpre village at the planned Myitsone dam site on the confluence at the source of the Irrawaddy handed an open letter directly to Burma’s Northern military commander, objecting to the dam.
In August military authorities informed residents that they had less than two months to begin moving out. “We cannot bring our farms with us when we move” said a representative of the Tanghpre Village Housewives Group in a meeting with the commander on October 10. “We do not want to move and we appeal to you to bring our concerns to Naypyidaw for consideration,” the statement noted.
On the same day, 300 residents assembled at the confluence for a public prayer ceremony to protect the rivers. Several historical churches will be submerged by the Myitsone Dam project, which will also flood forests in one of the world’s “hottest hotspots” of biodiversity, impact downstream riverine ecosystems that are home to the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin and affect the delta region, which provides nearly 60 per cent of Burma’s rice.
The KDNG noted in the report that the project has no environmental, social or health impact assessments, which have been publicly disclosed, locally-affected residents have not been consulted about the project; their attempts to voice concerns have been ignored.
The report also noted that it is well-documented that development projects in Burma are accompanied by increased militarization and human rights abuses, including forced labour and rape.
The group mentioned that the location of the dams are insecure because it is in a ceasefire area that is extremely unstable; an outbreak of fighting would put local people, the project, and Chinese personnel at risk, and it faces risks from earthquake because it is located a mere 100 kilometers from a major fault line in an earthquake-prone area.
China Power Investment is planning a series of seven dams on the Irrawaddy and its two main tributaries. The majority of the electricity from all the dams will be transmitted to China.
On June 21 2009, Burma’s Ambassador to China Thein Lwin and the President of China Power Investment Corporation Mr. Lu Qizhou signed the Memorandum of Agreement between Burma’s Department of Hydropower Implementation and CPI for “the Development, Operation and Transfer of Hydropower Projects in the Maykha, Malikha and Upstream Ayeyawady-Myitsone River Basins.”Labels: Forced relocation |
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5:31 AM |
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| Rohingya Forced to Work on Border Fence |
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Burmese junta troops force 200 Rohingya to build a wire fence on the Bangladesh-Burmese border in Burma’s northern Arakan State each day.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Tun Tun, a resident on the Bangladeshi side of the Bangladesh-Burmese border said troops from the Burmese junta’s Light Infantry Battalions No. 233, 234, and 236 ordered headmen to martial 200 people daily to build a wire fence along the border.
“The headmen are told to, ‘Volunteer labor to develop your country’,” Tun Tun said.
The junta troops use forced labor rotated from four villages near the border in Maungdaw Township, he said.
Chris Lewa, coordinator of the Arakan Project, said that the junta’s troops have used forced labor since they started building the fence in March. She said they sometimes pay 500 kyat (US 50 cents) a day to each worker.
“Villagers can buy exemption from forced labor duties,” Lewa said, “but most Rohingyas have very little money and cannot avoid it.”
Two refugees who fled to Bangladesh recently told Tun Tun they were forced to work three days a week.
“They told me every man in the village had to work on the fence if he wanted to continue living in the village,” Tun Tun said.
The Burmese resumed building the wire fence in Maungdaw Township on the border with Bangladesh in October.
Burmese authorities started the 200-kilometer wire fence earlier this year, saying it was to stop human trafficking along the border with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh and Burma share a 320-kilometer border, partly demarcated by the Naf River, a regular route for smuggling and illegal crossings by Muslim refugees.
Many Rohingya refugees from Burma cross the border to look for work in Bangladesh, but many end up in UN refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar District in Bangladesh.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimate that 400,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees live in two camps near Cox’s Bazaar.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who face severe discrimination in Burma. Many have fled the country to escape human rights abuses, including forced labor for Burmese junta forces.
Bangladesh authorities have cracked down on Rohingyas living illegally in Bangladesh recently. More than 1,000 people have been arrested and pushed back across the border into Burma in recent months, Lewa said.
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5:10 AM |
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