“KAO WAO” NEWS No. 3
(November 23- December
3, 2001)
MON UNITY LEAGUE
URGES COMPROMISE
(Sangkhalaburi, November 27, 2001)
Leaders of Mon Unity League (MUL) held an ad-hoc meeting on
November 24 at Sangkhalaburi to discuss the motives
and issues surrounding the splinter group led by Col. Pan Nyunt. At the top of the agenda was the splinter
group’s advancement for revenue into the Three
Pagodas Pass
border town last week, an area that had been under the New Mon State Party’s
control until 1990 when the Burmese army moved in and seized the area. As the situation may well reach an armed
conflict confrontation between the New Mon State Party and the splinter group,
the meeting formed a negotiation mission comprised of 5 members, including a
senior Mon abbot, to lobby between the two parties. Other issues discussed were Mon national
affairs such as drafting a State Constitution, the celebration of Mon National
Day and preparation for its upcoming annual general meeting. From a confirmed
source, MUL has no intention to interfere in the internal affairs of its former
member, but will lobby with the splinter group and the NMSP to avoid the
possibility of a bloody conflict. MUL
will take the role as mediator as it concerns Mon armed groups, to prevent
confrontation, otherwise the military junta will have the advantage to
strengthen its position, argued a MUL leader. According to the DVB radio, the
Burma Military Operations Management Command No. 19, which is stationed at Ye
Township, Mon State
ordered the Mon State Prisons Department for an emergency supply of 500
prisoner porters to be recruited which is believed will be used for an
offensive against the splinter group.
Burmese IB no 62 led by Col. Way Tun burnt down Htee
Wah Doe a Karen village, which is 5 kilometers from Thailand
border on November 27, in retaliation against their support for the insurgents.
When the NMSP entered a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese junta in June
1995, a couple of troops broke away from the party. The Mon National Liberation Army of Mergui Division led by Major. Chan Dein
separated in 1996 and operated in the area opposite Prachuabkirikan Province
in southern Thailand. Nai Hloin, who later formed Mon National Defense Army, also
recruited guerrillas and remains sporadically active in the Ye and Yebyu areas. The
split of the NMSP this time gained more attention among the public as Col. Pan
Nyunt is a Central Committee member of the party and Commander of Tactical
Command No.1 of the Mon army.
FEAR AT CLOSURE OF
SAFE AREA
Maneeloy, November 29, 2001 (Based on local reporter and
The Nation)
The safe area for Burmese students in Ratchaburi province
will be closed on December 15 and there is growing concern amidst fear that
refugees have nowhere to go. Asylum seekers not eligible to resettle in a third
country will be relocated by the Interior Ministry and the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees to a temporary shelter for displaced persons. There are about 300 refugees from Burma
including 70 Mon nationals in the camp said a student from Overseas Mon
National Students Organization (OMNSO).
Among the 100 interviewed to resettle in the USA,
only 7-8 Mons
are included he added. The refugees were informed that the UNHCR plans to move
them to a camp either in Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district or Kanchanaburi's Sangkhla Buri district. The Maneeloy
centre was set up in 1993 to accommodate students from Burma
fleeing brutal suppression in their home country but became embroiled in
controversy when many of its charges were suspected of taking part in
hostage-taking raids at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok
as well as Ratchaburi provincial hospital.
A Mon family who has lived in the camp for two years said
most were worried they will be deported to Burma,
plus the new shelter will not be a safe for them. One family member reported that she has been
under intensive pressure of finding a sponsor in a third country to leave the
camp before its closure. There are Mon communities
in USA, Canada,
Australia, New
Zealand and Finland,
who originally migrated from the camp but Mon issues gains less attention with
sponsoring groups and overseas Mon communities are too weak to help. Migrant
Watch
HELL’S GATE AT
FISHING SITE
(Reported by Gong Ong, November 29, 2001)
Geeta Mon, a popular Mon band,
performed at Wat Kumphar of
Maharchai temple festival this week for 3 nights from
November 28 to 30, attracted thousands of fans.
The Mon people have longed for this kind of excitement, which has been
missed for many years back home. Leading
Mon celebrity star, Hongsar Marn,
Jeol Marn, and Chem Hongsar attracted the lively
crowd during the concert which was accompanied by traditional dances performed
by migrant Mon girls during the fund raising event for this annual festival at Maharchai, 30 kilometers west from Bangkok.
“All seats were sold out,” said Nai
Win Oo, one of organizers for this festival.
The partygoers, mostly teenage boys and girls, are recent migrants
seeking a better life in Thailand
from that in Burma. Many came straight from work to enjoy the
live entertainment with gleeful animation. People were in good humor, the
atmosphere was reminiscent of home back in Burma,
with young girls chatting to one another, their faces painted with Thanakhar make-up, people milling about wearing sarongs,
smoking cigars and greeting boisterously to one another in the Mon country
style manner. “The temple ground seems
like Monland and the happiness is everywhere,” said a
girl from the prawn-processing factory who came to Thailand
after she quit middle school in Burma. “We have missed this opportunity in Burma
because of force labour and the lack of jobs back home.” Even well known Mon bands inside Burma
have left because the government prohibits Mon national day and cultural
events. “Singers and musicians have left
home to Thailand,
Malaysia and
other countries for better life”, said Ong Chan, a
young Mon singer who entertained the appreciative crowd.
The registration of alien workers in Thailand
as migrant workers has brought a sense of relaxation to the Mon community of Samutsakhorn (Maharchai) these
days. The number of Burmese, Laotian and
Cambodian labours in Thailand
was estimated at over 700,000 people, who work in the 4D types of jobs (demand,
difficult, dirty and dangerous). Jobs
that Thai workers refuse to do, such as sea fisher, construction worker,
coal-miner, domestics helpers, water transport and
labour force in the agriculture sectors.
Over half a million aliens from Burma
registered this year 2001. Their identity
cards will expire in six months though, at which time the Thai government may
decide to repatriate them to Burma.
“Workers do not have to worry and run away from police raids
as before,” said Nai Sorn a
migrant from Ye township. “But I have
been waiting for 3 months to go to sea on a fishing boat, as I am jobless now
and need to work,” he worried. Many
migrant workers here registered with the Labour Ministry but fishing fleet
owners refuse to assist with the registration fee. Most workers pay out of their own pocket, and
some owners advanced money for the fees.
Registration fees were exploited by employers, which range from 3500 to
5000 B, when the original fee was set at 3250 Baht
for each worker. Owners also keep the
identity cards of migrant workers, who are not permitted to hold these cards
under any circumstances; with their movement being restricted it is difficult
for them to go out, even to the clinic.
Apart from the police raids and extortion, other conditions such as the
lack of access to medical care and the denial of freedom of movement are the
same as before. Commercial fisherman
upon returning after many months of working on fishing trawlers are not allowed
to come to shore, while others are restricted not to
leave the fishing docks.
Recently two Mon workers were beaten to death at Wat Jed prawn processing factory early this month. A Thai owner of fishing factory at Wat Jed (7) savagely beat two Mon migrant workers from BiLu Kyun (Chaung
Zone) Township, Mon State
of Burma, both
worked at the fishing factory of Wat Jed (7), Maharchai. On November
10, 2001 around 8 A.M. the
two migrants named Nai Myo
Win, age 37, and a woman named Mi Tin Shwe, age 46, were tortured and beaten
directly in front of their coworkers in the prawn processing factory. Mi Tin
Shwe is confirmed dead and the other person is missing. Following this incident, a Thai NGO contacted
the husband of the victim and sent a lawyer to investigate the case. But the husband of Mi Tin Shwe could not find
coworkers who will act as witness to confirm the torture and lawlessness, as
most of them fear retaliation by the Thai owner.
HUMAN RIGHTS REACHING
OUT
Chiang Mai, Bangkok,
December 1, 2001
At the end of a two-day Consultation on “Toward More
Effective Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Asia” in Bangkok,
representatives of rights organizations from eighteen Asian countries and
peoples’ groups urged governments in the region to improve their rights records
and to protect human rights defenders from violent reprisals. At the meetings, attended by U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina
Jilani, participants called for increased
international cooperation to end attacks on individuals and groups striving to
defend and promote human rights in the region.
The Consultation was held at Chulalongkorn University
in Bangkok organized by Forum Asia,
Human Rights Watch and other International NGOs. Zahan Ong of Mon Unity League and Ms. Mi Ainon
of Mon Workers Union were among 80 human rights advocates from Asia
and Pacific region. The keynote speaker
and the lecturer for this two-day gathering from November 30 to December 1 was
UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina
Jilani. The participants were able to join with
different workshops and open discussion with the UN Special Representative
during this gathering.
In Chiang Mai, a workshop on how local community can promote
and protect human rights also took place on 22-27 November 2001. This workshop
was organized by “Friends Without Borders” and was
attended by people from various organizations, which included local Thais and
refugees.
The participants made the (6) day workshop lively by freely
exchanging experiences and sharing ideas.
They agreed to develop new ways to combat human rights violations that
is dependent upon their ability to remain unified. The participants included 2 youths of Mon
Unity League, who were pleased with the opportunity to develop alliances and
will plan to network together on future developments concerning human
rights. The main objectives of the
workshop are to provide basic information on principles, international and
national mechanisms, and to strengthen the civil society network.
COMMITTEE FOR
REVITALIZATION OF MON CULTURAL HERITAGE
(Bangkok,
December 1. 2001)
The Committee for Revitalization of Mon Cultural Heritage
was recently founded by a gathering of Mon at Wat Chana Songkhram in downtown Bangkok.
Their first initiative is to preserve the old Mon palm leaves, which is stored
at several Thai Mon monasteries.
Thousands of bundles of palm leaves were retrieved from the dusty
shelves when the Thai Education Ministry decided to launch a survey last year
at two monasteries in Thailand. It inspired the Mons to work closely together on
preserving this important national heritage of old palm leaves in the Thai Mon
Monasteries. The second meeting of Mons from both Thailand
and Burma
gathered together with leaders of Thai Raman Association, Mon Youth Community (Bangkok),
Mon Unity League and Mon National Democratic Front (LA) formed a new committee
to restore their cultural heritage.
The main committee is named “Committee for Revitalization of
Mon Cultural Heritage” by the group and appointed Dr. Sued Gajaseni,
the President of Thai Ramarn Association, Ms. Amphai Markmarn, the Chairperson
of Mon Youth Community and a Mon history scholar Dr. Emmanuel Guillon as members of the Advisory Board. Nai Phisarn Boonphoke was selected as
the Chairman and Ms. Bussba Prapasapong,
who led the survey team last year, was selected as the General Secretary of the
newly formed committee.
[KAO WAO NEWS GROUP
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