KAO WAO NEWS No. 29

 

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

 

October 16-31, 2002

 

READER’S FRONT

LICENSE TO RAPE BY ARMY CONTINUES

INTERVIEW: AN EVENING WITH NAI YEN NI

ETHNIC LEADERS JOIN IN CRPP

MERIT-MAKERS BLOWN TO DEATH IN SHAN STATE

REFUGEE RELIEF GROUP FORMED IN AUSTRALIA

MON NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE IN NORTH AMERICA

UN ENVOY MEETS UNITED NATIONALITIES ALLIANCE

MIGRANTS PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR ASIAN VALUES

 

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READER’S FRONT

 

Dear Readers,

We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in Burma and Thailand. And we hope that it will become an important forum for discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and news. Above all, we hope the newsletter will be used as a vehicle for those who want to share their views and experiences.

 

We reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior notification. You can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include your full name and address.

 

Regards,

Editor

kaowao@hotmail.com



Dear all,

So sad to read this news (Mon Leader Shot Dead By Splinter Group, Kao-Wao October 28, 2002).  It will only make the Junta happy. Please try all your best to settle the difference peacefully. We all are fighting against A Dha Ma Nee represented by the Junta and why are we still practicing A Dha Ma Nee.

 

Regards

Eddie (Belgium)

 


Dear Banya Hongsa,

As a member of the New Mon State, I am very glad to read your article: “The Mon Political Dilemma”(Kao Wao News No. 28, opinion section).

 

After reading your article, I have many questions to argue about. Your view is too negative in saying that: “Members of the NMSP have done well at cash (tax collection) for social events but at the expense of the NMSP’s Mon National Day celebration have focused more on traditional events rather than on political issues? I think you understand that every organization expresses their views or political stands though a media and statements including in the form of a celebration. Like other organizations, the NMSP raises their political agenda through the Mon National Day celebration, but it could be strong or weak position on the current political situation, Mon people will give the answer.

 

Secondly, you said, "Leaders of the NMSP and the MNDF are too patient at maintaining a peaceful solution rather than battlefield approach". I don’t want to give a comment on that point, but as a freedom fighter, I would like you to know how difficult it is to be one. It is easy to say “fight” but behind the fight there are too many things to sacrifice including life and our families survival and children’s education. It is easy for people who live in exile or Thailand to say but for the leaders they have to consider with different perspectives. Finally, I suggest you look more deeply into Mon politics, especially the cease-fire situation.

 

Sincerely,

Banya Mon (via Monnet)

 


Dear Kao Wao,

Thank you so much for your weekly news. I appreciate it. I was born in Mon State now living in Japan.

 

Kind regards,

Nyan Winn Aung (Tokyo)

 

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Rape as a weapon of war

 

LICENSE TO RAPE BY ARMY CONTINUES

(By Sem Ong/ Kao-Wao, October 21, 2002)

 

Amid the junta’s denial that the Burmese army uses rape as a weapon of war against the ethnic peoples, the army continues to rape indiscriminately, including young girls in the remote regions of Mon State, Burma.

 

Mi Khaing, a 12 years old girl from Khawza village, Southern Ye township, Mon State was raped by a soldier while she was picking vegetables.  Myint Kyi, a soldier from the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 343 which patrols the area raped the young girl at 10:00 A.M. on October 6, 2002.

 

According to a local witness, the troop was led by Captain Aye Thein and no action has been taken against the soldier who committed the rape.  The young girl is the daughter of Mon farmers, Nai Nyo and Mi Kyi from Khaw Zar village. After the victim was raped and severely injured her parents and uncle complained to army officers about the case, but nothing came of if and the young girl received no compensation.  She was seriously injured and sent to the local medic for treatment.

 

This year on July 22, four soldiers from Burmese Army, Infantry Battalion No. 62 shot and killed five Mon villagers in Thanbyuzayat Township of Mon State, after raping a young girl.

 

During the third week of October 2002, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Situation in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, was in Burma for his fourth visit to the country, but declined an invitation to visit Shan state to investigate alleged rape cases and human rights violations there.

 

Mr Pinheiro was invited by the Burmese authorities to investigate a July report released by Shan women and human rights groups, which claimed the military use rape as a weapon of war. An official schedule listed a three-day visit to Shan state beginning on Tuesday. But Pinheiro, who was given an official report on Rangoon's assessment of the rape allegations upon his arrival, has decided to forego the visit, according to sources in Rangoon.

 

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Literature, culture and ethnic identity

 

INTERVIEW: AN EVENING WITH NAI YEN NI

 

Kao-Wao conducted an interview with Nai Yen Ni (P. Nop), author of “Tangay: the Setting Sun of Ramanya” and a founder of the Mon Culture and Literature Survival Project (MCL).  P. Nop (aka)Nai Yen Ni is living with the Mon community at Thailand-Burma border and working on his Ph.D thesis about the Mon people.

 

KW:     Please give us an introduction to yourself.

 

PN:     I was born and educated in Switzerland. When I was 17 years old, I came to Thailand for a year as an exchange student. This experience determined the further way of my life. I became interested in Thailand and its neighboring countries, especially Burma, which at that time was pretty much off-limits and therefore had a mysterious feeling about it.  I returned to Switzerland to complete high school and planned to re-visit Thailand before continuing my studies in Switzerland. The planned three-month visit turned out to be a permanent stay.  I went to a teachers’ college in Bangkok, majoring in Thai, and then worked as a teacher at an international school in Bangkok for some years.  In 1995, I returned to Switzerland to continue studying at Zurich University, from which I graduated in 2000 (general linguistics, specializing in Southeast Asian languages). Right now, I am working on my PhD thesis, which fortunately is sponsored by Zurich University.

 

KW:     What is the aim of the Mon Culture and Literature Survival Project (MCL) you have founded?

 

PN:     I had been doing basic research on the Mon language for some time when I met a man who started a conversation with me (he had overheard my trying to order some food in Mon at the Sonkalia Resort in Sankhlaburi).   He quickly became one of my most important contacts in Mon society. His name, Nai Ok Pung, is well known as the creator of Mon fonts for Windows and publisher of many Mon books. We found that by joining forces we could create much better results than either of us could by working alone. In order to formalize our efforts, we later founded the MCL and registered the association in Switzerland. Luckily, an American friend, Mr. Gregory Gaskill, was kind enough to design and host a website free of charge and this gave us an opportunity of going international.

 

The basic aim of the MCL is to make the Mon people known to the world. We want to promote research in Mon culture in all its aspects, and wherever possible to coordinate cooperation with Western institutions. The final goal of the MCL can be said to be the preservation of Mon culture not only as an interesting historical subject of study, but also as a living culture, lived by Mon people and appreciated by foreigners.

 

This we hope to achieve by publishing articles on the Mon in English and Mon, by translating Mon literature into English (which has not been done since Halliday almost a hundred years ago), and by teaching Mon children and adults cultural skills, such as reading and writing in Mon and practising traditional music, as well as English and computer classes. Our library in Sangkhlaburi houses an extensive collection of books on Mon and Southeast Asian culture and history in English, Thai, Mon, and Burmese.

 

KW:     What is your impression of the Mon community in Sangkhlaburi?

 

PN:     My personal impression of the community is very good. The people make it easy for me as a foreigner to live in the village. What is missing to some extent, in my opinion, is a sense of cooperation and interest in their own culture. Many people seem to be preoccupied with making money, which is more than understandable given the less than bright economic situation of most people here. Thaiization of the society has proceeded to some extent, but fortunately not to such a degree that Mon is no longer spoken.

 

I am happy to hear children speaking Mon with each other when playing (though mixed with a good portion of Thai vocabulary) and observing Mon traditions to quite an extent in their everyday lives. Sangkhlaburi has all the potential to act as a center  for the Mon people, hopefully, more in cultural than in the political realm. The community enjoys the relative freedom of living and operating in Thailand, with easy access to the internet and other infrastructure, yet it is very close to Monland and in constant communication with Mon communities inside Burma. The limited possibilities of travelling inside Thailand for the Mon people of Sangkhlaburi can be seen as a boon for the Mon nation, although this seems paradoxical. These travel restrictions hold together a community which would otherwise certainly break apart with most skilled people going to work in Thailand.

 

KW:     What books you have published and planned?

 

PN:     In 1997, I published “Tangay:  the Setting Sun of Ramanya”, a novel telling the story of a young Mon boy in the Three Pagodas Pass area at the time of the Burmese conquest in 1990. The story, though fiction, is based on real life facts and is intended to give the reader an idea of the history and culture of the Mon people, as well as the social and political problems they are facing. The book was published in English but a Mon translation is currently underway.

 

Other publications are more technical, such as a paper on the Burmese classifier system and a longer article on the verbal aspect system of Thai, articles on bilingualism and English usage in Southeast Asia, etc., besides a book on complementary medicine (as co-editor).

 

KW:     What books you are working on?

 

PN:     Presently I am working on a description of the Mon verb system, which hopefully will be part of a complete Mon grammar. I also hope to finish translations of some Mon literary works in English soon (the story of Sangada, Rajadhiraj). Together with Nai Ok Pung I am working on a Mon-Thai-English dictionary project which we hope to be able to complete within about four years.

 

KW:     What are the reasons for doing research about the Mon?

 

PN:     Since I first read and heard about the people called “Mon”, the name had some hidden mysteries which I wanted to get to know and understand. The first thing I learned was that the Mon are an ancient civilization, which covered much of Southeast Asia. I felt a certain similarity to the Celts in Europe, a people which has fascinated me since I was a child. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I believe the Celts and Mon to be related peoples, but they share a similar fate, being more interested in religion and arts than in war and power. It was this original fascination for a mysterious people that led me to pursue the research up to now. The mystery at some point turned into deep respect for this beautiful and ancient culture, which has produced not only great artifacts but also a population which continues to hold  to their distinct way of life and language, even after 250 years without a country of their own

 

KW:     What hopes do you hold out for the Mon in Burma’s future.

 

NP:     My answer to this question will not be very popular with most of yourn readers, I am afraid. I must admit that I do not think that Monland should be an independent country on its own. I do not think that the Mon administration is ready yet for such a task. I would prefer to see a confederation of Burma (or call it something different, if an appropriate and neutral name can be found), which would be a multilingual and multiracial state, comparable to Switzerland.

 

I would like to see Mon culture being practiced freely, Mon language used at schools and in the media. I am not eager to see a Mon bureaucracy arise. Remember that Mon culture has survived for almost two thousand years of recorded history, whereas Mon politics was much less successful. That Mon (and other minorities’) language use has been suppressed in Burma for a long time may be another paradoxical boon. Just by using Mon, one can make a political statement without saying anything political. In Ireland, where Gaelic is a national language and a compulsory subject at school, hardly anyone speaks it nowadays, English being the only widely spoken language in the country. Strong government support in Ireland could not stop the Gaelic language from dying, but maybe government suppression in Burma helped the survival of the Mon language. Of course, this is only one good aspect among many bad ones of the Burmese government’s suppression of ethnic minorities.

 

KW:     How do you see the future of the Mon in Thailand and Burma, given the controversy of Mon as a dying language?

 

NP:     The Mon as a people in Thailand are well adapted and almost completely assimilated to the Thai majority. In spite of the efforts being made to revive the Mon language in Thailand, it is unlikely to survive as a spoken language over the next three or four decades. In all Mon communities I visited in Thailand, only people aged around 60 and older actually spoke Mon, and they often seem to have a hard time remembering the correct Mon words, mixing Thai words freely into their Mon sentences, which very often exhibit Thai rather than Mon syntax. I believe that Mon will remain in the knowledge of an intellectual Thai-Raman elite, but not as part of everyday life. The same is true for other aspects of Mon culture in Thailand

Colorful celebrations of Songkran (New Year) festival in Mon communities in Thailand do not really represent living culture, but rather folkloristic shows. The situation is completely different for the Mon in Burma (and Sangkhlaburi).

 

I am convinced that the Mon as a distinct ethnic people will survive for many years to come, keeping their traditions and language alive. Many traditions of course have been assimilated to Burmese culture, but as the Burmese culture is largely based on Mon, it is difficult to tell who assimilated to whom. After six years I re-visited Mon State last month and I was delighted to hear Mon spoken everywhere even in downtown Moulmein, which six years ago was linguistically speaking almost purely Burmese.  Mon books are readily available at the market, whereas six years ago the question for literature in Mon produced only shy or even scared negative answers. Popular and classical Mon music is recorded, and some ten Karaoke VCDs have been produced so far, giving further motivation to young people to read their own language.

 

I also visited Mon schools in villages south of Moulmein, which as a result of the cease-fire are allowed to teach children in Mon State. In one village there are some 400 pupils from grade one through ten, while in the neighboring community the number of Mon pupils is about 500.

 

I definitely got the impression that Mon language use has been increasing over the last six years, and the same is true for literacy in Mon. There is some influence from Burmese in Mon (the same is true the other way round, too, by the way), but as long as the influence is only on the vocabulary level, I don’t see a threat to the language as such. More dangerous are influences in the sentence structure, because they go much deeper than vocabulary loans. Fortunately there are very few such structural Burmanisms in the spoken language. On the other hand, these influences can be seen quite often in newer written texts, including textbooks and newspapers. This development is rather alarming!

 

KW:     Please give us your ideas about preserving the present Mon literature and culture.

 

NP:     The Mon are blessed with a very ancient and rich culture and literature. Mon inscriptions date back to the 6th century and the language used in Pagan inscriptions during the reigns of Anawrahta and Kyansittha was mostly Mon, a beautifully elaborate Mon. The Mon classics dating from the 18th century onwards are preserved on palm leaves, thousands of which can be found in monasteries in both Thailand and Burma. Many texts have been published in printed form in recent times. This makes a good part of Mon literature available (and affordable) to the interested public.

 

Unfortunately, not many people seem to be either interested or able to read classical Mon literature. If read thoroughly and carefully, these texts can be a rich source for any textbook and dictionary of the Mon language.  But a book can only be of any use if there are people reading it. At present, the number of people reading “serious” Mon literature is deplorably small. What is needed for Mon literature to survive is an intellectual elite that is truly interested in reading and passing on their love for books to other people, if necessary by writing “books based on books”, using simpler language than the original texts. There is probably no society in the world where classical literature forms part of everyday life, but every literature needs an elite of people to keep it alive. This is done partly at schools and universities. Mon literature is not taught at any university, which means that even more effort has to be put in the task by the people concerned with Mon culture and literature.

 

There is commendable work being done in collecting and registering Mon palm leaves, but this is only a start. It is up to the Mon people to start reading and enjoying the literature their people have created over the centuries. And it does not take much to see the beauty of Mon literature. Just take a glimpse at old inscriptions or the works by Aca Acwo’ (also spelt Hwo, Ajwo, Fo, etc.).

 

Bringing Mon literature to the attention of the global community is another thing, of course, and has to depend on translations. As mentioned above, the MCL is working on this task. What I have said about literature is, mutatis mutandis, also true for other aspects of Mon culture. Only by actively practicing can culture be preserved. This again is up the Mon people, of course.

 

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Politics

 

ETHNIC LEADERS JOIN IN CRPP

(Kao-Wao, October 27, 2002)

 

The Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) has added new members from the Mon, Shan and Zomi ethnic nationality parties.

 

NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the CRPP met with the chairmen of the Mon National Democratic Front, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, and the Zomi National Congress during October in Rangoon and issued its first official for 2002 afterwards..

 

The declaration stated that the CRPP had expanded its membership to include Nai Tun Thein (chairman of the MNDF) Khun Tun Oo (chairman of Shan Nationalities League for Democracy - SNLD) and Pu Cin Shing Thang (chairman of the Zomi National Congress) as representative of  their ethnic nationalities parties in the team.

 

Dr. Saw Mra Aung (chairman of Arakan League for Democracy ) was re-elected as the designated Speaker of the Parliament in the CRPP.

 

In an interview with the Democratic Voice of Burma based in Norway, Khun Tun Oo said the CRPP was trying to find a solution to the stagnant situation in Burma and the worsening hardships the people were facing.  The Shan leader said people are starving and the situation is getting worse all the time. 

“We need to find a way out, resolve the problem through political and peaceful means,” he added.

 

According to Aye Tha Aung, Secretary of the CRPP which was founded in 1998, the Committee is functioning in place of the Parliament, while continuing to work for the Parliament to be convened.


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MERIT-MAKERS BLOWN TO DEATH IN
SHAN STATE

(Cited from SHAN, October 27, 2002)

 

Sources coming from across Chiang Mai said two Burmese shells killed seventy people observing Buddhist Lent in the southern town of Mongnai, 92 miles southeast of Taunggyi, Shan State, Burma.

 

The shells, believed by the sources to be fired from the Light Infantry Battalion No. 518 command post at 23:00 on the night of 14 October, coinciding with the 8th Waxing Moon of the 11th Lunar Month, a traditional day of religious observance, also destroyed part of the Sala Kao-hawng (9 room-pavilion) at Pawmong Quarter, Mongnai's northernmost suburb and wounded 21 others.

 

The dead included 6 men and 64 women in addition to 2 men and 19 women who were injured. So far, S.H.A.N. could only obtain three names: Zarng Mawng, 62, headman; Heng Yong, 56 and Awng Pay, 36.

 

Sources who were in Thailand to inform their relatives working there said they had no idea why the killings occurred. "Our elders have already notified the local authorities but no one has come out to explain or take any action yet," complained a woman.

 

There are two Burmese battalions in Mongnai: IB 248, located north of the town and LIB 518 down south.  Regardless of the proximity to IB 248, the townspeople confirmed that the shells came from the direction of LIB 518. "They left a hole 2 cubits (1 meter) deep and 3 cubits (1 1/2 meters) wide," said one.

 

Mongnai is a historic town, founded according to palace records in BC. 519 and the former seat of one of the biggest princely states of Federal Shan States, the former name of Shan State.

 

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REFUGEE RELIEF GROUP FORMED IN
AUSTRALIA

(Kao-Wao, October 23, 2002)

 

A Mon group in Australia recently formed a refugee relief association to assist refugees in Thailand.

 

Mons in Australia joined hands with Australian NGOs and founded a new organization, the Australia Mon Refugee Relief Group (AMRRG), to help refugees in Thailand get resettlement in Australia.  A spokesperson of the newly formed group said that if someone would like to get an application package and sponsorship they cold contact friends in Australia or AMRRG directly. The contact person for AMRRG is Ayoa (aka) Manoitefore, a former member of the overseas Mon student’s organization in Thailand.

 

After the 1988 nation wide uprising in Burma, many Mon students and monks fled to the Thailand-Burma border with hundreds of Mon refugees resettling in third countries during the 1990s. Community based Mon Buddhist temples have been built and several Mon communities have been founded in Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe.


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MON NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE IN
NORTH AMERICA

(Kao-Wao, October 19, 2002)

 

Mon communities in North America have gotten together to form Mon National Day celebration committees to organize and plan for the upcoming national event in their respected countries.

 

Like Mon communities back home, the overseas Mon are preparing for the national day to be held during February 2003.

 

In Canada, the Calgary based Mon Cultural Society held meetings on September 28 and October 19 to form a Mon National Day committee comprised of Nai Khaing Waeng as president, Cham Toik vice- president and Jana Ong as secretary of the organizing committee as well as other sub-committees responsible for music and cultural entertainment, decoration, reception and food and beverages

 

In USA, the Mon Community of Fort Wayne, Indiana held a meeting at the Mon Buddhist Temple on September 22 and formed an eleven-member committee responsible for celebrating the 56th anniversary of Mon National Day. The gathering elected Nai Htaw Oo as president, Nai Kumarn as vice-president and Nai Hongsa Htaw as secretary.

 

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UN ENVOY MEETS UNITED NATIONALITIES ALLIANCE

(Based on DVB and Kao-Wao, October 26, 2002)

 

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Situation in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro met with the ethnic leaders during his visit to Burma.

 

Mr. Pinheiro met with leaders of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), comprised of seven organizations from ethnic based political parties. Those who attended the meeting were Khun Tun Oo from Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, Dr. Saw Mra Aung and Aye Tha Aung from the Arakan League for Democracy, Cing Shin Htang from the Zomi National Congress, Salai Lian Mung from Chin National League for Democracy, Mahn Peter Kyaw Yin from the Karen National Congress for Democracy, and representatives of the Kachin State National Congress for Democracy and the Mon National Democratic Front.

 

The delegates presented three main points to Mr Pinheiro who promised that he would try his best to fulfil the requirements. But the delegates told DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) that Mr Pinheiro might cancel his [fact-finding] trip to the Shan State because he was not allowed entry to the regions he wanted to go to.

 

Pinheiro spent three days in Karen and Mon states, where he questioned administrative and judicial

officials about allegations of villagers being tortured, relocated and arrested, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. In Karen and Mon states, Pinheiro inspected a court and a police lockup.  He met aid workers and religious figures, including a revered Buddhist monk known as Thamanya Sayadaw, in Karen State.

 

Myanmar's ruling junta has shown a new keenness to improve its image amid widespread criticism that it abets or turns a blind eye to abuses by soldiers and officials.

 

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Migrant Watch

 

MIGRANTS PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR ASIAN VALUES

(By Banya Hongsar and Lita Davidson in Bangkok / September 2002)

 

Mon migrant workers are prohibited from using public phone booths in Butterwat, Malaysia.

 

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamed is the champion advocator in promoting "Asian Values" to the western world. The Malaysian government is proud that it is one of the most successful development stories among the ten ASEAN Nations, bolstered by the Asian rhetoric of homogeneity of people living in peaceful harmony with one another. Malaysia prospered because it invited multinational corporations to invest capital at the expense of cheap Asian labour. Hundreds of thousands of migrants from neighbouring countries, in particular from Burma, also play a crucial role in the success story but are omitted from the record.

 

Migrants are trapped between two evils: a government bent on militarization back home in Burma and Mafia groups working along the Thai-Burma-Malay border areas. After leaving Burma many are often abused by their Thai and Malaysian employers, cheated out of their pay and physically threatened.

 

Despite the uncertainty, mostly unskilled young people from Poung, MuDon, Zobbu and Ye townships, decide to leave Burma for economic reasons. They contact Mon brokers who work in partnership with illegal employment networks in Thailand and Malaysia. The brokers shuffle the workers back and forth between the 3 countries, but do not guarantee a job to those who risk their lives to reach their destination in another country. Few are lucky to escape abduction by the local Malaysian Mafia, some are killed, and the women are vulnerable to abuse, such as rape and human trafficking in the sex industry.

 

To reach the Thai-Malaysia Check Point in PaTong they must cover great distances on their own. Returning home poses even a greater risk to robbery as targets for the unscrupulous brokers and the Thai-Mafia groups. Like predatory animals waiting in the jungle, they grab workers on their way to the checkpoint taking them to a place called a 'Holding House" where migrants contact friends to help them get out. It is not a political kidnap but an economic one. Friends and family around Hadyai, SuRat Thani, Bangkok, Maharchai and surrounding areas, receive word from the abducted migrants through a phone call or other communications and will send money directly to the Mafia for their release. If they can’t contact anyone or don’t have the money, brokers doing business in the fishery board will send them to the Fishery Board in Ranong and other places for cash exchange.

 

A lawless atmosphere pervades the working conditions and environment of migrants.  Recently, the local Malaysian Mafia in Butterwat Province abducted a Mon migrant worker, Mehm Soe Naing, when he visited the local telephone booth, casually taking about Rangit 150.00 of his money then dropping him off at a nearby construction site. So migrants stash their cash in the jungle until they have enough to send home via local brokers. The money will be used for their children’s education and family living expenses back home and do not expect to see their families for years, never mind spending time with them for holidays and entertainment.

 

On 23 August, Nai Jamon Pakao and Nai Sitt, a man from Zobbu town who works as a broker for his local friends, were in for a shock when they returned to Bangkok from Malaysia and were arrested in Chom Phun Check Point. The Thai police helped themselves to their money Baht 65,000.00 and their mobile phones, and then transferred them to a local migrant broker, a Mon lady from Ye Town. They must pay 6,000 Baht for transportation and food to pay for the return trip to Mon state.

 

Around Butterwat area where this type of lawlessness pervades, most Mon migrants live in fear and have no access to local Human Rights Organizations to request protection. Migrants in Malaysia and Thailand live desperate lives, out of sight of the international community. These undocumented workers sleep in the jungle on plastic bags with a single blanket and walk to the construction site in the morning. Living conditions are far worse than a refugee camp in some western countries like Australia, (even it was rated as a bad image in treating refugees) where refugees have full access to water and electricity.

 

They earn Rangit 50-60.00 per day. (The black currency exchange is R 1=Baht 12.00 and they exchange via Thai Baht to Burmese Kyat with now its currency rate is about B1=K 23.00.) Indeed, for many workers, it is better than working at home where they risk being picked up or shot by the military or rebel groups, or working at a rubber plantation in HadYai and SuRat Thani provinces.

 

Young girls in some cases are sold to local brothels at SaPhan Plar (Thar Raue) in Chom Phun Town, Lang Sonn in Thailand. As Nai Jamon Pakao said, “they are under 16 and have no social contact with other groups. I heard Mon music coming from a bar once, the voice of popular singer Hong Chan was playing, I entered and discovered that if you don’t look like a fisherman you are not allowed in the brothel house". The Thai Human Rights Commission responsibility is to protect alien workers and migrants; to meet the existing law of Royal Thai Government, but very little is done to assist exploited workers who number in the thousands, especially in high concentration areas, where they are most abused.

 

Migrants, the most exploited resource in Asia, contributed significantly to Southeast Asian economies, especially in the construction and fishing industries. They pose no serious threat to the government or society and despite the many long hours of work, low pay, and the risks involved, they have demonstrated good faith over the years by being good workers, but regarded nothing more than animals and treated with disdain by their host country. In some countries, migrants and refugees are given freedom to move, get work and an education, even in such war torn countries as Sudan for example. In Malaysia and Thailand restrictions are imposed to impede freedom of movement, with Mafia gangs preying upon them in areas where they are restricted.

 

A recent cabinet Resolution on Illegal Migrant 27th August 2002-3 was issued to ‘renew only previous registrars and re-register the last group in 2001, new migrants are not to be registered? Also, “workers are to remain in the same province and are prohibited to travel from the old province". Despite the prohibition not to register, the number of entries of new migrants has not decreased. Some employers, especially domestic ones, are refusing to register new workers. The Royal Thai Government’s regulated scheme for alien workers decreed over the last six years has been ineffective at solving the problems of migrant workers, which often works against their human rights. Restrictions have not been enforced in many rural areas on the Thai-Malaysia and Thai-Burma borders which has caused confusion.

 

Malaysians and Thais share the view that no one invites illegal migrant workers to their country. But considering that the democratic forces and legitimate political parties of Burma have not given the Malaysian and Thai business community the right to invest in Burma under the present military regime flies in the face of leaders promoting Asian values. For their contributions, Asian workers receive tough working conditions and low pay often at the risk of enormous physical and moral costs to themselves and their families. The failure of Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) to solve people smuggling and the trafficking of women proves the Asian leaders hypocrisy.

 

Back in Burma, the State Peace and Development Council military regime has failed to enhance the employment opportunities and job prospects for its own citizens, at the same time the country is pushed into sanctions because of its human rights violations.

 

The governments of host countries have an obligation to protect migrants and should not underestimate the insidious networks of Mafia Gangs working in the border areas. Federal and state governments in maintaining the status quo need to respond promptly and directly, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights as well as by existing law and order of the host countries, to protect both legal and illegal migrants living and working in their countries. They must be able to voice their concerns, this may include, becoming politically active, taking on new roles in defense of their property and maintenance of their households. If not, social disorder and other aspects of breaking law and order will apply to not only migrant workers but will affect society at large.


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KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

Email: kaowao@hotmail.com, Phone: 66-1 561-0860

 

ABOUT US

Kao-Wao Newsgroup is committed to social justice, peace, and democracy in Burma. We hope to be able to provide more of an in-depth analysis that will help to promote lasting peace and change within Burma. Editors, reporters, writers, and overseas volunteers are dedicated members of the Mon activist community based in Thailand.  Our motto is working together for lasting peace and change.

 

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