KAO WAO NEWS No. 34

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

No. 34, Dec 26, 2002 ­ Jan 4, 2003

 

READER’S FRONT

MORE LAND CONFISCATED FOR NEW BATTALION

SPDC SOLDIERS SURRENDER TO MON ARMY

DKBA ROB MON TEACHER’S RESIDENCE

MORE HRP MEMBERS REJOIN NEW MON STATE PARTY

CHECK POINT BUSINESS IN SOUTHERN BURMA

MIGRANT VILLAGERS SEND TO JAIL

SPDC SOLDIERS KILLED BY KNU

MRC HOLDS NINTH CONFERENCE

MON IN CANADA PREPARE FOR NATIONAL DAY

 

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READER’S FRONT

 

Dear Readers,

 

Welcome all to Kao-Wao in the New Year 2003.

 

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

 

On “Mon Youth Office Raided By Thai Army” (Kao-Wao, December 21, 2002)

 

Dear Kao-Wao,

Thanks for your news. It's very important to have news on time like what you are doing. I'm sorry for our Mon colleges who face with this situation, though we can do very little for this.

 

In solidarity,

Charm Tong

(Shan Women Action Network)

 

Dear Kao Wao,

We pray for your friends.

We're wishing you a Christmas that's as happy as can be,

One as cheery , warm and bright as lights upon the tree --

And we're wishing you the very best of happy new years, too,

Because the nicest things in life should always come to you.

 

Sincerely ,

Japhet

Lahu National Development Organization.

 

Dear Editor,

I am really concerned about the current action of Thai authorities on our groups at Sangkhalaburi. What expectation do they have by doing this? Is this action a signal for our movement to have terrible experience? How can we relate this situation to political situation in our country? I sense that this time, Thai is not playing any game like it did in the past with the Burmese military regime nor is its attempt to draw the international attention.

 

If so, what we should do to prepare for our struggle.  What do you think we should do while arm struggle is discriminated among and within ethnic nationalities? I remember a remark made by an ordinary people inside Burma that says, "We have no place to run and hide, and no money to pay." It is clear that Thai government's policy toward our movement is going without saying. We should not think about this action carelessly. If this action is testing the International Community to clearly know if he can have a "green light" to crack down on the activities of their organizations?

 

Yours sincerely,

Ko Soe Moe (USA)

 

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Life in Mon State

 

MORE LAND CONFISCATED FOR NEW BATTALION

(By Taramon, December 26, 02)

 

The Burmese Army continued land confiscation in Mon State for building a heavy artillery battalion.

 

According to Kao-Wao’s reporter inside southern Burma, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) have recently confiscated 303.51 acres of land in southern Thanbyuzayat Township, full with rubber plantations owned by local Mon and Burmese farmers, to build a heavy artillery battalion.

 

According to a secret report of SPDC’s heavy artillery battalion No. 315, the Burmese Military Area Selecting Board chose the area near Thanbyuzayat town.  The document said the confiscated land is situated in the mountain range where the weapons can be stocked in a hidden place.  The report added that the Army could use local civilians to work for the military camp through negotiations with the township authorities.

 

The new battalion will strategically control Thanbyuzayat-Three Pagodas Pass motor road and the junta will build 9 heavy artillery battalions in Mon State according to the secret report.

 

The Burmese Army had already seized an additional 2000 acres of land from villagers belonging to Mokanin, Lamine, Jao-Khalae, Taungbon and Leinmaw-Chan in Northern Ye Township, Mon State.  Last November, the Mon Unity League, an umbrella organization of the Mon people, sent a letter petitioning the authorities to stop land confiscation by the army.

 

These villagers in Thanbyuzayat and northern Ye townships have long used their land for farming vegetables, fruits, rubber and rice.  None of them has received compensation for the confiscated lands and they  have no recourse to a complaint mechanism or other means of redress.  According to a Mon social worker at Thai-Burma border, many villagers from the area crossed to Thailand as migrant labourers.

 

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SPDC SOLDIERS SURRENDER TO MON ARMY

(Kao-Wao, January 1, 2003)

 

Soldiers from a Light Infantry Battalion of the Burma Army surrendered to a Mon armed group in Ye Township, Mon State, according to a source from the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party (HRP).

 

On December 29, 2002, a group of five soldiers from LIB No. 31, who is led by Major Myo Myint, surrendered to HRP troops in Ye Township.  The surrender of the fully armed troopers occurred about 5:00 P.M. during a military operation in Ye township.

 

Those surrendering were Sergeant Pa La Yin, Min Zaw, age 22, Maung Kyaw Oo from Bago Division, age19, Soe Myint Oo, from Yangon, age 20, and Chit Naing Tun, from Yangon, age16.  The soldiers were rewarded with a hundred thousand kyats each by the Mon guerrilla group and later transferred to the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), according to a local witness.

 

Last November, an armed Mon group led by Nai Hloin attacked the Burmese Army near Khaw Zar village, Southern Ye Township, and in retaliation, the Burmese Navy opened fire on villagers spotted along the seacoast.  The Burmese Army LIB No. 273, 282, 299, 343, 267, 280, 31 and 62 has launched a major offensive to wipe out opposition-armed groups in the area in recent months.

 

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DKBA ROB MON TEACHER’S RESIDENCE

(Kao-Wao, December 28, 2002)

 

Pro-Rangoon Karen soldiers recently broke into a Mon teacher’s residence and robbed the gold, a local Mon teacher said.

 

Soldiers of the Democratic Buddhist Karen Army (DKBA) covering their faces with masks entered the residence late on evening in early November and took (5 kyat of) gold. According to neighbors, it was a deliberate act of violation against the Mon population because the DKBA always target Mon homes but never rob Karen residences in the area.

 

Local Mon villagers from Prang Dai, Kaw Kyeink, Grob Krok and Kadhod Dadaon of Karen State requested a security guard from the New Mon State party (NMSP) but as of yet no assistance has been forthcoming, said a Mon teacher.

 

According to Nai Chan, a villager, it was not possible that the group was from the Karen National Union because the KNU are not active in the area. The robbers were fully armed and equipped.  The villagers do not suspect the KNU of robbing this village he added.  Another teacher added that there were many gambling places in the village and that when money was lost, robberies often occurred.

 

Local villagers have offered to provide assistance to the New Mon State Party, if a security arrangement can be made for the Mon population in these villages. Currently, some Mon families have to hide and sleep on the ground for safety.

 

The DKBA tries to control the Mon population in the area but the NMSP also maintains the area under its administration.  Despite an agreement made between the NMSP and KNU that the area would be under the Mon administration, the DKBA continues to create problems for both sides.

 

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MORE HRP MEMBERS REJOIN NEW MON STATE PARTY

(Based on reports from IMNA and Kao-Wao)

 

December 29, 2002, Halockhani Camp ­ More members of the breakaway Hongsawatoi Restoration Party (HRP) have rejoined the New Mon State Party (NMSP), according to a local source.

 

Corporal Kyaw Yay and Khit Ta led a group of fifteen families which returned to the NMSP on the afternoon of December 17th at Baleh Doon Pite camp, on the Thai-Burma border.  Major Nai Gwae welcomed the returnees and their families at the NMSP office, near the border at Three Pagodas Pass.

 

“We returned to the party because we have no more rice to eat and no other supplies on which to survive,” said Kyaw Yay during the reception ceremony. He added, “We have no where to go since the Thai Army’s Ninth Division issued its order to leave Thai soil.”

 

In the past two months, more than a hundred followers of the HRP, including some family members, have rejoined the NMSP.  Major Blaing Sorn along with 21 followers returned on December 2 at Tardein village near Three Pagodas Pass.  An NMSP spokesperson said the returnees would be assisted in resettling and that they would not be punished.

 

Col Pan Nyunt, a former member of the NMSP, formed the Honsawatoi Restoration Party in November 2001 after accusing the NMSP leadership of colluding with the Burmese military regime in signing the cease-fire agreement in 1995.   The support for Nai Pan Nyunt has fallen since Central Executive Committee member Nai Min Htut and other NMSP members were shot during an attack by the HRP in October 2002.

 

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Opinion

 

CHECK POINT BUSINESS IN SOUTHERN BURMA

(By Banya Hongsar)

 

Money changing is a way of life for a few soldiers in the area between Mon and Karen states in southern Burma where border checkpoints are for personal profit rather than for military revenue.  Since the Thai-Burma border reopened, trade between Three Pagodas Pass and Kya-Inn Seik-Kyi is booming once again and local black marketers and moneychangers are profiting even more than sellers of goods and services.  With its open market economy without strong regulation on trade and investment, people who carry on trade in the border areas face illegal tax collection and checkpoint fees to much more than they can earn by their operations.

 

“We can’t make enough to cover the heavy fees charged by more than seven checkpoints along the way!” said a Mon trader in Sangkhlaburi last week.

 

Among the many groups collecting checkpoint fees from Kya-Inn Seik-Kyi to Three Pagodas Pass is a multi-operations force that includes No. 5 Military Intelligence office, the Immigration Department, the Police Department, the Burmese Army and the Karen militia group known as the Hong-Tha-Yaw that operates at the boat dock in Kya-Inn Seik-Kyi.

 

This multi-departmental group recently forced the owner of a boat to pay K 2,000 for a small boat and K 4,000 for a large boat before heading to Krong Htaw village.  A few hours later, the boat arrived at Waesa Loi Mon village where there is a Burmese Special Operations Force that sometimes collects a security fee of between 3-4000 kyats at Chaung Wa village

 

There is only one Mon checkpoint at Waesa Loi village and the fee is much lower than the one at the first place. A large boat has to pay K 1000 and a small boat is K 500 plus K 200 per passenger. A goods fee is applied on a percentage basis on the value of the cargo.

 

The boat once again headed off this time to Phya-Ya-Ngoat-To, a Lao Shan village. A Burmese Army camp there at the river gate charges every boat regardless of size K 5,000 for a patrol fee, according to what they told the boat owner.  A small boat only takes twenty passengers and a large one takes about sixty. The fee is often changed from time to time without previous notice.

 

Most boat owners are Mon and Burmese.  They have formed a group called 

“Chaung Zone Boat Owners Association” to arrange and share services.

 

Following this, there are two more checkpoints, both operated by the Karen National Union (KNU). The first one is at Maung Yeing village and the second one is at Kyaung Chaung village. All boats must pay K 3,000.

 

The next gate at Tar Dein village is under the control of the New Mon State Party. The Mon officers are also charging the security fee of K 1000 for large boats and K 500 for a small one.

 

After nineteen hours and two overnights on the river, passengers arrive at Krong Htaw pier and there is a final checkpoint on the border-trading route. Here the owner again paid a fix amount fee for multi-departmental group that includes Mon, Karen and Burmese officials.

 

To make things more complicated; some boat owners who are close friends of the Military Intelligence officers don’t have to pay as much as others who are not on such friendly terms.  However, the Burmese LIB in these areas takes a larger amount than other groups. The KNU charges the least of all groups on the route.

 

Three Pagodas Pass is a booming black market and trade centre in southern Burma.  Located at a strategic point on the Thai-Burma border, the town has boomed in recent months. Soldiers, police, immigration officers and intelligence officers set fees on their own to suit their own needs of individual income rather than military revenue. For example, there is a militia force in Three Pagodas Pass who have no salary from the state but rely on illegal money collection from the local community claiming for protecting them.

 

According to the October edition of Guiding Star, an independent Mon newspaper, there are more than thirty gates along the Ye to Moulmein highway. The local police in Ye local police demand a K 150 “road repair” fee at the entry point to the town.  A driver of the “Than-Myan-Thu Motor Association” said they had been collecting to repair the roads and fund sporting events for the last ten years without anything happening up until the present except that their houses are getting bigger and better than before.

 

Every passenger who travels along Mon and Karen States must hold two valid papers issued by officials.  They have to have an Identity Card issued by the government and a travel document that issued by local armed groups who have cease-fire agreements with the government.

 

The first intention for the cease-fire groups is to achieve peace and national stability.  But the unlawful acts of these gun holders are utterly unacceptable in the new society even though the military government proudly announces as an opening a new page’ for political developments in the country.

 

Since Thai-Burma bilateral relations have been normalized recently, the elite groups who hold arms are the ones who are benefiting the most in this area.  Daily news and border reports show that the situation of the ethnic people as well as Burmese at the borders is at risk where there is potential for clash among those who hold arms.  Currently, the route to Than-Byu-Za-Yat from Three Pagodas Pass is under repair to boost border trade during the dry season.  The question is whether government officials from both Burma and Thailand will make any systematic effort to tackle the tangled web of checkpoint fees.

 

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MIGRANT VILLAGERS SEND TO JAIL

(By Taramon)

 

3 Pagodas Pass, Dec 26, 02  -- The State Peace and Development Council authorities have been providing phones to informers in Mon State to report on migration to the neighboring Thailand.

 

To crack down on migrant laborers, informers have received money by reporting on local people who have been trying to work as migrant laborers, according to a Mudon township resident.  Many Tapadon (Kwan Baw) villagers from northern Mudon township have been arrested for trying to migrate to Thailand and sent to the jail, said Mi Sai, a young woman from that village, who has recently arrived at Three Pagodas Pass border town.

 

One informer from her village, said to be about 36 years old, is receiving money for reporting to the Military Intelligence (MI) about villagers trying to migrate to Thailand.  "He earns ten thousand Kyats for one migrant", said the woman. She also said that some villagers were released after giving bribe money to MI.

 

"The MI gave the guy a cellular phone to inform whenever he sees villagers leaving the village with packages that suggest they could be migrating to Thailand, she added.  But she did not know how many had been arrested.  "All the villagers are afraid of the informer,” she said.

 

The SPDC has issued an order banning illegal migration to neighboring countries and human traffickers and migrants are being arrested according to the law, according to a statement issued by the authorities.

 

Meanwhile, many people have migrated to Thailand.  According to a Mon social worker, many migrants arrived at Halockhanee Mon refugee camp before the New Year.

 

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SPDC SOLDIERS KILLED BY KNU

(Cited from KNU, January 4, 2003)

 

Information intercepted by a Karen guerrilla communication unit indicates that Burmese army commanders have admitted that their Karen Operation is a high-risk for SPDC troops to maneuver in.

 

The KNU guerrillas of the 201 battalion attacked the mountain-top Burengnong Camp of the SPDC troops opposite the Phop Phra district of Thailand's Tak Province, about 500 kilometres northwest of Bangkok on 27 December leaving at least three soldiers including a captain and a lance coporal dead and four others seriously wounded.  The mountain is known as Bayinnaung in Burmese and Todjoh in Karen,

 

The KNLA attack was supported by 75 81-mm mortar, a 0.5-in. (12.6-mm) heavy machinegun from a neighbouring hill some 700 yards away.  One Burmese soldier, who was trying to surrender with his hands-up to the KNL, was shot by his own troops.

 

On the 28th December 2002, at least 7 SPDC troops were killed and 8 wounded when KNLA 201st battalion troops made an ambush at Wa Shoe Pu, near Walay, opposite Phop Phra district of Thailand.

 

On the 1st of January, two soldiers of SPDC forces stationed in the area were seriously wounded in a sniping attack by KNLA forces near the Burengnong Mountain.  On the 2nd January, Karen soldiers ambushed SPDC troops near Kanaylay where at least 7 were killed and wounded.

 

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MRC HOLDS NINTH CONFERENCE

(MRC, January 3, 2003)

 

Fortwayne, IN, -- The ninth annual conference of Monland Restoration Council (MRC) was successfully held on December 25 and 26 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

 

According to an MRC source, activities and financial reports of year 2002 were evaluated and the MRC awarded certificates of honor to members who had contributed financial support.  On the second day of conference, the strengths and the weaknesses of MRC were reviewed and future activities were widely discussed.

 

The conference decided to launch a campaign to call for the release of Mon leaders and expand its branch offices to members in other countries. The conference also elected Nai Mon Jit, formerly joint-secretary, to serve as Secretary General, because of the resignation of the previous Secretary General, Nai Ong Htaw Mon.

 

The MRC has become the strongest Mon community in overseas since many student refugees have migrated to USA from the safe camp in Thailand.  A Mon Buddhist temple was built by the Mons in Fort Wayne two years ago.

 

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MON IN CANADA PREPARE FOR NATIONAL DAY

(Kao-Wao, January 3, 2003)

 

In preparation for the 56th Anniversary of Mon National Day Celebration, Mon communities in North America have formed organizing committees in various centres and are rehearsing cultural entertainment.

 

The Indiana-based Monland Restoration Council in the U.S., the Mon Cultural Society in Calgary and the Mon Canadian Association in Toronto, Canada, have held meetings to make arrangements for the 56th MND which will be held on February 15, 2003.

 

The Mon Cultural Society (MCS) in Calgary hold its AGM on December 26, 2002, and elected new executive members for the coming year.  The meeting named Nai Khaing Waeng (Ramanya Kelasa) and Nai Cham Toik as Presidiums of the MCS and Ong Tamah as Chairman, Zahan Han Sein as Vice- Chairman and Nai Si Mon (Chit) as General Secretary.

 

The Mon Community in Canada was first founded in 1995 by a small group of Mon who resettled in Canada.  The aims of the MCS are to promote and preserve the culture, literature, and social life of the Mon, to cooperate with the international communities in ending the civil war and to establish a federal union in Burma, and to assist the Mon in the homeland and in exile.

 

In Canada, due to the wide geographic distribution of Mon, the Mon community has now expanded into three organizations, in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto where more Mons have resettled from Thailand in the past few years.

 

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KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

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

 

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