14. Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation


14.1 Background

The plight of Internally Displaced People, or IDPs, in Burma was a continuing problem over the year 2000. Burma contributes over an estimated 1 million IDPs to the estimated world IDP population of 21 million and estimated Asian IDP population of 5 million. (The CIDKP put the IDP number at 2 million in 2000.) Internally displaced persons in Burma live under conditions of severe deprivation and hardship. All but few of these people are without adequate access to food or basic social, health and education services. A large number of this group are women and children. As no legal instruments for IDPs exist in today’s world, this mass population group in Burma has been left vulnerable because of the lack of international protection and assistance available to them.

IDPs in Burma have been displaced by similar factors, which although are many, are all related to SPDC presence and policy. The main factors of displacement in Burma are:

- Forced Relocation of villages by the SPDC as part of the military four-cuts program

- Forced Relocation for Urban Resettlement or "beautification" projects, which are often linked to the SPDC desire to promote tourism

- Forced Relocation for SPDC Rural Resettlement programs

- Resource scarcity/Deprivation of the livelihood of villagers due to numerous demands for forced labor and portering, government crop quotas, ceaseless taxes and fees to support the army, and army looting or destruction of property

- Uncompensated loss of land or property due to S P D C development projects or destruction and looting by soldiers

- Other numerous abuses committed by the army which cause the villagers to fear the security of their home areas, such as instances of torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and arbitrary killings.

Internal Population displacements in Burma are therefore largely due to the military regime, and have occurred prominently over the period of time that the country has been under military rule. Displacement caused by military rule and policy has led to displacement across Burma. Under the facade of regional or area development, private land and plantations from civilians have been confiscated by the military - without any compensation - for road or railroad constructions, and military plantations, farms or animal breeding ranches. This has forced the people to move on to other land or new areas where there is very dim hope for their future livelihood. In addition, the regime has forced numerous urban populations to move into areas away from city centres. The nation has been impoverished through the regime’s economic policies and the corrupt military elite’s constant demands for money from the people, resulting in thousands of economically displaced people. Yet the most significant displacements have occurred in the border ethnic areas where the military regime has been at war with ethnic armed opposition groups for over 50 years. Of Burma’s IDPs, nearly 1 million are from the eastern and southeastern areas of Burma where ethnic groups such as the Shan, Karenni, Mon and Karen people are living, and where armed opposition groups are still active. Recent statistic show there are more than 300,000 Shan, 300,000 Karen, 40,000 Mon and 50,000 Karenni IDPs suffering in their own territories. There are also significant numbers of IDPs from the western border areas of ethnic insurgency, from such ethnic groups as the Rohingya, Chin and Naga.

"Four-Cuts" Program

The SPDC calls this four-cuts policy, "draining the ocean so no fish can swim."

Faced with ethnic-based armed uprisings against its repressive rule, the SPDC’s predecessors began to implement government displacement programs as early as the late 1960’s to secure areas and cut links between the civilian population and the armed groups in an attempt to reduce the impact of the armed groups. In 1974, this program was introduced as the "four-cuts" operation by the BSPP. This program aimed to cut the supplies of 1), food , 2) funds, 3)recruits, and 4)information to the resistance groups. In the areas the regime regarded as brown areas, forced relocation programs were practiced, and in areas which were regarded as black areas, all villages were destroyed, any person seen was shot, and rice plantations and rice barns were burnt. After the 1988 uprising, the army re-emerged under SLORC, who began to do everything in its power to raise military might. The momentum of the war against the civilians was also raised. The "four-cuts" program increased in systematically terrorizing, controlling, and impoverishing the civilian population in resistance areas so that they have neither the opportunity nor the means to provide any form of support to the opposition. Since then, villagers and village elders perceived as having any contact whatsoever with the resistance have been detained, tortured, and executed; and regime troops have conducted systematic extortion and pillage of the villagers’ crops, food supplies, livestock, cash and valuables. In addition, the large number of battalions in these areas have forced villagers to labor for army projects. If these things are not deemed enough to discourage the villagers from contact with the opposition, and a village is suspected to support the opposition, then entire villages or areas are forced to relocate by the army. In 1996-1997, the SLORC launched programs to forcibly move or wipe out all rural villages in areas not directly under the their control. In 1997 the SLORC changed their name to SPDC, yet the policies stayed the same. As a result of these intensified programs to destroy the populations in the ethnic areas, the number of people displaced has been increasing dramatically. These programs have affected hundreds of thousands of villagers in border areas across Burma.

Forced Relocation under the four-cuts program

When a village is forced to relocate, the villagers are usually told that they will not be permitted to go home until the opposition groups have capitulated; SPDC issues written orders addressed to village headmen; the orders specify the date by which the entire village must be relocated to designated site. Relocated persons are not compensated for their homes nor are they given enough time to collect all of their belonging. Nearly all of the villagers must leaven behind the majority of their belongings, including their livestock. Often people must also leave behind elderly and sick relatives. The areas cleared of villagers are then designated as "free-fire" or black areas . Houses, villages, and crops left behind are often pillaged and then dismantled and/or scorched to prevent the return of villages, and villagers seen in the areas of their former homes are considered as rebel soldiers and shot on site. In some cases landmines are laid on the roads leading into villages, or in abandoned fields and homes.

 

14.2 IDPs in Burma

There are 4 main categories of IDPs in Burma. They are:

1) Those who have been displaced and are living in relocation sites and satellite towns

Villagers forcibly relocated generally are required to move to one of the areas designated as "relocation sites" by the SPDC. These sites are most often located in other villages or towns near army bases, car-road sides where there are no villages, and barren areas where there are no resources or methods of transportation. In the cases of urban resettlement or "beautification" projects, the townspeople are moved to outlying areas of the city called "satellite towns."

Satellite Towns

These new towns are made of populations forced to relocate by the military government, and are located in the outskirts of cities, usually a few miles out where there are very few facilities. In the last five years, the junta has forcibly resettled tens of thousands of potentially restive poor people from city centers into these distant slums. Clean water is scarce and sanitation is poor in these slum areas. In addition, the people who were relocated face great difficulty as transportation facilities into the cities either don’t exist, or are extremely poor and unreliable. Employment in the new satellite towns is hard to come by. There are inadequately equipped schools in these towns, but health care is a problem as the few clinics that exist are understaffed and under supplied and the city hospitals (also understaffed and under supplied ) are difficult to get to.

The Relocation Sites

In most sites chosen as "relocation sites" by the SPDC, little preparation or organization is done in order to receive the displaced people. The SPDC has seemed unwilling to consider such things as availability of water, food supplies, cultivatable land, employment and services in the new areas. The burden for sheltering and caring for the displaced at relocation sites generally falls on the local community. If the relocation site is part of, or near another village or town, this extra burden results in increased depletion of their resources. No humanitarian assistance comes from the government, although there is sometimes very limited assistance from church organizations in some sites. In some cases, rice has been distributed to the IDPs during the initial relocation period, yet these are insufficient and the distribution period is short. A refugee who came from the relocation site at Mawchi in Karenni State maintained that rice intended for the relocated people was diverted and sold by local township authorities.

-Conscription for forced labor and porter duty

The SPDC troops force the villagers in the relocation sites to work on a daily or weekly basis; generally one person from each family must go. This forced labor includes clearing bushes and trees from the roadsides both inside and outside the relocation sites, cleaning military buildings, cultivating land for the military bases, hauling water for the troops, building fences around the military camps, digging bunkers, road construction, portering for the military and other general servant work. The villagers are also being used to work in the infrastructure projects in the area. Moreover, they are extorted to pay several kinds to fees and quotas for the development projects, military funds, food for visiting troops, fees to support military activities so on.

-Services at relocation sites - access to water, electricity, education and health care

Services vary from site to site, as each site is under the responsibility of various State or township committees. However, in general there are no arrangements made to provide services for the relocated people.

Access to water varies – in some sites wells have been dug in addition to streams and lakes. Yet in some sites, such as the Shadaw relocation site in Karenni State, the lack of drinkable water has resulted in several problems, including sickness and death that was caused when chemicals were added to the water in an attempt to clean it.

Sanitary facilities are usually nonexistent for the IDPs and they either are required to build their own, or use outer areas of the sites for latrine purposes.

The poor water and sanitation at the sites, among other things, has resulted in higher levels of sickness and mortality, yet health care facilities are either missing altogether, or else seriously under-equipped and under-supplied.

There is no access to electricity in most sites, and in some sites, such as Shadaw relocation site in Karenni State, torches (flashlights) are banned and dry cell batteries are not permitted to be sold in the site. This lack of provisions for night lighting increases the vulnerability of women, among other things.

Education facilities are also insufficient or nonexistent. In most cases, the relocated people establish makeshift schools themselves. If there are pre-existing schools, school buildings, teaching materials and teachers are never sufficient, and families often do not send their children to school as they cannot afford the school costs, or they require their children to help in the family’s attempts for survival. (see chapter on health and education for more information)

- Access to Farmland and Employment

At all relocation sites in Burma, access to farmland and employment is a serious problem for the relocated villagers. In some sites, IDPs are able to access farmland around the relocation site, yet this allocated land is most often insufficient for basic survival or unsuitable for farming. In other sites, access to surrounding land is denied, especially when villagers are relocated to sites where there is already a village with villagers who are already farming the land, either for themselves or for the military. New refugee arrivals at the Thai border in 1999 reported that they had been able to find daily labor at local farms near the relocation sites, earning between 40 and 120 kyats per day. In some cases, villagers are permitted to return to their former farms and plantations, yet due to the restrictions imposed on their trips out of the sites and the dangers these villagers face outside of the sites, most are unable to make a living in this way.

-Security and the Restrictions of Movement

Villagers in relocation sites live in constant fear of the violence and demands of the State forces, both inside and outside the relocation sites. Villagers are not permitted to leave the sites without passes, which are bought for various prices from either SPDC soldiers or local authorities. The passes are usually only valid for 1 day, from dawn to dusk, although in rare cases week passes have been granted. (see chapter on the freedom of movement) This leaves the villagers little time to travel to their places of work, work and then return. In addition, security for the villagers outside of the relocation sites is notoriously horrible. Villagers seen outside the camps are vulnerable to capture, arrest, torture, or even killing, even if they hold valid passes, as they are accused by SPDC troops of venturing outside the camps to support rebel forces. Women are especially vulnerable, and many cases of rape have been reported by women who have gone outside the camp to forage for vegetables or get water. (see chapter of women) The local authorities do nothing when cases of abuse are reported to them by the villagers.

2) Those who have been displaced and are living in towns or areas in other SDPC controlled areas of their State or Province or in other towns or areas of Burma

Many villagers suffering from abuse of the SPDC four-cuts program, or who have been told to relocate without a specified site have chosen to resettle in areas under full SPDC control, where they feel the abuses will be less than in the conflict areas or where they have friends or relatives. Yet as most of the displaced villagers are farmers, they face many difficulties when they are forced to move into new villages or towns. Available land in these areas is often scarce and the search for other employment in new areas is difficult. In larger towns or cities farmers are often forced to seek work as day laborers in low paying jobs. The families who have been forcefully relocated also usually move without being able to bring all their belongings, adding to their problems of resettlement. Villagers sometimes move to villages and towns where they have relatives, but their relatives are often not able to provide the extra support needed, as they themselves are suffering. In addition, these IDPs living in areas under SPDC control are subject to the same abuses as the other villagers around them. They are subjected to the demands for forced labor, fees, and restrictions that are commonplace across Burma. Yet the abuses committed are sometimes less then in areas under the four-cuts program, so many villagers face the risk of moving to areas under full SPDC control.

3) Those who have been displaced and are living in areas and camps controlled by armed opposition groups

Villagers who have been forced to flee their homes and villages for any of the above mentioned factors sometimes are able to seek shelter in areas controlled by armed opposition groups, where they feel they are offered an amount of protection from SPDC abuses without crossing national borders. Several of the armed opposition groups operate camps and resettlement sites in their areas. However, in these camps and sites, supplies and services are very limited, and often the shelter and supplies offered are only temporary. Access to food, education and health differs, as well as the level of security. In some camps and sites schools, health care and other services are provided for a limited number of IDPs, and the area is safe from SPDC attack, yet in almost all such places, there are no employment opportunities. Therefore, the IDPs are made to live off of whatever the opposition groups can provide for them.

4) Those who have been displaced and are living in hiding in jungles, fields, and other remote, usually "free fire" or black areas of Burma


There are nearly 1 million people estimated to be hiding in the border conflict areas of Burma, and this is the IDP group with the least access to basic survival needs. These villagers have fled into hiding, despite the risks, because of various factors. These IDPs include:

- Those who flee SPDC troops in advance of their arrival

- Those who can no longer stand the abuses they suffer in their villages

- Those who were ordered to move from their village to a relocation site or other place, and who chose not to do so

- Those who have fled from relocation sites due to the unlivable conditions

Security of IDPs in hiding

These IDPs are regarded as enemies by the SPDC troops, as the areas where most villagers hide are located in black or "free-fire" zones. They are shot on sight, or else captured, tortured and then sometimes killed whenever they are found. Their shelters, rice plantations and belongings are looted or destroyed when discovered. Under the guise of ridding areas of opposition forces, the SPDC has launched several "Search and destroy" operations, in which soldiers hunt to destroy everything they see including people in these areas. The troops often plant landmines on paths that they suspect the IDP villagers use, and they practice a "scorched earth" policy of looting, destroying and burning any signs of habitation or food supply. Troops have even been known to cut down fruit trees growing naturally in the forest in these operations in an attempt to make it impossible for anyone to survive in the forests or jungles. In the year 2000, several such operations were launched, resulting in the destruction of many IDP areas and food supplies, and the deaths of numerous IDPs.

Livelihood of IDPs in hiding

Villagers often hide in areas nearby their old villages and risk attempting to work and harvest their crops in secret. This work is extremely dangerous, and if crops are discovered by soldiers, they are burned or destroyed. If the villagers are successful in harvesting rice, they forage for other sources of food in the forests. Villagers in hiding, for the most part, are unable to travel outside of their area of hiding to purchase other items necessary for living, and must make do with what they can find around them.

Health and Education of IDPs in hiding

Health is a predominant problem for these people in hiding. Life in the tropics without norms of shelter or food supply leads to high sickness and mortality rates from malnutrition, diarrhea, and Malaria. With a complete absence of health care facilities, people mainly rely on herbs and traditional medicine. Although there are some healthcare teams, the medicine and care they are able to provide is insufficient for the numbers of IDPs in hiding across many border areas. The mortality rate is rising at an alarming rate for these displaced people, and many villagers are dying from sicknesses easy to treat or prevent, and from minor wounds.

For the IDPs hiding in the jungle, schools are sometimes operated in temporary makeshift structures with volunteer teachers. These schools lack any supplies, and are forced to shift from time to time and from place to place depending on SPDC activity. With the increase in SPDC activity, and the common occurrence of "search and destroy" operations, the number of these schools has been greatly reduced.

14.3 Situation in Arakan State

There has been a considerable amount of internal displacement within the Arakan State over the last decade. Forced relocation has not been uncommon. Most of it related to military progams to install military camps, to build administrative or religious buildings, to concentrate the Muslim Rohingya population in the north of the State and to settle Buddhist people into the State through "model villages". Small minorities of Arakan (notably the Mro) have also been relocated from their mountainous and remote areas towards the plains. The recent development of tourism in Arakan State has also caused the displacement of people living close to historical sites which the government wishes to promote.

There is significant displacement due to the severe and continued discrimination and repression of the Rohingya Muslim minority. According to Human Rights Watch in a report from May 2000, denial of citizenship, forced labor, and arbitrary confiscation of property continue to prompt new refugee flows and limit the reintegration of those who have returned from refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Muslim villages outside the far North are becoming rare. Most of the Rohingyas who lived in the Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U or Minbya districts have been forcibly displaced to the North over the past few years. These forced relocations, which go hand in hand with serious human rights violations, have been denounced by the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, notably in February 1993 and January 1995. 15 The Rathidaung Rohingyas (in the border district south of Maungdaw and Buthidaung) have met with the same fate. According to villagers still living in Rathidaung, out of the 53 Muslim villages existing in the district before 1995, only two remained in 1999. The construction of model villages for Buddhist settlers in the North of the State also entails the forced relocations of Muslims who are moved to less fertile lands, usually without adequate time to prepare or any compensation. In one such program , the government had relocated 200 Buddhists from Rangoon to a region with a large number of Muslims in Arakan State in March 1999.

New Model Villages in 2000

- In April 2000, the SPDC used the forced labor of Muslim Rohingya villagers from Rathedaung Township to build 258 houses for Burman Buddhist settlers. The villagers also had to provide 3 acres each for the new settlers. (Source: ARNO)

- In April 2000, 65 acres of farmland was confiscated from Quzirbal, Kaindapara and Hitalia villages in Maungdaw Township to make room for new model villages, and that the villagers were then forced to build these villages. (Source: RSO)

- In October and November 2000, 9 villages in Buthidaung township were forced to construct 25 houses for a new model village for new Burman settlers being established near a Rohingya village called "Pya Bin" by the military authorities. (Source: ARNO)

Land Confiscation and displacement for army bases in 2000

- In January 2000, 450 houses were demolished and 200 acres of housing and farm lands of Kyinthama Paletaung village, Buthidaung township were confiscated for the establishment of Army regiment No.553. (Source: ARNO)

 

Land Confiscation and displacement for Buddhist structures in 2000

- On April 28 2000, a Major, the commander of the NaSaKa Area No. 5, in collaboration with Aung Than Che and Saw Myint Aung, confiscated 73 acres of land belonging to Maulvi Mohammed and Akthar Hussain, both of them from the village of Auk Pruma (Kasarbil), a place about 12 miles north of Maungdaw town. The two collaborators are Buddhist Rakhines of the village. Then the Major ordered the Rohingya villagers to ‘contribute’ money for the building of a pagoda on the confiscated land. (Source: ARNO) (See livelihood and religion)

- In July 2000, Capt. Hla Pu, the chairman of the township PDC of Maungdaw, forcibly confiscated 2 acres of land from the Rohingya Muslims of ward No. (4) called Myu Thit Rwa(village), Maungdaw town, on which(10) houses have long been existing. This land is situated at a close distance to a Buddhist monastery and the monks of that temple wanted to grab the land under the pretext of extending the monastery. And so the monks with the help of Capt. Hla Pu ejected the landowners without any compensation. (Source: ARNO)

Other Land Confiscation and Resulting Displacement

- In early 2000, a total of 1,232 acres of land belonging to Rohingya Muslims was confiscated making the poor Rohingya villagers homeless, land-less and jobless. As a result, during this rainy season, (June to October 2000) about 1070 families of those uprooted people fled towards Bangladesh in the face of extreme difficulty. The confiscated lands are: -Attwan Ngatthay village 384 acres. Pale Taung village 320 acres. Dabru Chaung village 528 acres. (Source: RSO)

 

14.4 Situation in Karen State

In 2000, there was an estimated 300,000 IDPs living in Karen State, and this number increasing exponentially.

Situation in Papun (Mu Traw) District

96% of the people in Papun (Mu Traw) District are Sgaw Karen, and most are farmers. In the past, they farmed peacefully, but this changed in 1979 when the BSPP introduced their ‘four cuts’ operation to Mu Traw District. The villagers were forced to flee from the numerous abuses committed by the army. From 1996 the number of Burma army soldiers in Mu Traw District rose to 21 battalions and they became more active. In 1997 the houses and rice barns in 130 villages over all three townships were destroyed by burning. The villagers dared not to go back to their villages and in 2000 many still remain hiding in the jungles and mountains. In 2000 the number of SPDC battalions increased by 15, bringing the total to 36, as well as troops from 32 mobile battalions which were sent for "search and destroy" operations, bringing the total to 68 battalions. These operations were intensified beginning in October 2000. CIDKP estimates that of the estimated approximately 125,000 total population of Papun (Mu Traw) District, approximately 37,000 are displaced. In some cases, whole villages have moved and in some case only a few households have moved from the village.

The estimated numbers of IDPs in the three townships of Papun (Mu Traw) district are shown in the table below:

When people in Papun (Mu Traw) District leave their houses and villages, they search for places where the Burma army soldiers cannot reach them. Many build small huts and hide in the mountains and valleys and along streams. In some places there are only two or three houses, in some places there may be ten to twenty houses, in a few cases even more. In most cases the displaced people find a place to stay which is at least a few kilometres from their home village. Some people in hiding are people who have returned to their previous village area after living in refugee camps. Although these people know that the refugees in Thailand have been looked after, they don’t want to go. Some of them have been to the refugee camps and returned. Others live far from the border and the Burma army soldiers have blocked their way so they can’t reach the border. However, the majority of the villagers stay not far from the place where their ancestors had lived, whether they faced difficulties or not. They don’t want to leave their village and some say that even if they have to die, they will die in their villages and their own country. The area of Papun District where people are most desperately in need of assistance are the four northwestern village tracts of Lu Thaw Township.

In addition to the people displaced within Papun District, villagers from neighboring Nyaunglebin District have been flooding into Papun making the condition in Papun worse, and the above IDP estimated number much higher. In late 2000 many of the Papun District IPDs in hiding managed to secure a small rice harvest, but they are having to share some of this with the several thousand people who have fled into the area from Nyaunglebin District. The new arrivals from Nyaunglebin District are still living on the ground in small lean-to’s, and many of them have nothing so the local villagers are giving them what food they can. People finding the necessity to flee further on and cross into Thailand have met with many difficulties. SPDC strongholds along the major Kyauk Kyi-Saw Hta road are heavily guarded, fenced and laid with landmines along the roadsides. All of the villages along the road route were destroyed 3 to 4 years ago and no one dares live there anymore. Meanwhile, the military activity along the road and the mines around it have essentially cut off escape routes and supply lines for the people living to the north, in northern Lu Thaw township and in Toungoo District. It is now extremely difficult to send supplies to the thousands of displaced people in these areas, and it is equally difficult for them to flee to the Thai border. Some have managed to reach Thailand by making an extremely difficult and dangerous trip eastward into Karenni (Kayah) State and then southward to the Thai border. Some have managed to break across the road and join the internally displaced in the Yeh Mu Plaw area of central Lu Thaw township, though conditions there are also extremely difficult. But for most, they are now not only displaced and hunted, but more isolated from the outside than ever before. They are presently suffering from food shortages, mortality from diseases ranging from diarrhea to malaria with no access to medicines, and the need to regularly flee SPDC columns.

The Salween River which marks the Thai-Burma border has also now been heavily fortified with army camps which attempt to shut down KNLA supply lines, block the escape of refugees, and hunt down people in hiding.

Yet the high number of refugees who managed to flee to Thailand portrays the desperate situation clearly. Despite the difficulties, 1,340 refugees arrived in Mah Ka Kah Refugee Camp, Thailand alone between just January to April 2000. These numbers are significant particularly when noted that Papun District is not a densely populated area, with most villages consisting of only 10-15 families, and considering the difficulties of making it as far as refugee registration. (See chapter on refugees )Most of the April 2000 arrivals to Mae Ka Kah had fled the burned villages, landmines and the new SPDC columns in Dweh Loh township.

Education and health of IDPs in Papun District

In July 1999, CIDKP estimated that 2,898 families (16,877 people), many under 5 years of age, were eating only boiled rice soup. Rice soup satisfies hunger, but lacks protein and nutrition. Because of malnutrition, they are vulnerable to diseases like edema, malaria, gastric problems and diarrhea. There are only a few hospitals and clinics in places where there is good security, and there is not enough medicines.

The displaced people desire to have some education, so in larger IDP settlements they have opened makeshift primary schools, however, as they are unable to provide the teachers with any salary, these schools are unstable. In some places there is no school. (Source: CIDKP)

Situation in Lu Thaw Township

There are 22 army camps in Lu Thaw Township, which makes life for villagers as well as for the estimated 7,000 IDPs in hiding very difficult. There are also frequent "search and destroy" operations. There are no relocation sites in the township, but most of the hill villages in the township are living in hiding. There has been little opportunity for outside groups to provide assistance for the IDPs in Lu Thaw Township. The health and education situation for IDPs hiding in the township is very dire. There are no hospitals and the back pack teams cannot always reach these areas. Almost all people in Lu Thaw have fled from the SPDC troops, but there are a few families in Klaw Hta and Baw Thay Hta village tracts living under SPDC control. They are determined not to leave their land if they can possibly stay, but present conditions are forcing many of them to consider fleeing to Thailand. However, this is not at all easy because of the landmines and the proliferation of SPDC Army camps and patrols. Even if they can make it to Thailand, if they encounter Thai Army troops or Border Patrol Police units before making it to a refugee camp, they are routinely forced back across the border at gunpoint. (Sources: CIDKP, KHRG)

Situation in Bu Tho Township

There were formerly 4 relocation sites in Bu Tho Township. However, these IDPs have been allowed to own villages which are now under SPDC control. There are a few families living in hiding in groups of 10 to 20 houses, and these people have been forced to eat only rice and boiled rice soup for their survival. In the southernmost village tracts, Day Wah, Kyaw Pa, Mae Pree and Htee Tha Daw, which are sandwiched between the Salween and the car road, there is no place to hide, so these people stay in their own villages and have to learn to deal with armed organizations, namely - SPDC, DKBA and KNU and to protect themselves in various ways.
(Source: CIDKP)

Situation in Dweh Loh Township

Villagers from Dweh Loh township, just southwest of the town of Papun, have begun fleeing the area in large numbers after SPDC troops burned and then landmined at least 9 of their villages in March 2000, at the same time that villagers throughout the region have been fleeing in increasing numbers from increased SPDC militarisation and forced labor.  In November 1999 SPDC troops had entered the township, causing the villagers to flee into the jungles. The villagers had remained in hiding, hoping the troops would leave, but they didn’t and instead the SPDC began landmining pathways around their home villages. Then in March 2000 they began burning one village after another, including the villages of Meh Gha Law, T’Kaw Hta, Baw Wah Der, Lay Hta, Maw Bpu, Tee Th’Reh Kee, Dta Baw Kee, K’Pu Soh, and Maw Thay Hta. The troops also burned all the rice storage barns they could find in order to eliminate the food supply, and burned the villagers’ hill fields which were being prepared for the June/July 2000 planting. The scrub in these fields had been cut and was being dried for the usual burnoff before the rains; however, by torching them early, only part of the scrub was burned and the villagers say it will now be impossible to do a proper burnoff or to plant a crop. They no longer dare go back to their villages for food either, because the troops mined the villages after burning them and are still encamped near the villages. Faced with starvation, many of the villagers have now fled the area.

The Burma army has established itself in six main locations in Dweh Lo township, Mae Wai, Khu Thu Hta, Waw Mu, Ka Ter Ti, Blow Lu and Taung Thone Lone. DKBA troops are located at Ma Taw. There has been a buildup of SPDC troops in Dweh Lo township since the beginning of 2000. In 2000 there were 4 relocation sites in the township. (Sources: KHRG, CIDKP)

Mae Wai forced relocation site - People from 19 villages were relocated to Mae Wai. At the end of 1999 there were approximately 2000 people at Mae Wai. There were originally over 2500 people there but those who could not pay the extortion fees and could not work for SPDC fled from the site. SPDC demands 6000 kyats in porter fees for 2 persons per 10 days from the site, so people have to pay 3 times a month. Moreover they have to serve in the local militia which is called Set Thar. The people have to fulfill the needs of the SPDC troops whenever they go on an operation. If their demands are not met, children aged over 10 and women are forced to work. The people are not allowed to work in their own fields near their own villages, they can only cultivate in the paddy fields near Mae Wai relocation site. The people are also not allowed to sleep in their farm huts, and those who disobey are beaten and their farm huts burnt.

Waw Mu forced relocation site - People from 7 villages were relocated to Waw Mu relocation site. At the end of 1999 there were approximately 1250 people at Waw Mu. They have to pay between 7000 and 10000 kyats per month in porter fees. To pay porter fees, villagers have to sell their cattle. People also have to work for the military. People are allowed only to work in the paddy fields near Waw Mu. Sometimes people are allowed to sleep in the farm huts but sometimes they are not allowed. Some people who could not bear staying under the control of SPDC fled and hid in the mountains. Some were found and beaten, some were killed, their huts and other possessions burned down.

Khu Thu Hta forced relocation site - People from over 10 villages were relocated to Khu Thu Hta relocation site. At the end of 1999 there were approximately 180 people at Khu Thu Hta. Nearly all the people however have returned to live near their old village, except those that had originally come from Khu Thu Hta village. Those that have returned and live around their old village are not free from SPDC control. They have to pay porter fees and if they can not pay they are captured and beaten. People who returned and live around their old village must not run. If they run from the village they are assumed to be KNU, so they have to stay under the SPDC. Some times when they have suffered too much they flee from their village and hide for 3-4 months. Depending on the condition of the place, they can hide for a while but not long, so they return and live under the SPDC again.

IDPs in the Bu Lo /Mae Wai valley

There are IDPs in all 8 village tracts in the Bu Lo/ Mae Wai valley area of Dweh Lo township. Nearly all people from 6 village tracts, Mae Thu, Nar Ko Khi, Lay Kaw Hti, Mae Wai, Khu Thu Hta village tract and Ma Lay Ler village tract have become displaced. They must hide in the jungle and try to grow upland rice. There are no clinics and medical assistance never reaches them. There are a few primary schools but most of the children do not get the opportunity to attend school. In 2000 attempts to relocate people in the valley led to a majority of the people fleeing to the mountains.

The situation of the four village tracts in Baw Kyo valley

In 1998 people from these areas were relocated to Baw Kyo Leh, Htee Law Thi Hta, Baw Tho Hta, Lay Po Hta and Ma Taw. But now they have been allowed to return and live in their own villages again, which are now under SPDC control. The area is flat so SPDC troops can move around easily. Roughly 25% of the whole population in the Baw Kyo valley area are in hiding. Yet these IDPs are able to buy food from Papun and Kamamaung through people living in the villages under SPDC control. They have never received any food or medical assistance. They have one primary school. (Source: CIDKP)

On July 3, 2000, troops from SPDC LIB 207 came to Meh-toe-nweh-kee area of Papun District, Karen State and found Lay-kee villagers, who were in hiding. They looted from Saw Kyaw Thein 1 tin of rice, 4 cooking pots, 5 dishes and clothes worth about 9,550 kyat, - from Po Nyo 1 basket of rice, 2 sarongs, salt and fish paste worth about 7,500 kyat, - from Saw Mya Kya a tin of rice, 2 cooking pots, 3 machetes and 4 dishes worth about 7,600 kyat, - from Saw Par Nu 1/8 tin of rice, 7 Viss of salt, 2 cooking pots and clothes worth about 14,050 kyat, - from Saw Tun Yin 3,000 kyat of cash, 2 sarongs and other items worth about 9,010 kyat, and from Saw Par Thu 1 tin of rice, 4 dishes and 2 sarongs worth about 4,300 kyat. They burned the belongings they could not carry. Many villagers escaped by running away. The following villagers who could not run away were arrested: Saw Tun Yin, M, 35; Naw Yaw, F, 33; Naw Nee Aye, F, 12; Saw Klor Poe, M, 5; Naw Paleh, F, 2; Naw Pawt, F, 32; Naw Paw Theh, F, 10; Naw Day, F, 6 and Par Dah, M, 3. (Source: KIC)

In December 2000, over 2,000 new IDPs fled from Nyaungbelin (Kleer Lwee Htoo)into Western Papun (Muthraw) due to attacks, or the forced labor and relocation operations of the SPDC. The villagers and IDPs in Loo Thaw township north of the new road continue to face extreme hardship and it has not been possible to provide regular assistance to that population. This is a black area where the SPDC troops shoot to kill. The new road is patrolled aggressively by 10 SPDC Battalions, who have also erected a bamboo fence with land mines all along the road, thus making it difficult for relief teams to cross or for IDPs to escape through to the south. Some however have managed to break through and have resettled in Yae Mu Plaw village tract, putting great pressure on the land and natural resources that are already at their limit in providing sustenance for the villagers and IDPs of Yae Mu Plaw. A quote from an IDP in Yae Mu Plaw, "We don’t want to run any further, we want to stay in our land, we are not brave, we can do no other, we leave all in the hands of God. We believe God will protect us." (Source: CIDKP)

Forced Relocation Sites in Papun (Mu Traw) District, Karen State
Map by CIDKP Dec. 2000

HRDU Note: The relationship between the location of the SPDC military
camps and the location of the IDP clusters is of significance


Location of SPDC Military Camps in Papun (Mu Traw) District
Map by CIDKP. Dec. 2000


IDP clusters in Mu Traw (Papun) District.
Map by CIDKP, Dec 2000

Situation in Thaton District

Villagers in Thaton Township face great difficulty in providing their families with enough food because of the violence committed against them by the SPDC army. Many families been forcefully relocated, or have fled into the surrounding jungle. KHRG reported that 15 to 20 families from each of the following villages had fled and were living in the jungle. Those villages were Baw Naw Po Kee, Ther Khaw Doh Kee, Ther Gkee Pu, and Pleh Po Hta.

On February 10, 2000, troops from SPDC IB 545 ordered the entire village of Mer-met-ta, Tha-ton District, Karen State to relocate to the village of Mer-theh. They threatened to shoot to death all the villagers if they did not comply. (Source: KIC)

On August 23, 2000, troops from SPDC IB 361 came to Kyu-waw-kee, No-baw-daw, Ga-bu-lo and Gweh-ta areas, Tha-ton District, Karen State and terrorized the people for 7 days. As a result, the people had to flee from their villages and hide in the jungle. One Oh-tar-lu villager Tee Par Aung, 70, died from starvation. (Source: KIC)

Situation in Dooplaya District

There have been several forced relocation campaigns in Dooplaya District over the last 3 years. In 1999, around 100 villages were forcefully relocated to sites across the district, including Ye Tagun, Anan Gwin, Taungzun, Phar Pyat, Kyi Soe, and Kyar Ein Seik Kyi relocation sites. However, many villagers, out of mistrust for the SPDC refused to move into the relocation sites, and fled into the jungle. Many others who moved into the relocation sites ended up moving out due to the conditions. Due to these forced relocations, as well as the numerous abuses committed by the SPDC troops, there were mass displacements of people throughout 2000, as people attempted to flee. Those interviewed by KHRG reported widespread hunger and starvation in central Dooplaya, and of IDPs subsisting off of taro roots and jungle vegetables. Entire villages were reported to have been fleeing, and many of these who attempted to seek refuge in refugee camps across the border in Thailand were denied access. (See chapter on refugees)

Brief Background of Mae La Po Hta IDP site

In September 1998 SPDC troops stormed an area in the eastern Dawna Mountains, near the Thai border in Pa’an District, and shelled and burned 5 villages without warning. The villagers fled across the border but soon returned and camped just on the Burma side of the Moei River, hoping to return to their crops and villages if the SPDC troops withdrew. The troops did not withdraw; instead, many more internally displaced people kept coming to join those camped beside the Moei River at Meh La Po Hta. By late 1999 the population had swelled to 5,000 and it had begun to look a bit like a refugee camp, with food and other supplies sent in from Thailand. The site was heavily encircled by KNLA landmines, but it was never safe from attack by the nearby SPDC Army units. Similar camps slightly further south at Tee Ner Hta and Law Thay Hta were attacked by SPDC units in late 1999, and the villagers there fled into Thailand. (Source: KHRG)

The Burning of Mae La Poh Hta IDP Camp

At the end of March, 2000, the Mae La Poh Hta IDP camp located across the river from Tak province, Thailand was seized and set on fire in an attack by SPDC troops from IB 7, IB 8, IB 107 and IB 108 after fighting between the SPDC and the KNU. The fighting originally sent 1,700 of the displaced villagers across the river into Thailand, but after the village was burnt, more then 4,000 people were seeking shelter in Thailand. The village had consisted of 659 houses, 4 schools and a clinic, all of which were destroyed. The villagers who had been living in the camp were able to flee, and no villagers were reported to have been killed in the attack, but most were unable to run away with their possessions and lost the very little they had. On the Thai side, they then were suffering from lack of shelter, clean water and toilet facilities. Many of them were later moved to a location further in Thailand. In May 2000 most of the people who had lived at Mae La Po Hta set up a new site on the Burmese side of the border called Ler Baw Gher, where they were also joined by newly displaced people who had fled villages further inside Pa’an District. Ler Baw Gher was then briefly attacked by a passing SPDC column in early July 2000, causing the villagers to flee into Thailand yet again. Still determined to stay near their home villages, however, they soon crossed back again and are now re-establishing themselves at Ler Baw Gher, hoping they will not be attacked again too soon. (Also see chapter on refugees)

Situation in Kya-Ein-Seik-Gyi Township

From May until the end of June 2000, the SPDC escalated their military activities in many parts of Kya Inn Seikyi Township area and as a result, more and more villagers were forced to flee from their villages. Many of these displaced villagers moved into SPDC controlled areas where they felt they are not so safe but expected fewer abuses than in their native villages. Some families felt they were not safe in SPDC controlled areas and decided to move into the NMSP controlled area or KNU’s firm control areas. A few numbers of families were able to enter into Thailand based refugee camps, yet since the Thai government has a certain policy to not accept the new refugees into their territory, most of the villagers have been living in hiding as IDPs in Burmese territory since they escaped from their native villages. From the first week of May until the end of June, 82 families from 13 rural Karen, Lao Shan and Mon villages arrived to three Mon villages under NMSP control in the Three Pagoda Pass area. Their native villages are Yalae, Danone, Koe-du-kwe, Khay-wee, Kawkamar, Maung-yaing, Maetabwee, Pone-khaw, Taung-kalay, Tawae-pauk, Ma-Oo, Kyauk-palu and Kyauk-kya. In these villages only about 25% of the original population of villagers remain in the villages, villagers who are unwilling to abandon their houses, farms, live-stock and other properties. Of these displaced villagers, only 20-25% arrived to the three Mon villages in the Three Pagoda Pass area. (Source: HURFOM)

Comparison of village populations in Kya Ein Seik Kyi under normal circumstance and the current village population, showing the recent population displacement.

* This population displacement has taken place over the last 3 years since 1997 when the SPDC began large offensives in the area. (Source: HURFOM))

Situtation in Nyaunglebin District

In the hills of northern Papun District and eastern Nyaunglebin District in northern Karen State, the SPDC began a campaign in 1997 to eliminate resistance activity and gain control by wiping out the small Karen villages which dot the remote hills. Army columns of several hundred troops went from village to village, firing mortar shells into the villages without warning, then shelling the streambeds where they knew villagers would run, and entering the villages to loot and burn all the houses. In 1997/98 close to 200 villages were destroyed this way. The villagers fled into hiding in the hills, while SPDC columns came to hunt them, shoot them on sight and destroy their hidden food supplies and their fields. Since then, many people have remained in hiding in the forests while others have managed to rebuild on the burned ruins of their villages, but they must always flee whenever SPDC troops come near.

Since the end of the rainy season in October 2000, the SPDC has intensified its campaign to destroy once again any villages which have been rebuilt and to hunt out the villagers in hiding. The columns look for villagers harvesting rice, open fire on them and landmine their fields or uproot their crops, and hunt out and destroy any hidden rice supplies. There are at present approximately 40 SPDC Battalions involved in this operation, making the food and security situation for the villagers in hiding extremely desperate. It is extremely difficult to place exact numbers on those internally displaced in Nyaunglebin and Papun districts, but the number could now be 50,000 or even more. (Source: KHRG)

In April 2000, IB 73 led by battalion commander Sann Myint returned villagers of Mone Township, Nyaung-le-bin District, Karen State back to their own villages who had previously been forcefully relocated from their villages namely -(I).Mee-daing-taw (2). Mae-zili-gon(3).Aung-chan-tha (4).Paw-pi-doe (5).Ta-kot-pwa (6).Ko-ni. However, the villagers were not allowed to return to their own house compounds where they had previously lived, but were made to settle in places designated by the army. Villagers from Myang Oo village were not allowed to return, and were made to stay at Myang Oo Kwet Thit. As the villagers are forced to hurriedly move from time to time, they have no time to do their work. In addition, the army constantly demands money, forced labor, porters, and runners, and as a result, the villagers have had to sell away what they have to pay the demanded money. Some of the villagers have nothing left and can afford only rice broth to eat for their survival. (Source: KAWU)

From November 2000, to January 2001, over 2,000 IDPs crossed the Bilin River from Nyaunglebin (Kler Lwee Htoo) district. On 30 January 2001, 200 more IDPs from Htee Bla and Saw Tha Kee came into Papun (Muthraw) district. IDPs from Htee Maw Kway Hta, Law Moo Der, Htee Ler Pah Hta, They Ko Ser Der, Htee Bla, Mee Tha Nang Der, Saw Tha Kee, Saw Roko, Lo Khee, and Kyaw Pla Kee villages have all fled because of attacks on their villages by the SPDC as well as demands for forced labor. In this area 124 people have been killed, women raped and many tortured. Most recently, on Nov. 4 2000, 3 villagers at Saw Roko village were beaten to death by troops of LIB 360 while they were gathering rice. On Nov. 10, a father and his two children were wounded by an SPDC mortar attack On Nov. 16, one was killed by an SPDC land mine. Paddy is routinely destroyed resulting in over 5,000 people being deprived of rice in January 2001 alone. (Source: CIDKP)

In October 2000, ThaQweKo village Hlein-Bwe Township, which consists of over 300 houses, was ordered to relocate by Commander Tha Htoo Kyaw of DKBA and Officer Saw Say Htoo of MI # 25. They told the villagers that they all must be moved by October 30. According to an SPDC officer, the order was given verbally because they feared that if they gave the order on paper that external human rights groups would be able to get a copy of it. Yet as the officers hadn’t told the villagers where to move, they didn’t move by October 30. Therefore, on November 1 DKBA and SPDC troops entered the village and destroyed 1/3 of the village including the many mosques in the village. They then demanded that the villagers get out. Later the Muslim leaders met with the SPDC authorities and the authorities agreed that the village could wait to be moved until after the paddy harvest in December. For this agreement, the villagers had collected money with which to pay the SPDC authorities. In November, the villagers with money began moving out of the village, but the poorer villagers had to resort to re-building the houses which had been destroyed and living in them until they would be kicked out. (Source: DVB)

Relocation sites

Relocation operations in Naunglybin District (Kler Lwee Htoo) continue. The following are forced relocation sites.

Kyawt Naga 5 villages => (more than) 1,000 people

Kwin Seit 8 villages => 1,500 people

May Po Hta 5 villages => 500 people

Win Maung 10 villages => 2,000 people

Each site is fenced, patrolled and the inhabitants must provide labor free of charge to the SPDC. Labor includes road improvements, bridge building, gathering bamboo (often in mined areas), and portering. Quote from an IDP family, "We can’t work our own land, we can’t feed our families so we ran away."

IDPs from Nyaunglebin continue to flee into Papun District but due to new SPDC outposts on the west side of the Bilin River, this is dangerous. (Source: CIDKP)

 

Situation in Toungoo District

Situation of villagers hiding in the forests

The villages in large areas of Toungoo District have been abandoned and their inhabitants have become internally displaced. In Than Daung township, the villagers north of the Kler Lah-Mawchi car road in the area east of the Day Loh River are all living in the forest; the villages north of Kler Lah as far as the Day Loh River were all originally relocated to Kler Lah, but many of them have fled back to their villages and are now living in the forest; and the villagers in northern Than Daung township who were relocated to Leit Tho have also fled back to their villages to live in the forest. Together, these areas comprise over half of Than Daung township. In Tantabin township, all of the villagers between the Kler Lah-Mawchi and Kler Lah-Bu Sah Kee car roads and many of the villages on both sides of the Yaw Loh River are displaced and living in the forest. The villages along the route of the new road construction project from Bu Sah Kee to Ma La Daw appear to still be staying in their villages and facing the soldiers, but increased portering, forced labour, and extortion payments will probably result in these villagers also fleeing into the forest. There is also an area of displaced villagers near Swa Loh village and the Day Loh River, however the SPDC battalions in the area are actively cleaning them out.

The villages in the triangle between the Kler Lah-Mawchi and Kler Lah-Bu Sah Kee car roads are in an especially difficult situation. Most of the villages near the Kler Lah-Bu Sah Kee car road have been displaced since the project began in 1995. Now with the ongoing rebuilding of the Kler Lah-Mawchi car road, these villagers are sandwiched between the camps along the two roads. The villagers in Hsaw Wah Der, Ha Toh Per, Kho Kee, Hee Daw Khaw, Thay Ghee Lah, Sho Ser and Wah Soe have not been able to plant crops in the year 2000 because of the close proximity of the new Army camps. Hsaw Wah Der and Ha Toh Per are only 30 minutes’ walk from the nearest Army camp. This has caused a food shortage among these villagers.

The villagers in the forest live in small groups of one to seven families. Smaller numbers of people in one place means it is easier for them to hide when SPDC troops come near. Villagers are shot on sight if they are seen by the soldiers, so the villagers run whenever Burmese patrols come near. The SPDC’s campaign against the villagers in the area began in earnest in the dry season of 1997 when the SPDC units were ordered to burn the villages east of the Day Loh River and north of the Kler Lah-Bu Sah Kee car road. Having done that, the battalions were ordered in 1998 to destroy the fields. This was to deny the villagers still hiding near their villages any means of growing food. The soldiers continued to destroy the fields in 1999, and they were assisted by early rains in April (before the fields have been properly prepared for planting) which did not stop until November, and strong winds which then blew down and destroyed much of the paddy when it grew tall. The result has been a desperate shortage of rice over the past year. In 2000 the SPDC troops have used a new tactic, burning off the fields early before all the cut brush and trees have properly dried. In the Karen system of rotating hill fields, the scrub and trees which have grown since the field was last used are cut in January/February and are then left for 2 or 3 months to dry before burning; this ensures that the fields burn off evenly and the whole field can be used, and the new ash also provides protection for the seeds which are planted with the first rains. By searching out fields which the villagers have cut and burning them early, the soldiers have prevented the villagers from being able to properly burn off their whole fields, and have thereby ensured that there will be a bad harvest in 2000 and continued hunger in 2001. According to the KNU, orders have been given to the SPDC units in Tantabin township to find the hill fields and huts and burn them all as well as to plant landmines in the hill fields and shoot dead any villagers they see. The military wants to force the villagers to come down out of the mountains to the relocation sites in order to deny the KNU a support base, while also bringing the civilians under direct control and making them available for forced labor. However, most of the villagers have already lived in the relocation sites or have heard about conditions there, so they are determined to hold out in the hills.

Aid is occasionally brought in from Thailand to the internally displaced villagers, but as the area is so remote and there are so many people, the aid is never enough and the problems are only getting worse. Each aid trip from Thailand requires a month or more of difficult and extremely dangerous hiking through landmine-infested areas avoiding SPDC patrols, and can only bring in enough supplies for 2 months for a small number of people. Only the villagers to the east of the Day Loh and Klay Loh Rivers can be reached with such aid.

There is no other place for the villagers to run to. In the other districts to the south there is the possibility of fleeing to Thailand, but the distance is just too far from Toungoo District and there are too many soldiers along the way. If the villagers flee westward to bigger villages or the plains they are at high risk of being caught along the way, and even if they make it they face arrest if the authorities find out they are from the hills. Some villagers who have fled to Toungoo town found that their relatives could not feed or protect them there, so they eventually fled back up into the mountains. As of July 2000 the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the district was estimated by a KHRG researcher at over 10,000. The researcher reported that in Than Daung township, from the Day Loh River to the Klay Loh River, there were more than 30 villages now abandoned with 4-5,000 villagers becoming IDPs, and in Tantabin township, there were nearly 30 such villages with another 4-5,000 villagers displaced. These are only the villagers that could be reached and counted. The villagers in the Leit Tho and Swa Loh areas, as well as those from relocation sites west of the Day Loh River and along the Toungoo-Kler Lah car road who have fled back to the area around their villages, were not counted and would add substantially to these figures.

Education for most of the hiding villagers is non-existent. In the villages closer to the Army camps, the villagers must be constantly ready to run and it isn’t possible to set up a permanent school. At best, when there is some free time and the situation is relatively calm, some of the better educated parents gather the children in one of the houses or a forest clearing and teach them there. (Source: KHRG)

Forced Relocation in Toungoo District

Forced Relocation of Swa Loh village

In April 2000, in retaliation for 2 soldiers that had deserted the army, and then been caught, the Ta Pa Ka [Southern Regional Command] ordered all of the columns from IB #39, 53, 73, and 92 to find the guns of the two deserters. In mid April, troops entered Swa Loh village looking for guns of deserted soldiers, and arrested and tortured many villagers. (see chapter on torture) The villagers were threatened that if they could not produce the guns, that their village would be burned. Then, as the villagers knew nothing about the guns, the troops proceeded to burn down all of the houses and belongings in Swa Loh village. Then they drove all of the Swa Loh villagers to 19-Mile, on the car road. There were 35 families in Swa Loh, 89 males and 73 females including children for a total of 162 people. At the new site, the villagers were left without clothing, food or shelter, and were forced to build houses themselves. They had not been able to take any food with them when they moved, and the SPDC did not provide them with any food, so they faced severe food shortages. Pastor Saw Law Law and the villagers were ordered to search for lost weapons. As of June 24, 2000 they were still searching. In addition, the columns destroyed and burned the Swa Loh villagers’ betelnut and banana crops. (Source: KHRG, KIC)

 

Forced relocation of villagers around Leit Tho

In mid-2000 the villages around Leit Tho, in northern Than Daung township, were forcibly relocated to Leit Tho village. Many stayed there for only a short time before fleeing into the forest. (Source: KHRG)

Relocation Sites in Toungoo District

The villages of Kler Lah and Kaw Thay Der, which have reached agreements with the SPDC, and are supposedly "peace" villages, include large numbers of forcibly relocated villagers.

Kler Lah Relocation Site

In 1998 the villages of Maw Ko Der, Peh Kaw Der, Der Doh, Naw Thay Der, Klay Soe Kee, Thay Kaw Der and Ku Pler Der were forcibly relocated to Kler Lah and not allowed to return home. These villages each now occupy their own ground around the perimeter of Kler Lah village and keep their own headmen, but are often referred to by the SPDC simply as sections of Kler Lah village, and both the original inhabitants and the relocated villagers are now considered as "Nyein Chan Yay" (peace) villagers.

Forced Labor, travel restriction, looting at Kler Lah

Relocated villagers are looked on by the military as a convenient pool of forced labor, and these relocations have turned Kler Lah and Kaw Thay Der into large forced labor camps. Villagers there are taken daily to carry supplies to the Army camps along the Kler Lah-Bu Sah Kee and Kler Lah-Mawchi car roads, and to work on these car roads in the dry season. A new dam project which has begun on the Day Loh River near Pa Leh Wah will probably result in the forcible relocation of more villages in the area. As of October 2000, there were already reports that forced labour is being used on the project.

Many of the villagers relocated to Kler Lah in recent years have already fled back to their villages due to the heavy demands for forced labor and extortion money imposed on them in Kler Lah. They must work at daily labor to get enough money to pay the fees, while still trying to find time to work a field so they will have enough rice to eat after harvest time. Travel outside the village is heavily restricted, villagers need passes to go anywhere and these often force them to be back by sunset, or at best within a few days. The villagers growing cash crops have seen their plantations looted and their produce sold for the soldiers’ profit. This is compounded by the rising prices of rice and commodities. Inflation has caused the prices of goods throughout Burma to rise, but in Toungoo District it is particularly bad because of the extortion ‘fees’ which traders must pay to every one of the many Army checkpoints on the road up from Toungoo to Kler Lah and beyond. Facing all of these problems, many of the relocated villagers felt that they could plant bigger plots if they stayed in hiding in the forest, and that they would be able to spend more time working in their fields without all the forced labor and movement restrictions they face in a Nyein Chan Yay village. Fear of forced labour on the roads to Mawchi and Bu Sah Kee is also a major factor in the decision to flee for many villagers.

Education at Kler Lah

The high school in Kler Lah has only three teachers. Often the teachers’ salaries, while officially paid by the SPDC, really come from money demanded by the authorities. Because the schools are understaffed, the villagers often hire better educated people from within the village to teach in the schools alongside the SPDC teachers. All of the students’ school supplies and textbooks have to be bought and school fees have to be paid by the parents. Faced with forced labor, extortion and all the other problems in the region, most families don’t have enough money left to pay the costs of sending their children to school. The unstable situation also forces many parents to keep their children at home or to send them to work in the fields. Enrolment at Kler Lah school has dropped because many of the students have fled into the forest with their parents.

Health at Kler Lah

The hospital in Kler Lah is called the "Tine Ni Say Yone" (Township Hospital) and has been actively promoted by the authorities. It has one doctor, a head nurse, and some nurses, but no medicine. The villagers who go to the hospital are asked to give a ‘donation’ and then allowed to buy medicine. What little medicine the hospital has is sold at the market price, but most medicines have to be bought outside and then brought back in to be administered. Most of the villagers are not able to buy medicines due to their lack of income. Seriously ill villagers, if they can afford it, are taken by their family or friends to Toungoo to the Pyithu Sit (Militia) Hospital. This hospital doesn’t have much medicine either, and the villagers have to pay for service or they will not even be admitted. It is common in Burma for patients to have to pay to be seen by the doctors as well as for the medicine, and to be ejected from hospitals when they run out of funds even if they have not fully recovered.

Villagers who were relocated to Kler Lah in 1998 have reported that many of the old people have died since being relocated and many of the other villagers are sick. There is an increased health risk in Kler Lah and the other relocation sites due to the relocation of so many people to one place. There is also a higher chance of contracting malaria or diseases and infections related to poor sanitation and a general lack of basic health education. Older people who have lived their whole lives higher in the cold of the hills cannot adapt to the different climate and diseases of lower areas, and once displaced in a relocation site people no longer know which sources of water are good and which are contaminated. Many of the villagers don’t have enough rice or other foods to eat, so there are high rates of malnutrition and vitamin deficiency. The heavy labor demands levied by the military do not give the villagers much of a chance to rest. (Source: KHRG)

14.5 Situation in Karenni State

Brief summery of the situation of Internally Displaced Persons in Karenni

The successive military regimes of Burma have three times carried out forced relocation programs in Karenni State. First under the BSPP, particularly in No. (2) District of Karenni State, when an estimated 50 villages were destroyed and burnt down and tens of thousands of villagers in the area became homeless. Second, under the SLORC, who forcibly relocated many villages in No. (3) District of Karenni State, and about 500 of the villagers in the area died from diseases such as malaria and diarrhea. Then in 1996, the SLORC, now called SPDC again carried out its forced relocation program across the Karenni area. The forced relocation order with the deadline of July 7 was firstly given to villagers living in locations between Salween river and Pon river the two major rivers in Karenni State. According to the order, the villagers had to leave their villages in seven days and have to go to forced relocation sites designated by SPDC. The villagers were threatened that seven days after the order, the area would be declared a free-fire zone, and anyone found in the villages or in the free-fire zone would be considered rebels and shot dead on sight. In the year 2000, the SPDC allowed many Karenni people who had been living in forced relocation sites since 1996 to go back to their own villages. The villagers, however, have been ordered to report to the nearest SPDC outposts at least once a week. They are not allowed to stay over nights at their farms, and are required to possess passes, which cost 20 kyat in order to travel to their farms. Villagers are prohibited from carrying military uniforms or traditional guns used for hunting, and from trading in medicine or batteries. Purchasing and selling rice is restricted. Villagers are allowed to travel from village to village only twice a week- Tuesday and Thursday.  Villagers are checked when they travel for their National ID cards, and are required to pay 20 kyat at every checkpoint gate. For more information on the lives of villagers in Karenni State under SPDC control, see the chapter on livelihood.

Situation in relocation sites

There are no proper shelters and no pure drinking water in forced relocation sites which are like concentration camps. There is no food or medicine so villagers are dying from starvation and illness. For example, there were about 50 villagers in Shadaw relocation sites who died of contaminated drinking water. Approximately, 1000 villagers in No. (1) District alone died in both forced relocation sites and hideouts. International relief organizations have no access to the sites. Leaders from a couple of local churches tried to provide food and other needed materials for the villagers in the hideouts but they were not allowed to do so. The villagers were not allowed to go out of the sites to farm. Recently, villagers from some sites have been allowed to farm outside the sites, but they must return at the end of the day. The villagers are fenced in.

The villagers also face forced labor and portering. A certain number of villagers have to go to the nearest strongholds of the SPDC everyday where they are forced to offer free labor such as digging trenches, making fences, fetching water and collecting firewood. Women and children are also made to do forced labor.

In mid 2000, villagers living in Kaylya’s forced relocation camp were being allowed to return to their original villages. There were no schools for the children upon return to their villages. (Source: KNAHR)

Situation in hideouts

These villagers find their lives are in great danger as they are being hunted by SPDC troops. The villagers are suffering from many kinds of diseases such as malaria, diarrhea and skin infections. Many villagers have died from treatable diseases. For instance 40 villagers from a hideout village in No. (2) District died from Diarrhea. These villagers would not have died if there had been the needed medicine. Villagers catch sickness easily due to lack of proper shelter. They are all the time on the move, especially when SPDC troops approach their hideouts. While on the move, villagers have to travel in the rain and sleep on the ground and eat what they find in the jungle and drink impure water. Many villagers have also died from starvation. There is no food for these IDPs. They have to completely depend on what they can find in the jungle. They are not able to farm, with the exception of a few families. But even for the families who manage to farm, most cannot manage to harvest their crops because SPDC troops always turn up by the time the crops are to be harvested and destroy the crops. The IDPs also have no access to education. Some communities in some areas may be able to set up a kind of makeshift way for the children to study, but they cannot keep up this way of studying when attacks and hunting from the SPDC come. Killing of innocent people, destruction of villages, looting of property and making the people’s lives miserable are signs of genocide by the SPDC against the Karenni people.

In early 2000, the SPDC launched a new military operation in Lopwakoe District, Karenni State to destroy villagers living in hiding (IDPs) and Karenni troops.

On April 8 2000, Three Karenni hide-out dwellers (IDPs) from Klaw Tuleh, Hsoe Tasha district, Karenni State were found and killed by troops of LIB 66. They encountered the Burmese troops at May Yu Stream and were immediately shot dead. The killed persons were Soe Reh, 18, Koe Reh, 20 and Saw Reh, 17.

On April 22 2000, three IDPs from Klaw Beleh, Hsoe Tasha district, Karenii State stepped on a landmine that had been planted by SPDC troops near the border with Thailand. Khu Su Reh, 25, died immediately and two others were seriously wounded.

On April 5 2000, SPDC troops found a hideout family consisting of 6 members between Yawtakar and Shodawko villages, Karenni State. The family members escaped, but the troops seized 30,000 kyat and other household furniture and clothes in the hideout hut. (Source: KNAHR)

 

14.6 Situation in Sagaing Division

Zomi Chin Village destroyed

On June 2, 2000 the Kha La Ya battalion commander, 17 soldiers, and 22 members of the USDA, invaded Auk-sa-tan village, the dwelling place of the Auk-stan Zomi Chin people containing 80 households, located in a long narrow row of hills between the townships of Kalemyo and Minkin, Sagaing Division. They pulled down the houses in the village claiming that this area was within the demarcated Kya-bin forest land. When the villagers cried and begged them not to destroy their houses the soldiers responded by setting fire to the broken down houses and property of the villagers.  The villagers ran away with whatever could be saved, dragging and carrying the young and the old and took shelter in the church. The Zomi Chin people lost three churches, 63 houses and about 600 livestock (chicken and pigs).  A total of about 300 became destitute. Prior to the incident, on January 10, 2000, the authorities burnt down the Ah-ma-ka village school which had a staff of 4 teachers and a student population of 67. As of August 2000 the children still had no school to attend.

Before the destruction of the village, in March 2000, the Minkin authorities gave notice that the village was to be vacated by June 2, 2000 at the latest.  Other Burmese villages existing in this demarcated area have not been moved. It is suspected that this was a deliberate move against the Zomi village because they belong to the Chin ethnic group and are Christians. As of August 2000, these people could not grow any crops and had to take shelter in neighboring villages or go deeper into the forest and live in temporary huts made with branches exposed to wind and rain. Children had no food and many were sick. (Source: NLD)

IDPs in the Naga Hill Land area

In December 2000, the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) released a statement that said Naga villagers living in Burma have been subjected to hardships meted out by the Burmese army recently. The release further said that there is an increase of Internally Displaced People in the Naga Hill areas in Burma and the displaced people are living without food and clothing. (Source: Mizzima News Group)

 

14.7 Situtation in Shan State

Forced Relocation in Shan State

In 1996 the SPDC delineated a huge area of Shan State, and ordered the forced relocation and destruction of every village in the region. The villagers were forced to move into sites more directly under SPDC control. By 1998 over 1,400 villages in 8 townships had been forcibly relocated and destroyed, displacing a population of at least 300,000 people. Since that time, the forced relocation has continued, although not on such a large scale.

On February 27 2000, 120 households from the village of Hofailong in Mongpan Township, Shan State were forced to relocate without notice to a section just 200 meters from the town by Captain Than Maung, LIB 520, and his 70 - 80 strong company. On that day Capt. Than Maung summoned the Hofailong Tract headman, Zingna and ordered him to call an ad hoc meeting of the 18-men Tract Committee, that included village headmen and their secretaries, to receive the visiting commander of the local military operations command. When all the committee members arrived, they were tied up and locked up at the Battalion post. Meanwhile, the villagers were all rounded up and moved to the section near the town, a location only 200 meters from the LIB 332 camp at the town entrance. As the villagers were taken away, the soldiers looted their belongings, including their furniture and livestock. As of March 10 2000, the 18-committee members together with 37 other villagers were still reported to be under arrest. Many others had fled leaving their wives and relatives behind who were interrogated and molested by the officers. At least 19 women were reported to have been raped. The reason given for the forced removal was the suspicion that the villagers were harboring members of the SSA known to be active in the area. Some villagers who still had some money secretly moved to Murng-Pan town and other places.
(Source: SHAN, SHRF)

In early August 2000, 6 Lahu hill villages in Kunhing Township were ordered to relocate to Nawng-aw, south of Takaw Bridge. The timeframe for the forced relocations was from August 10 to 15, and the order was given by Major Kyaw Lin of an (unidentified) SPDC military unit. The villages forced to relocate were: Nati, Nawnghpai-Nalong, Naw Bah Taw, Panghawk, Nataw, and Nawng Yasai. Some villagers, reluctant to live in the relocation site at Nawng-aw fled to Mongpiang across the Salween river where Lahus live in large communities. Others fled to Thailand. 3 Lahu men were shot to death for "straggling" and failing to follow the timeframe of the relocation order. (See chapter on extrajudicial executions ) (Source: LNN)

Mass Relocation of Wa people to southern Shan State

The year 2000 brought on a new mass population movement in the Shan State of Burma. Beginning in October 1999, the SPDC and the United Wa State Army, which is described by the US State Department as a leading drug-trafficking syndicate, began cooperating in an unprecedented 3 year program to relocate 50,000 ethnic Wa families from the Wa region in northern Shan State near the Chinese border to Mongton and MongSat townships in southern Shan State. This would effectively displace half the population in the region, which consists of Mongmai, Pangwai, Manhpang, Nahparn, Pangyang and Mangseng Townships. Although the joint UWSA and SPDC authorities claimed the program was part of a drug eradication plan, Laoyi, 68, one of the new resettlers, told S.H.A.N., "Nothing was spoken about drug eradication. They told us the trans-Salween areas were historically ours and we needed to reclaim them. And that the soil was richer than the barren hills in the north. They said they were planning to bring down 50,000 families. So we moved down here with our families although we hated to leave our homes and fields." The relocations were compulsory, but many of the Wa people reportedly came willingly because of the promises made by their leaders that land and loans for a whole year were guaranteed. The people were being moved in large groups to Mongyawn, MongHsat and to two relocation sites: Wan Hung (Banhoong), and Site 46 (halfway between Wanhung and Mongyawn). As of April 2000, 10,000 people had already settled into the WanHung site, and were living in sub-standard conditions. By late 2000, the numbers in these areas were reported to be about 40,000 relocated people in Wan Hung , 30,000 in Site 46 , and 20,000 in Mongyawn. Sources told S.H.A.N. although official policy was to encourage  "development of fallow land", there were several instances where cultivated  land from the local people was arbitrarily taken. No figures were available. The mass relocation program continued over the year 2000 and was suspended temporarily over the rainy season because of food shortages and people who died on the journey from intense cold. A Wa leader denied reports that the food supply problems had any bearing on the suspension of their operation by stating, "We Was are used to fasting" On October 13 2000, a U.S. Statement Department official reported that as many as 1,000 had died since June as a result of the relocations. On December 10-11 2000, about 600 Wa families were seen traveling from Panghsang  to Tachilek and continuing to Monghsat.

 

Situation in Relocation Sites in Shan State

Relocation sites in Lai Kha Township

Nam Wan relocation site

Nam Wan relocation site is on the border of Nam Zang township, about a four hour walk from Nam Khai. Villagers from Nam Khai faced the same problem there that plagues villagers across Shan State who are forced into relocation sites far from their native villages: all surrounding land is already owned, so it is impossible to work a field and earn a living. After being relocated twice, the Nam Khai villagers no longer retained any hope of returning to their original village to stay, especially after the village was finally destroyed. Fighting for survival at relocation sites is even more precarious, especially when the sites consolidate or more people are forced into them. Securing jobs as field hands becomes competitive, as does foraging for the little food available, and there is no possibility of farming their own fields. The SPDC military and civilian authorities provide nothing at all to the relocated villagers; instead they demand forced labor, food and money from them. (Source: KHRG)

Kho Lam relocation site

On January 24 2000, a fire that started in Kho Lam village spread to the relocation site, destroying an estimated 300 homes and killing 2 people. The perilous life for villagers in Kho Lam relocation site is intensified by the close proximity to soldiers. Both women and men are in constant fear of physical abuse by the SPDC soldiers.
(Source: KHRG)

Relocation sites in Murng Pan Township

Villagers in Murng Pan township have mainly been relocated to the main town and sites along the motor road. Nam Tong and Nong Harn villages were forced to move to the village of Hwe Mark Pun close to Murng Pan, where they quickly doubled the size of the small village. The main problem they immediately faced was that native villagers in the area already owned the surrounding fields, so the newcomers had no opportunity to farm close to the relocation site. Consequently they were forced to tend fields quite far away, but the military authorities only permitted them to leave the immediate vicinity of the relocation site between dawn and dusk. Many villagers’ fields were at least a half day’s walk away, leaving them no time to farm by the time they had to return by evening. They were never allowed to return to their villages to collect their stored food or belongings to sell—most of which had already been looted by SPDC troops anyway—and if soldiers caught them trying to return to their villages they were shot on sight.

The other factor preventing people from earning a living at relocation sites is the forced labour they are required to do for the Army, whose officers see the relocated villagers as a convenient pool of forced laborers. Villagers living at Hwe Mark Pun site are constantly called to work, mainly to build military camps in the township. Standard practice is to force civilians to go to villages that have already been relocated, dismantle people’s homes and fences, and then use those materials to build the camps. People complain of having to work for the SPDC Army twice as much as they are able to work for themselves, and no one is spared from duty. While typically the men go as military porters, women and children have to fulfill the Army’s demands for other forms of forced labor. These usually include building and maintaining Army camps, doing unarmed sentry duty on motor roads, clearing scrub from the roadsides (to make it difficult for resistance forces to ambush SPDC columns), and maintaining roads. Villagers living in smaller relocation sites like Hwe Mark Pun are called on for forced labor and portering more often than in larger sites, where the work load can be rotated among a larger population. It is extremely difficult for these villagers to earn enough to survive under such constraints.

In addition to fearing capture to be used as porters, villagers must also avoid SPDC soldiers who beat and kill civilians without explanation. Extrajudicial killings are commonplace in relocation sites throughout Shan State, and Murng Pan township is no exception. While all the victims were killed outside the relocation site, some were not far from the sites at all. In several cases, people have actually been dragged off the main street of the relocation site to the surrounding bush and beaten terribly, in at least one case almost to death. Villagers have always known that they are vulnerable to the whims of drunken or aggressive SPDC soldiers if caught outside the sites working in fields, selling vegetables in town, or searching for food in forests, but they must even be on guard within the ‘safe’ confines of the relocation site. Ironically, the SPDC claims that it sequesters villagers in relocation sites so that its troops can ‘protect’ the civilians against attacks by ‘insurgent’ groups. It is the SPDC soldiers, however, whom villagers fear the most. (Source: KHRG)

Relocation Sites in Kun Hing Township

Relocation sites in Kun-Hing Township continue to be places of extreme violence. Villagers are restricted from travel outside the sites, but in many cases have been given day passes with which to travel. However, these passes do not guarantee the security of these IDPs, as in several cases, relocated villagers who were given passes are killed by SPDC units waiting for them. In 2000 there were over 500 villagers from relocation sites in Kun-Hing township killed by SPDC troops, including 3 massacres which occurred on January 30, February 12, and May 23. (See chapter on extra-judicial executions)

Situation of IDPs hiding in Shan State

On April 11, 2000, a patrol of about 100 SPDC troops, with 20 forced civilian porters, from IB 246, led by Capt. Htun Myint, looted and burned the camps and granaries of displaced farmers hiding in some small remote islands in Nam Paang river, Kun-Hing Township, Shan State. They also raped and killed a handicapped 18-year-old girl and dumped her body into the river, in Kun-Hing township (See chapter on Women). These 8 farming families were originally from Kun Pan village that had been forcibly relocated by SLORC/SPDC troops 3-4 years ago. After finding that it was virtually impossible for them to earn a decent living as farmers in the relocation site due to lack of farming land, they had been hiding on remote islands for 2-3 years, growing crops on small plots of land and catching fish and game for food. The farmers managed to stockpile some of their extra rice in granaries hidden under thick brush and dense forest. They also managed to keep some livestock such as chickens, pigs and cattle in their camps. The troops looted the camps, taking all they wanted including food, livestock and other possessions, and eventually burned down the camps and all the rice granaries. (Source: SHRF)

On July 14, 2000, a patrol of SPDC troops from Company No.4 of IB246 led by Capt. Kyaw Myint beat to death 5 displaced persons-in-hiding who were returning from Kun-Hing town, Shan State after buying rice for their families, in a forest some distance from the town. These villagers were originally from Naa Khu village in Ho Yaan tract, Kun-Hing township, that had been forcibly relocated by SLORC/SPDC troops 3-4 years ago. Since then, because it was virtually impossible for them to be able to survive in the relocation site due to the lack of work and farming land, these men and their families had been hiding in the jungle near Nam Paang river where they could fish and grew some vegetables on its banks. Though they could not grow rice for fear of being more easily detected, they managed to buy their rice by selling some of the fish they caught and some vegetables in the town. These men were killed by the SPDC troops while bringing rice back to feed their families who were waiting for them at their hiding places. (Source: SHRF)

14.8 Situation in Tenasserim Division

Incidents of Forced Relocation in Tenasserim Division in 2000

On February 9 2000, the villagers from between Theybyu and Maw Taung (Mo Daung) in Tenasserim Division were ordered to relocate to the west bank of Nyaung Bin Gwin village and/or Bok Pyin town. Families from the military units were ordered the same by the local military authorities. LIB 561 HQ at Theybyu was shifted to Hsonedaw in Tenasseim Township. (Source: TIR)

In late May 2000, about 50 troops from LIB 273, led by Lt. Col. Htin Kyaw ( THRF reports the relocation order was given by Major Aye-Pae, which may be due to the fact that "Aye Pae" is a term in Burmese for ‘cross-eyed’, and the officer who gave the relocation order is known and called for his abnormal eye problem) arrived in Paunt-Pin-Qwin village, Ye-Byu Township, Tenasserim Division, and treated the villagers inhumanly, forcing them to act as cows by manually pulling carts around the village square. (see chapter on torture) The order was in retaliation for a Mon National Day ceremony which had been held in Paun-Pin-Gwin village on February 20, 2000 and which had been attended by a Mon opposition group. After the villagers had done as ordered, the villagers were ordered to relocate to another village within 7 days. It was not specified where they were to relocate to. The chairman of the village, Nai Htun, requested that the village be given more time to move, but this was refused. Paunt-Pin-Qwin is a big village, with 500 houses, approximantely 2,000 people, and 2 monasteries. 90% of the people in the village are Mon, and the others are Tavoy and a few other ethnic groups. Most of the villagers forced to relocate decided to move into SPDC control areas. The villagers moved into Kalort, Koe-mile, and Ye town in Ye Township area and to Aleskan and Yapu villages in Yebyu Township. The monks fled to Ye and Tavoy cities, and 20 families fled to a Mon camp on the Thai-Burma border. These villagers were ordered to leave on short notice and were only able to move a few of their belongings with them, leaving behind their homes, land and livestock. The value of these losses is many thousands of kyats. Pauk-Pin-Gwin village was established over 100 years ago (Source: THRF, HURFOM)

On July 14 2000, LIB 563 ordered the villagers from Hta Hpo Hkee, Kawei, and Pler Hta villages, in Easter Mergui Township, Mergui district, Tenasserim Division, to relocate to Pway Plaw village, 11 miles north of Taninthayi town. The army has threatened the villagers that for those who would not obey the order, serious action will be taken, and any one found out of the designated area would be shot without question. In addition, the battalion explained that they would be operating in the area, and if they discover land, plantations, or gardens without owners, the military would confiscate these. It was learnt that the Coastal Military Command had ordered LIB 563 (under controlled of Tactical Command No.3, Operation Commanding HQ No.5) to setup a military camp in Pway Plaw village after the forced relocation. (Source: TIR)

 

Relocation sites in Tenasserim Division

Situation of Katuangni Relocation Site

Kataungni is a village east of Tavoy on the bank of Banchaung River, Tenasserim Division. In February 1997, the village was deserted as the SPDC troops launched a massive offensive against KNU Mergui/Tavoy district (KNLA 4 Brigade area). Due to difficult living conditions in the jungle brought on mostly by the SPDC’s incessant search and destroy operations against them, the villagers eventually returned to their deserted village. There the SPDC troops grouped them up and ordered them to live at the center of the village along with other relocated people.

The villagers have had to live under strict rules arranged by the military. They are forbidden to leave the relocation site without permission from the troops there (No.1 Tactical Command Headquarters). Those who attempt to leave are shot on sight.

According to one Kataungni villager who escaped the relocation center and arrived at the border on May 21 2000, at least 70 of his fellow villagers have been killed or have disappeared over a stretch of 4 years while serving as porters. Some of those victims were also from nearby villages including Maw Ma Tru, Kyauk Hton, Thebyuchaung, Maw Ler Kay, and Myintmolekka. (Source: TIR)

Situation of relocation sites in Palaw and Theyetchaung Townships

The SPDC launched a massive relocation of Karen villages in Palaw and Theyetchaung Townships, Tenasserim Division in1997. Some villagers were forced to move to a distant area designated and controlled by the army, and some villagers had to group up in the middle of their village. Since then, the villagers have faced constant abuses such as; forced labour on military plantations, car road construction, and bridge construction, and forced portering for the army. They have faced many forms of extortion such as porter fees, military funds, development funds, sentry fees, fees for feeding the army and so on. In addition, the SPDC troops have executed many villagers in this area, accusing them of having contact with the resistance groups.(Source: TIR)

Situation in Padaw relocation site

Pawdaw villagers were forced by the SPDC in 1997 to relocate to the center of the village under SPDC control. Many villagers did not move to the relocation site, but hid behind the village. Villagers who do not stay in relocation sites designated for them are considered rebels by the SPDC and they shoot anyone outside the relocations sites without questioning them.

Situation of Hiding Villagers in Tenasserim Division

In Feb. 1997, the Burma army launched a massive offensive against Mergui-Tavoy District of the KNU. Many villagers in the Banchaung River area were forced to flee to the jungle in fear of persecution. Those who fled were accused of supporting the resistance groups and marked as enemies. The SPDC has continued to hunt them and kill them and destroy their property.

According to the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), at least 15,995 displaced Karen villagers are hiding in the jungle of Tenasserim Division as a result of the 1997 SPDC offensive and SPDC forced relocation programs.

During the year 2000, villagers who were hiding from the SPDC in the Mergui-Tavoy District (Tenasserim Division) faced an enormous SPDC "search and destroy" operation to destroy and kill anything not under their (SPDC) control. The areas along the Tenasserim river and in the east of Theyetchaung township fared the worst.

On January 12 2000, the SPDC Army attacked the Mai Pya Hpo IDP hiding site in Kaserdoh Township. All were driven out by force and fled to Thailand. This was only a few weeks after their arrival to the site. During the attack, one woman was killed, two wounded, and five were captured. The fate of the captured villagers was still not known as of April 2000. According to the CIDKP in Kaserdoh Township, Mergui-Tavoy District there are more than 1912 displaced persons in the jungle in Kaserdoh township area (Source: TIR)

Following a Mon National Day ceremony held in Paun-Pin-Gwin village, YeByu Township, Mon State on February 20, 2000 which was attended by a Mon opposition group, SPDC troops began arresting and torturing villagers who had attended the celebrations. Because the celebrations had been attended by the Mon opposition group, SPDC troops from LIB No. 273, 410 and IB No. 25 accused the villagers in the area of supporting the group, and increased their oppression of these villagers. Villagers were restricted from leaving their villages and their food supplies were taken by soldiers. As a result, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 villagers from Paukpingwin, Mi-htaw-hlar Gyi, Mi-htawp-hlar Kalay, Dani-kyar, Chaung-phar, Kyauktayan and Phaya-thonzu villages had to flee from their native villages. About 70 families moved into a Tavoy resettlement camp, and over 100 families resettled in Hle-seik (an IDP village established last year) and "The Chaung" (a new IDP village established in March 2000). There were also families displaced in other places, including many families who moved into areas under SPDC’s firm control where they felt they would suffer less than in their villages. In addition, about 1,000 moved into the NMSP Tavoy District control area, including the refugee resettlement area and IDP villages there.
(Source: HURFOM)

On April 8 2000 SPDC Coastal Military Command (CMC) ordered Front Line Operation Commanding HQ No. 9, 8 and 13 and the military divisions under its command to launch more "search and destroy" operations and to kill who-ever they saw in the jungle. CMC has 39 battalions under its command. No. 8, 9, and 13 Operation Commanding HQs (OCHQ) which are frontline divisions assigned for operations in the Tenasserim Division area, and have 10 battalions each. According to the operation, the SPDC troops began in April to search for villagers, with the plan to drive them all from the jungle, and resettle them at their frontline military base at Buthaplaw. Karen villages situated around the Buthawplaw (Ler Mu Lah Township) area have been deserted since the SPDC offensive against KNU Mergui-Tavoy District in 1997. A few of these villagers fled to Thailand and became refugees, but many have remained hiding from the army in the jungles of Burma as internally displaced persons. Others living as IDP’s in this area are those who have escaped from forced relocation camps. With the start of the SPDC operation, which in effect attempts to cleanse the Karen villagers from the area by killing, burning and destroying, those hiding in the jungles of Buthawplaw area have faced deliberately inflicted operations to destroy their lives. Almost all of the villagers fear military persecution but cannot find safety in the area because of continuous military operations. Thus, following the start of the April 2000 operation, many of the IDP’s in the area attempted to flee to Thailand. (Source: TIR)

On May 10, 2000, 32 IDP families, consisting of 137 Karen villagers from the Buthawplaw area fled to Thailand at Ban Phu Rakam in Suan Phung District, Ratchburi province. They were allowed to enter by Thai authorities and were shifted to a temporary settlement at Ban Huai Kamu. More than two hundred villagers had tried to escape from the military operation against them, but only more than one hundred could escape to Thailand. The rest are still trapped inside Burma. (Source: TIR)

On July 3, 2000 SPDC Operation Commanding HQ No.8 Commander Brigadier General Maung Oo ordered his troops to cut the food supplies of the villagers in Pawklo (Banchaung) and Kamoethey (Ka Maung Thwer) river area, Tenasserim Division in the south east of Tavoy. On the same day, Brigadier Maung Oo ordered his troops stationed along Pawklo and Kamoethway River to search and destroy all the villagers hiding behind their villages. He further told the troops that if they found or destroyed any of the hiding villagers’ sites, they would be rewarded. It was learned that Burma army’s Light Infantry Battalion 401, 408 and 410 started a new ‘search and destroy’ operation to kill all the villagers hiding from the army in the area of Mawmatru, Kataungni, Kawhtee (Thabyuchaung), and Myitmoletka villages in Pawklo River area. This action is a part of Burma army’s "Four Cuts" strategy. (Source: TIR)

Only July 31, 2000, SPDC troops entered an IDP hiding site in the area of Thutawhkee, Sgeh Ker Hkee, and Htee Po Naw Ae Hkee along the Tenasserim Riverside. They burnt down 21 houses and entirely destroyed their crops and properties. The villagers therefore lacked enough food to survive, and their security was gone, so they fled to Thailand for safety. (See chapter on refugees ) (Source: TIR)

On August 3, 2000, a Column of SPDC troops from LIB 409 led by Major Thet Naing Oo launched an operation to clear the villagers who were hiding in Banchaung area in the east of Tavoy. During their operation from 3 to 5 August, the troops found an IDP hiding site and destroyed it. At least 15 acres of paddy fields, 10 villagers huts, two rice stores, seven tins of rice, 3 baskets of paddy and everything else found by the troops which belonged to the villagers was destroyed. (Source: TIR)

On August 11 2000, a column of SPDC LIB 401 led by Lt. Nanda Aung, launched a "search and destroy" operation to find villagers not staying in the relocations site in Pawdaw village. On the same day, they arrived to outer Pawdaw village, and the troops found a hut in a paddy field. The troops entered the field and opened fire on the villagers in the hut. They killed Saw Pulu, 60, and his wife Naw Per Htoo, 50. After the killing the troops took the two daughters Naw Ka Ler Sa, 15, and her sister Naw Ter, 10, along with them.(Source: TIR)

On August 11, 2000, a SPDC column entered an IDP hiding site at Sgeh Kler Khee, close to Thutawhkee, along the Tenasserim Riverside. The troops burned down the entire place. A four-year old child was killed during the attack and altogether 19 houses were burned down. All the villagers were forced to flee from this site to escape the SPDC operation. (Source: TIR)

On October 25, 2000, a troop of soldiers from LIB 373, under control of Tatical Command 3, Operation Commanding HQ 5, was on patrol in a "search and destroy" operation. They discovered a hiding site Mekerhkee, Buthawplaw area, in Eastern Palaw Township (KNU Ler Mu Lah Township), and then proceeded to destroy six paddy plantations. The paddy plantations belonged to: (1) Saw Perler (approximate 2 acres), (2) Saw Shwe Htoo (approximately 2 acres), (3) Saw Pret (approximately 1 acre), (4) Saw Lah Hton (approximately 3 acres), (5) Saw New (approximately 3 acres), and (6) Saw Kye (approximately 2 acres). Karen villages situated in the Buthawplaw (Ler Mu Lah Towship) area were deserted in 1997 because of the SPDC offensive against the KNU Mergui-Tavoy District in 1997. (Source: TIR)

 

14.9 Situation in other areas of Burma

There was little information available about the situation of IDPs in other areas of Burma, such as in the Chin and Mon States, and the Divisions, as the plight of these people has not been well documented. However, it is known that there is a significant population of IDPs in these areas, as villages have been relocated in the past, relocation sites exist, and the conditions which push people out of their villages has been documented.

Relocation orders in Rangoon Division

On April 2 2000, the authorities ordered 36 households to relocate from Dagon Myothit township, Rangoon Division to Arakan State. The heads of the household were summoned to the office of the Police Superintendent. They were told that if they immediately gave their household particulars they would be granted 5 acres of agricultural land, a pair of cows, one cart, clothing, utensils, twenty thousand kyats cash and one year’s provision of rice, oil and salt. Those households that failed to give the required particulars would face examination of their household census list and eviction after fourteen days imprisonment. The same night the households were subjected to "household list examination" and heads of 4 households were illegally arrested and hauled away.  They were U Po Htwe, U Tin Win, U Kyaw Soe, Daw Tin San, Daw Ngwe Thein, and Daw The Ye.

These 36 households had built their current homes after the Myothit Expansion program had forced them off their former hands in 1994 without compensation. In 1999, they were accused of tresspassing and ordered to relocate for the first time. Daw Khin Win Ye, (head of one household) refuted the allegation that they were squatters for which she was charged under Section 51 (f) (g) by the Township court and sentenced to imprisonment for 51 days and an additional movement restriction for 6 months. (Source: NLD)

Forced Relocation of Villagers located along the Mudon natural gas pipeline in Mon State

In early 2000, Maj.Gen Myint Aung, the commander of SPDC South-eastern Command ordered that houses and buildings located along the Mudon natural gas pipe-line route be relocated to make room for the pipeline. The Mudon pipeline is for powering the Ngan-tae electric Turbine in Moulemein, Mon State. Some of the people with houses and building along the route were able to bribe their way out of moving by paying high fees to the Major General. (Source: Inside Source)

Muslim Villages Forcibly Relocated in Mon State and Pegu Division

The HRDU only received news of 2 incidents of Muslim majority villages who were forced to relocate in the year 2000 in areas other then Arakan State. However, this small number doesn’t accurately reflect the actual number of incidents, as news of these events is difficult to get outside of Burma.

On January 1 2000, an SPDC police officer, U Tun Kyaing, forcibly relocated a Muslim village called Thayetmyain of Waw Township, Pegu Division. According to a Karen trader, the police inspector relocated the village, which was comprised of 40 Muslim houses, in order to raise pigs on the site of the village. In addition, a Muslim man by the name of U Soe Thein who had reported the event to the commanders of IB 202 and IB 203 was subsequently arrested and shot dead by the police inspector. (Source: MICB)

On February 4 2000, a Muslim village in Apoung Township, Mon State was destroyed by SPDC authorities. The village was known as ‘Si Soon Block 2’ and consisted of approximately 110 houses. According to a local villager, the village was destroyed so that the authorities could construct a pagoda on the site of the village mosque as well as a jetty on the site of the village. The villagers were driven out of their homes and forced to relocate to an isolated swampy area called Kaw Sai where they have been facing extreme difficulties such as lack of food, water and medical supplies. The order for the villagers to relocate to the Kaw Sai swamp was given by Captain Tint Shwe, commander of LIB 102.(Source: MICB)

A "Nyein Chan Yay" (peace) village in the south of Toungoo district received the order document below in July 2000. When the village still hadn’t moved 4 weeks later, the local military commander threatened to shoot the village head

Stamp:
Frontline #xx Infantry Battalion

To:     Chairperson U xxxx                                                Date: 21-7-2000
          xxxx village

The higher authorities have ordered that your village be relocated. Important. Bring the family list of the village and report to yyyy [camp] as soon as you receive this letter, you are informed.

                                                                               [Sd.] 21-7-2000
                                                                            Column Commander

[This order was also published as Order #1 in "SPDC & DKBA Orders to Villages: Set 2000-B" (KHRG #2000-04, 12/10/00).]


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