SURVIVING IN SHADOW: Widespread Militarization and the Systematic Use of Forced Labour in the Campaign for Control of Thaton District

Top of Report | Terms and Abbreviations | Table of Contents | Introduction and Executive Summary | Forces in the District | Forced Labour | Landmines | Killings, Detention, and Torture | Fees, Looting, and Extortion | Restrictions | Food Security | Education and Health | Flight and Displacement | Future of the Area | Appendices

III. Forced Labour

"We can't work freely. We work for ourselves for two or three days, but we also have to work for the Burmese [soldiers] for one or two days."

"Saw Dee Kay" (M, 50), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #53, 3/03)

This young boy from Bilin township – who looks to be no older than ten – is doing forced labour for the SPDC, collecting stones that are to be used in the restoration of the old colonial road from Kyaik Khaw to Lay Kay and on into Papun District. Each village in the area was ordered to assemble 30,000 cubic feet of stone. Many parents send their children to do the work while the adults are busy tending to crops or doing other work to ensure the family's survival. [Photo: KHRG]

Forced labour is arguably the most widespread human rights violation being committed in Burma today and it continues to be practiced with alarming frequency by both the SPDC and the DKBA in Thaton District. The cascade effects of forced labour are all-pervasive. Precious few aspects of the villagers' lives are left untouched by the regular demands. Any time that the villagers spend performing forced labour equates to less time tending to their fields and plantations. In performing forced labour, villagers are unable to spend enough time in their fields protecting the crop from wild animals and birds as it ripens or to actually harvest it when the time comes. The harvest suffers as a result and the villagers consequently are unable to get enough food to feed their families [see the 'Food Security' section] . Any surplus that would otherwise have been made is lost, and the money that would have been raised from its sale vanishes along with it. The lack of food in turn leads to problems with the health and wellbeing of the villagers [see the 'Education and Health' section] . Education also suffers as classes are regularly disrupted, with many villagers telling KHRG that they are only able to study for one week out of every three or four due to the demands of forced labour. The regular and varied demands for the payment of 'fees' find their origins in forced labour as well. Many of these fees are extracted from the villagers under the pretence that the money will then be given to those performing the labour. However, none of this money ever is, a fact that the villagers know all too well. It instead ends up in the pockets of the commanding officers [see the 'Fees, Looting, and Extortion' section] . Forced labour is also the cause of a lot of internal displacement. Villagers regularly flee their villages in advance of an approaching military column for fear that they will be taken for forced labour, only returning to the village when the soldiers have left and they feel the threat has moved on. Most of the internal displacement that occurs in Thaton District comes about because of this [also see the 'Flight and Displacement' section] . Furthermore, performing forced labour portering loads or maintaining one of the roads greatly increases the risk of stepping on a landmine [see the 'Landmines' section] . Forced labour is not solely the scourge of able-bodied men, but of all villagers; men, women, children, and the elderly are all expected to work.

Villagers have commented however, that the amount of labour being demanded by the SPDC has been reduced over the past couple of years. Portering in particular, is much less rigorous than it used to be and villagers are being taken for much shorter periods [ see 'Portering' ] . Much of the portering is now done by convicts brought in specifically for that purpose [see 'Convict Labour' at the end of this section] . This is not to say that it has stopped; a fact which the testimonies of the villagers shown below attest to. In contrast, some villagers have said that the DKBA has actually increased the amount of forced labour that it is demanding.

"When they came in the past we had to do a lot [of forced labour], but when they came this time we haven't had to do it yet. Now they don't do it. They enter peacefully. They don't demand the villagers."

"Naw Bo Mu" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #59, 6/03)

"Can you tell them to not force us to work anymore? Many of the villagers are fleeing. Tell them to stop. Ask them to pay us if they are going to force us to work. We could find people for them, but still they force us to work for free. Why must they do this? Our villagers will continue to suffer if they continue to do this. As the village head I must lead. Our children [the villagers] can't stay here without being forced to work for them. We have to tell them [to go and perform forced labour]. Maybe if they paid a little money to the people who are tired. If they don't pay a salary, then all the villagers must go to work. Surely you must know this."

"Pa Chit Mu" (M, 76), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #80, 2/02)

"Since Min Aung Hlaing [commanding officer of LID #44] has come up they haven't had to go. During the last two or three years they forced us to do a lot of labour. We had to porter, emergency porter and carry rations for them. In 2003 it is better. We still have two emergency people for 'lan pya' [guides]. Their deputy battalion commander doesn't come to collect them, but Myint Oo comes to call them. He said he can't find the way. They are from the same unit, [LIB] #108, Division #66."

"Daw Paw Ghay" (F, 50), village head from xxxx village (Interview #75, 7/03)

"We don't have to porter. It is only portering [that has reduced]. They still demand 'loh ah pay' [non-portering forced labour], bamboo, and thatch every year. The Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; slang for the DKBA] demand it and the Burmese [soldiers] also demand it. It is from Ta Paw Army camp. They also call us to do 'loh ah pay' [forced labour] on the road. They don't only call the villagers from xxxx village. They called all the villages from the village tract. They called every village when we went to a meeting."

"U Lah Paw" (M,40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #91, 5/04)

"They [DKBA] do more forced labour. They used to go and carry their rations themselves. Now they order us to go and carry the rations for them."

"Naw Than Sha" (F, 53), village head from xxxx village (Interview #71, 1/04)

Village heads constantly receive orders to send villagers for one form of forced labour or another. SPDC and DKBA officers demand villagers to come to their camps to dig trenches, cut firewood, fetch water, build huts for the soldiers, and perform other menial tasks. Work at the Army camps is usually done on a rotating schedule. Villagers are also required to repair the roads which run through the district and to stand as sentries along those roads when the SPDC sends rations to its camps. The brush and scrub flanking the roads must also be regularly cleared to make it more difficult or the KNLA to mount ambushes against SPDC Army units and vehicles. The village head is also sometimes ordered to send people to work on money-making projects such as rubber plantations or logging for the SPDC as well as the DKBA. Porters are demanded by the Army to carry its rations up to its camps. Military columns out on patrol also demand porters to carry things to the next village. At any one time, a village head may have villagers doing several forms of forced labour for a number of different units operating in the area. Many villagers have told KHRG researchers that the labour is almost constant [see the sections below for greater detail on each of the various different forms of forced labour] .

"When they come, we have to do 'loh ah pay' and they forced us to go and cut bamboo for them. We go. They also demand people for 'emergencies' as 'lan pya' [guides]. The people have to go and carry loads for them. They release them when they arrive at another village. They don't pay."

"Pa Kee Thaw" (M, 60), village elder from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #86, 1/03)

"The Burmese soldiers forced us to porter. They demanded us from the village heads. They always forced us. Sometimes they forced us once a month and sometimes for two or three days at a time. When they had a lot of work they forced us more. Sometimes they demanded a lot of us and sometimes a few. Sometimes they demanded 40 or 50 people. Sometimes they demanded 100 people."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

"Xxxx village has to work a little more than others. It is more painful. If they have emergency situations, my village had to work before the other villages arrive. When they have to send things or if people come back from the front who have been injured, I have to call the people from my village first. We can't ask the people from yyyy or zzzz villages to come first. They are not free to come. The Burmese [soldiers] don't wait for us. We have to call emergency people from xxxx village. We have to call two, three, four, or five people. If they need five people, we have to find five people. Sometimes when we can't find people, we have to call the people while they are ploughing. It is more painful."

"Saw Hsa Shwe" (M, 46), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #72, 5/04)

"They demanded them [porters] from the village head. When they come they call them themselves. When they order the village head, the village head must arrange it for them. When the village head doesn't arrange it, they [SPDC] come themselves. When they come themselves they call all the men they see. They call and force them to go to work. They force them to work once a month. They demand three people each time."

"Naw Maw Thee" (F, 20), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #55, 4/03)

"The Burmese soldiers do not force us. The Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; slang for the DKBA] forces us to do labour. They demand that we send thatch. 1,000 shingles of thatch. They will take action if we don't send them."

"U Mo Day" (M, 40), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #61, 6/03)

Only the very young and the very old do not have to go for forced labour. Both men and women are required to report for forced labour. Men have typically gone for most of the forced labour, particularly the more physically demanding forms such as portering for the Army or building bridges. However, the demands are becoming so steep and frequent that other members of the family must also be called upon to do their part. Any given village may face numerous different demands from a number of different nearby Army camps, from both the SPDC and the DKBA. In the case where multiple demands for different units are issued all at once and the men are away meeting one of those demands, the responsibility then falls upon the women to tend to some of the other demands. Similarly, when the men are busy tending to fields and plantations, it are the women who must respond to the demands for forced labour. Traditionally, women have often gone for the less demanding labour at the Army camps such as fetching water or cooking rice. However they are now having to report to help clear the brush from the sides of the roads, as set tha (messengers), and even to porter heavy loads for the military [for recent photographic evidence of this, see 'Women and Forced Labour' in "KHRG Photo Set 2005-A" (KHRG #2005-P1, May 27 2005) ] . Men have regularly fled from their village when forced labour orders have been issued, fearing that they will not be allowed to return home upon the completion of the work, but instead be taken as operations porters for frontline units. Furthermore, they may be accused of being rebels at any time, often with little or no supporting evidence and no recourse to defend themselves against such accusations. They therefore try to avoid any direct contact with the SPDC for fear of being arrested and tortured. This also results in women and children doing much of the forced labour.

"Yes, there is forced labour. The people said before that there was to be no more forced labour anymore, but now they come and force us to do a lot. They demand a lot of small trees, small bamboo and thatch. We do it a lot for them. The people said that there was to be no more 'set tha' [messenger] labour, but they are still demanding 'set tha' a lot. In the past they demanded only men, but now they also demand women. We have to go every day. They fine us if we don't go every day. Sometimes they don't fine us if the village head goes and speaks to them. Sometimes they fine us. They demand one or two small chickens and we must give it to them. One small chicken costs 250 Kyat."

"Daw Khu Pu" (F, 50), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #56, 11/03)

"Before we came [to the refugee camp] the people went every day. The people had to carry thatch, bamboo and do 'loh ah pay' and 'set tha'. The men had to go and the females also had to go. Females and males went together. They said that if only females went they couldn't carry the heavy things. The males were forced to go and the females were forced to go. They forced the females to fetch water and cook rice for them."

"Naw Maw Thee" (F, 20), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #55, 4/03)

"Yes, they also took females. They called them for daily work. They had to carry rice. When they arrived at another village, they released them and arrested the males. They didn't release the males. They released some of them after they had gone and come back."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

Children also have to go sometimes when their parents are already busy attending to some other task or demand. When the adults are performing some other form of forced labour or are occupied in the fields, the children are often all that remain to go for forced labour. While village heads try to arrange it so that children and the elderly do not have to go, some villagers have told KHRG that they have on occasion witnessed children as young as eight performing forced labour. Villagers are often ordered to complete a job within a specified timeframe, and in many cases this is only possible if the entire village goes to work. This includes very young children, a number of whom have not yet even reached puberty, as well as elderly villagers, some aged in their 50's and 60's. This is especially the case when the SPDC orders rations to be carried out to their satellite Army camps or for the brush alongside the roads to be cut. It seems that the SPDC does not care who is sent to perform the labour, so long as it is done. If orders state a preference for adults or able-bodied men to do the work, it is merely out of a desire to get the heavy work done more quickly rather than any sense of morality.

"There were no 10 year old children because the people don't let their 10 year old children go, but 14 and 15 year olds went. Some people's parents weren't free, so they asked their children to go. The people thought that we would let them carry light [loads], but they [SPDC] made them carry like men. They said the young people came and ate all their rice. They were very angry."

"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)

"There were 15 year olds, 12 year olds, 9 year olds, and 8 year olds. Some could cut [the brush] and some couldn't cut. They went to fulfil the quota because they had only these ages. When they couldn't hire people, they had to go. ... They said children do not have to go, but we didn't obey. There were children who were industrious. There were children who worked and learned from the older people. There were many types of children. The children like aaaa's children are very industrious, they cut a lot. We cut it the whole day and they also followed and cut the whole day. They were worried that we would scold them."

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"He was 15 years old. They called him and I couldn't call him back. He [an SPDC officer] said, 'Mother, it is just for a while.' I told him, 'This boy is a student. He was sick, so he couldn't go to school. He has been absent from school for many days already. Now he feels better and he is taking a rest.' He said he wouldn't make him carry heavy things, but they were making him carry a basket when I watched them leaving. They took some things out of the basket and let him carry a light load. I said, 'He is a child. He never carries heavy things.' He said, 'I won't make him carry anything.' But when they left, the boy had to carry a basket with things inside it. When I went to complain to him, he said, 'Mother, it is light.'"

"Daw Khu Pu" (F, 50), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #56, 11/03)

Villagers, young and old, doing forced labour for the SPDC on the Kyaik Khaw – Ka Dtaing Dtee car road in April 2004. These villagers from Bilin township, along with many others like them were ordered to gather 300 piles of stone, or kyin , for the road; each one measuring 100 cubic feet. The villagers were still collecting stone two months later when this photo was taken. The time that the villagers spend performing forced labour for the SPDC is time lost that would otherwise be spent trying to provide for their families. [Photo: KHRG]

"Some people over 40 years old went. Some of their children were married and lived separately, so they had to work. Some of them said, 'My daughter is not free to go. She has a small baby, so I have to go for her one time. She can't hire anyone.'"

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"The children who are 7 or 8 years old also had to carry the earth [for use in the construction of a new road]. Old people also go. Even some over 60 years old go for it. I had to go. I must go. The 'village mother and father' [village elder] had to arrange for carts and bullocks. They are oppressing us so we must go."

"Pa Kee Thaw" (M, 60), village elder from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #86, 1/03)

"They didn't arrest the young children. They didn't arrest the children about 12 or 13 years old. They arrested all of them who were 14 or 15 years old. They forced them to carry loads of 15 or 20 viss [24-32 kgs. / 54-72 lbs.]. They always capture them. They always capture the children who are 14 or 15 years old. They even captured the old people over 50 or 60 years old in 2003. They always force them to carry one or two backpacks. They kicked the people who couldn't walk and fell down."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

The conditions that the villagers work under vary depending on the type of work that they are ordered to do and who it is that is ordering them to do it. For almost all types, the villagers may be subjected to both verbal and physical abuse by the soldiers. Villagers working at Army camps or standing sentry are usually kept there until their shift is over and another villager comes to replace them. Porters now usually must only accompany the soldiers to the next village where they are released and a new villager is taken to replace them. Much of the longer-term portering is now being performed by convict labour. When villages are ordered to work on a road, whether it be to construct a new one or to see to the maintenance of an existing road, they are generally expected to take responsibility for a certain section and are given a set time at the end of which the work should be completed. The soldiers do not usually accompany the villagers or oversee the work, yet it is understood that if the work is not finished by the deadline, the villagers risk having to do it again and/or being punished. Regardless of the work that they are doing, villagers are almost always expected to bring their own food and whatever tools they need to complete the work. They must also bring along whatever building materials are need for the job. If the work is to last several days, the villagers are sometimes not allowed to return home and must bring enough food and clothes to last the entire time they are there. Villagers who become sick while working are not always allowed to go home to rest. Injured villagers are never given compensation and only rarely given medicine. Villagers have to seek medical attention themselves and pay for it out of their own pockets. Only on very rare occasions are the villagers actually paid for the work that they do, and even then the paltry amount that they are given borders on being laughable [see the sections below for more on the conditions faced for each of the different types of forced labour] .

"If [IB] #24 sees us and calls us, we must go. We can't do anything. We have to go unhappily. We don't have time to make sure our wives and children we leave behind have enough food to eat. We can search to find food after they release us. We can't search for food if they don't release us. If our children get sick, our wives have to stay poorly without money for medicine. The villagers who have food to eat are better, but the villagers who don't have food, like us, are depressed. The husband is depressed when he goes. The wife staying at home is also depressed. The villagers who have flat fields are better off. We don't have flat fields, so we have to go and search for fish and frogs. If there is paying work [usually manual labour], we do it."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

The SPDC has been taking some precautions to cover up its use of forced labour over the past few years. Throughout this and other KHRG reports, one will constantly encounter the term loh ah pay . This is an ancient Pali word used to describe the voluntary labour performed at a Buddhist monastery or within the village community to attain religious merit. It has since been adopted by the SPDC to refer to forced labour in order to give the appearance that the labour being done by the villagers is actually on a voluntary basis and not under duress at all. This could not be further from the truth. When asked by KHRG researchers if the work was forced or voluntary, all villagers without exception have answered that for each and every time it was in fact forced. Another tactic now used by SPDC Army officers is to summon village heads to meetings and issue their demands for forced labour verbally rather than send signed and stamped written order documents. The documents that many SPDC Army officers are now issuing simply order that the village head comes to a meeting at the Army camp. When written orders are sent to village heads, SPDC Army officers sometimes ask for the orders back once the village heads have read them, thus eliminating the paper trail of evidence of not only the use of forced labour, but also their personal involvement in it. Village heads who have not been able to return the orders have been accused of giving the letters to the KNU or to human rights monitors and fined 5 viss [8 kgs. / 18 lbs.] of chicken or pork. SPDC officers are also either not stamping the orders, or stamping them and not writing in their unit's battalion number, so that the orders cannot be traced back to them. Another dodge is to order village heads or village tract heads to write the orders instead.

"'Loh ah pay' and portering are the same thing. They said to go for 'loh ah pay', but it was portering because it took three days and three nights."

"Saw Pa Aye" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village (Interview #43, 10/02)

"The day before yesterday [March 3 rd 2002], we were working and they came to call us. They said, 'If you can't come when called, we will arrest you.' The villagers were afraid. We were polite and we came. When we came they said, 'When Nga Pway ['ringworm'; derogatory SPDC slang for the KNU] asks you to work, you work lightly [willingly]. When we ask you to work, you do it heavily [unhappily]. They were going to beat and force us."

"Saw Kyi Nu" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #30, 3/02)

"They wrote a letter to us to go to a meeting at Ta Paw Army camp. The villagers from Ha T'Reh village tract had to go to Ta Paw Army camp. They ordered us to do it, so we had to obey it. There was no stamp on the letter. In the past when the Burmese [soldiers] wrote a letter to us, they typed it and stamped it. Now, they don't have a stamp and also a Frontline [Battalion] Number. The units in the past typed it down, the units now don't type it so we can't remember it."

"Saw Bee Lu Lay" (M, 52), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #95, 5/04)

"They [SPDC] came to order us themselves at yyyy village. The next day, the camp commander at Ta Paw Army camp wrote a letter to us to go to a meeting. When we went to the village tract meeting at Ta Paw Army camp, they ordered us to dig the stone [for use in the construction of the road]. We had to go and work. He specified the date. He ordered us to go on the 9 th [of May 2004]. ... He didn't introduce himself. He didn't say, 'I am the camp commander of Ta Paw Army camp.' He asked, 'have all the people arrived?' When all the people had arrived, he gave the order. When we went to meetings at Ta Paw Army camp in the past, they said, 'I am the commander at Ta Paw Army camp' or 'I am the commander who is taking responsibility in this area of operations. I am whoever.' Now, they don't introduce themselves."

"Saw Bee Lu Lay" (M, 52), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #95, 5/04)

"He [SPDC Division Commander] ordered the [village tract] chairperson to write it. The chairperson wrote to us one time, two times, three times, but we didn't go. So they ordered the people from Lay Kay village to come and send it. The chairman said, 'They always order me, so the people always see me badly. They don't write [the order documents]. They order me to do it.' He didn't want to write. ... I think they are worried that the people will know their names, but the people see it is [LID] #44. Maybe people complained about them. They don't show themselves. They always order the chairman to do it."

"Daw Lah Zin" (F, 48), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #28, 3/02)

In May 1999 the SPDC issued Order 1/99, declaring a ban on the use of various forms of forced labour following years of intense pressure from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The Order was not widely circulated nor implemented as it was claimed to have been, and the use of forced labour continued. In 2000, the lack of any implementation of Order 1/99 led the ILO to invoke Article 33 of its charter for the first time in the organisation's 84 year history, which required the ceasing of all technical cooperation with the SPDC and calling upon all of its member nations and trade unions to review their relations with the Burmese military junta. In an attempt to buy time the SPDC released the 'Supplementary Order to Order 1/99' in late October 2000, widening the terms of the ban and outlining the penalties to be imposed on those who continued to demand forced labour. A few days later, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, then Secretary-1 of the SPDC, issued yet another order, the 'Additional Instruction to State and Divisional Peace and Development Councils, November 1 st 2000'. These orders were alleged to have been distributed to every village head in the country, however upon being asked, many village heads claimed that they had never even heard of the documents. It was not until shortly before the ILO High Level Team travelled to Burma in 2001 to investigate the implementation of the ban that the documents were circulated [for English language versions of 'Order 1/99', 'Supplementary Order to Order 1/99', and the 'Additional Instruction' signed by Khin Nyunt, see 'Appendix B: SPDC Orders Banning Forced Labour' in the previously published KHRG report "Forced Labour Orders Since the Ban: a Compendium of SPDC Order Documents Demanding Forced Labour Since November 2000 " (KHRG #2002-01 / February 8, 2002) .] . Villagers interviewed by KHRG researchers maintain that they became hopeful of improvement when the Order was first issued, however they found that the situation largely remained the same with the SPDC and the DKBA both still demanding labour. The drafting of these decrees has done little to cease the use of forced labour in Burma , as it continues to be widely practiced without those responsible being brought to trial. Under continued pressure from the ILO, the past year has seen several instances in central Burma where villagers have successfully brought civil cases against non-military officials for demanding forced labour. However, no military officer in Burma has yet been charged with demanding forced labour. Furthermore, in a clear step backward, following the success of a case brought by villager Daw Su Su Nway, the local judge was replaced with a hardline judge who then heard a spurious counter-case for using 'threatening language' brought against her by corrupt local officials. In October 2005, this judge sentenced Daw Su Su Nway to 20 months in prison, a clear warning from the SPDC to any other villagers in Burma who may be considering taking action under the orders banning forced labour.

"The letter they issued was burned in a fire. It was [Order] #1/99. I had the order book in my house. The [village] tract leader, aaaa, also has one in his house. The one that was in my house was burned in a fire, but I still have some small pieces. It said that the villagers were not to be forced to do 'set tha' ['messengers'] or portering anymore. Even though the fire burned it in my house, aaaa still has one in his house. Every village has it. They distributed it."

"Pa Chit Mu" (M, 76), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #80, 2/02)

"When they issued it [Order 1/99] at the beginning, it looked like they would follow it, but now it has gone back to like in the past. The soldiers told their battalion, 'We can't carry the loads. If we don't call the villagers and they don't help you, you can't carry.' So they call them as in the past."

"Saw Eh K'Thaw" (M, 55), Karen district official (Interview #7, 11/03)

"Q: They said they won't force the villagers to work anymore. If they ask them to work, they will pay everyone.
A: They talked about that by mouth. When we went to a meeting at Lay Kay they talked about that. Now they are not forcing the villagers. Now they come with their servants and convicts. They just talked about that. Don't think about it. Ask the villages that are nearby. How many villages don't they force to work in 1 st Brigade [Thaton District] ? They force every village to work. They just talk. They distributed the order themselves, but they are still doing it. Their leaders from the town ordered it, but when they come here they do everything. Ask the villagers who are staying in 1 st Brigade."

"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)

Villagers are unable to complain to higher authorities about the use of forced labour because they are afraid of reprisals at the hands of the soldiers who are ordering them to do the labour. Village heads feel that if they complain about an officer's use of forced labour to his Operations Commander or Division Commander, they would have to flee the village because the officer may come to torture or kill them.

"We can't report about this [to the Operations Commander or Division Commander]. Our tract leader said, 'Wait, I have not reported about this yet. One day, I will report about it.' If he reports about it now, there is no security for him and he must run away. He must run immediately when he reports it. He is afraid. ... Nobody has reported about it yet. We are coordinating with each other about their forcing us to work, restricting us and punishing us. Every village in Ha T'Reh tract will report at the same time about it. If we must run, we will run together."

"Pa Chit Mu" (M, 76), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #80, 2/02)

"He [SPDC Army officer] said to go and complain to him. The people don't dare to go and complain to him because they are afraid of the columns [soldiers]. They would do something bad to us. We are the village heads. They come and can do [whatever they want to] us. If they come to the house and kill us it is finished. He said to go and complain to him and if his people come to torture us, to go quickly and complain to him. He spoke like that. But the people don't dare to go and complain to him. The people are afraid that they will kill us secretly. His people aren't easy."

"Daw Lah Zin" (F, 48), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #28, 3/02)

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Portering

"They don't carry their own food. We have to carry the food for them. We have to take the food from Lay Kay for them. We have to take the food from Lay Kay for them twice a month. Each time we have to find two bullock carts for them. The food is things like rice, sugar, and milk. The other things are books, letters, and food that their families send to them. They used to go and take it themselves, but now they don't go to take it, so we have to take it and carry it for them."

"Daw Mu Lu Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #65, 7/03)

The use of villagers as frontline porters has changed in Thaton District. No longer are villagers taken for weeks or months at a time, as they once were. Villagers have been telling KHRG researchers that since 2002 most of the portering that they are doing is from one village to the next where the porters are released and replaced with villagers from the new village. Throughout 2004 and 2005, SPDC Army columns have generally only been demanding one or two villagers to accompany their columns as guides. Upon arrival at the next village the guides are then changed for another villager who will in turn guide the column to the next village. The guides have also been forced to carry loads, but the use of convict porters has steadily increased over the past several years to the point where now, much of the heavy portering in Thaton District is being done by convicts [see 'Convict Labour' below] .

"This year [2003] the villagers can do their own work and they dare to go to their flat fields or hill fields, but in the years before the villagers didn't dare to go to the flat fields or hill fields to work. Now they don't have any trouble. Sometimes the SPDC disturbs them. They take the villagers to go with them and when they arrive to the next village they let the villagers come back. They don't take the villagers to go with them for more than two days, three days or one month."

"Daw Mu Lu Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #65, 7/03)

"Now they don't demand [people] by letter, they come themselves to get people. Recently they demanded two people from my village when they came. They took them after I gave them. They went outside and when they met my children [villagers] coming back from the hill fields, they arrested and took them also. They released them when they arrived at another village. It was for one day."

"Daw Lah Zin" (F, 48), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #28, 3/02)

"They demand three villagers regularly. He is the column commander. When he sees me he says, '"Daw Ba Kee", find two or three emergency people.' I searched a lot. When I wasn't able to find anyone he said, 'Mother, I will take this person and then release him when I arrive at the next village.' I said, 'Yes, son.' I nodded. I asked, 'Son, how long will you take him? Where will you take him to?' He said that he would release him when they arrived at yyyy, or he would release him when they arrived at zzzz."

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"Sometimes when they enter the village they demand 'lan pya' [guides] and 'loh ah pay' [forced labour]. They demanded only one 'loh ah pay' person from the village head. When they go outside the village they take everyone they see outside as they need. They release them when they arrive at the next village."

"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)

"When they demand people, we have to give them. They don't pay. The villagers are released after they send them to the next village. They are called to guide them. Sometimes they force them to carry a bag. Sometimes they don't force them to carry loads."

"Pa Hsa Ker" (M, 70), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #92, 5/04)

"When the Burmese [soldiers] come now they say that they do not demand porters, but they will demand 'lan pya' [guides]. They demand two people for 'lan pya' from each village."

"Naw Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #38, 8/02)

"Now the enemy [SPDC] doesn't call for porters, but when they go to each village, they demand one or two people to guide the way. They don't force the people who guide the way to go at the front [as minesweepers]. They go at the front themselves. They make the people who guide the way carry loads, so it is not different from demanding porters."

"Saw Kaw Thu" (M, 37), Karen township official, Pa'an township (Interview #6, 6/03)

The term which translates literally as 'emergency porter' is heard quite commonly in Thaton District. This term refers to the ad hoc portering demanded by soldiers upon arriving in any given village. In the past, the villagers were given no advance warning yet could be taken for several days or weeks at a time. The soldiers would arrive in the village and call all of the villagers down from their houses. Villagers who did not respond fast enough and come down immediately upon being called were kicked and beaten [also refer to the 'Killings, Detention, and Torture' section for more on this] . Unlike other forms of portering, the villagers were not able to pay to get out of having to go for emergency portering but had to go regardless. More recently however, the SPDC has only been demanding two or three villagers at a time for 'emergencies' and forcing them to carry their loads to the next village where they are released and other villagers are taken for the same purpose. The villagers are still not given any warning prior to the arrival of the soldiers in their village. The Army simply arrives in a village or comes to a field, takes a couple of villagers, and continues on their way to the next village. One villager told KHRG that the porters are not released if they are unable to find anyone in the next village to replace them and instead must continue to carry their loads until a replacement is found. According to the villager, it can sometimes take two or three days to find a replacement. If porters escape or replacements cannot be found, their load is usually divided among the other porters or the soldiers themselves until more can be caught.

"Yes, they demand porters. When they arrive it is an emergency. They call it an 'emergency'. For an 'emergency' they demand only one person, but they demand four or five people so we wouldn't call that an emergency. Really they don't say porter, they call it 'emergency'. For 'loh ah pay' all the villagers from the whole village had to go and carry rice last week. They kept the rice at Meh Pu Hta and we had to carry it to Meh Pray Kee camp. We all had to go and carry for them. If we didn't all go, the rice wouldn't all be delivered. They specified 300 sacks of rice for the xxxx villagers to carry."

"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)

"I was going with seven villagers and they arrested us on the path. They called us after we had gone fishing and we were coming back on the path. We had to go and sleep along the way. We had to go directly to Naw K'Toh, T'Maw Daw, Pa Pwaw and then go up to Lay Kay and Kyo Wai. Then we came down to La Tha Mee, P'Nweh Kla, Maw Lay and Nya Lu. They arrested us on the path so we couldn't bring food. They arrested us on the path. [In the past] when they called us from the village we could bring rice. They told us we would go for three days, but they took us for 20 days. We didn't get enough rice to eat."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

"When they arrived themselves, they demanded them [porters] from the village head because they have their own village head. They also have their village tract secretary. When they did not come, they ordered and then he [the village head] had to send them. They always forced us. Whenever they demanded it, the village head had to send us. They didn't specify it by the day or the month. They demanded whenever they came. When they ordered us to send people once a month, he [the village head] had to send them. When they ordered them to be sent twice a month, he had to send them. They demanded three people, or five people, or eight people each time."

"Saw Ni Maw" (M, 29), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #50, 3/03)

"Now if they come to the village they demand people as an urgent need ['emergency porters']. If we can't find people they take people wherever they meet them. They take two people each time as they urgently need them. They force people to go with them to guide them. They say, 'If the 'Nga Pway' ['Ringworm'; derogatory SPDC slang for the KNU] shoot us, we will kill you, so don't go to the 'Nga Pway'.' The people don't know where the 'Nga Pway' stay so the villagers have to go with them because they know the way."

"U Maung Shwe" (M, 40), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #67, 7/03)

"They demand the porters from the village head three times a month. They say it is for an 'emergency'. They call it an emergency, but they release them when they arrive at other villages. They are not released if they don't arrive at other villages. Sometimes it takes two days and sometimes three days if they don't enter any villages."

"Naw Sun Wah" (F, 50), refugee from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #87, 5/03)

"Q: Who had to carry the load after they allowed the people to go back?
A: They carried it themselves or they put more into the baskets of the porters who could carry. They divided a little of it for each person to carry."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

Whenever the SPDC needs to resupply one of its outlying Army camps with food, ammunition, or any other type of military materiel, they issue the order, typically to a number of villages within the area. The villagers are told that the supplies must be sent to a certain camp by a certain time. In previous years, whenever the portering took more than one day to complete, the porters were often bound at night to prevent them from attempting to escape. Now though, villagers are telling KHRG that this is no longer the case. On some occasions the soldiers will post an armed sentry to watch over the porters so that none of them will try to flee, but they are no longer regularly being tied up. Instead, villages are now being fined 20,000 to 30,000 Kyat for each porter that flees. In 2004 and 2005, villagers have often been ordered to carry rations for the SPDC without being accompanied by any soldiers. The villagers would not dare to lose or steal any of the rations for fear of punishment at the hands of the SPDC. Should any items be missing from the baskets upon arriving at their destination, the soldiers blame the villagers and accuse them of giving these to the KNU/KNLA.

"They guarded us when we slept. They guarded us with guns. They didn't tie us up, but they did tie us up in the past. Now they don't tie us. They haven't tied us up for the past one or two years."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

"They let them [porters] sleep freely. They [SPDC] had already told their village head, the Burmese village head, 'We have asked for porters from your village. They must go honestly. If they flee, we will fine them.' If one person fled they would demand 20,000 Kyat and we had to give them 20,000 Kyat. If they demanded 30,000 Kyat, we had to give them 30,000 Kyat. That is why the villagers didn't dare to flee and they didn't need to guard them."

"Saw Ni Maw" (M, 29), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #50, 3/03)

The baskets the villagers carry can contain anything from small arms ammunition, to mortar shells, to food. Often the soldiers add more things to the loads that they loot from the villages they pass through along the way. These items may include boots or slippers, fruit, rice, or chickens. The average load that a villager is forced to carry typically falls with in the range of 10 – 20 viss [16-33 kgs. / 36-72 lbs.] . Loads of 30 viss [49 kgs. / 108 lbs.] that are quoted by villagers mark the upper end of the scale. Loads as heavy as this are uncommon.

"We had to carry food and ammunition. It was over 20 viss [32 kgs. / 72 lbs.] in weight. We had to carry their food, ammunition, and other things. They forced us to carry. When it was light, they made it heavier with jackfruits and slippers."

"Saw Thaw Oo" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #31, 3/02)

"The weight was 20, 25, or 30 viss [32, 40, 49 kgs. / 72, 90, 108 lbs]. The weight was 30 viss. We couldn't carry it but we had to carry it. ... I had to porter bullets. We also had to carry rice, milk tins, and sugar."

"Saw Dee Kay" (M, 50), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #53, 3/03)

"I had to carry a 30 viss [49 kgs. / 108 lbs.] load. I had to carry mortar shells and machinegun bullets."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

Food is not usually provided for the porters by either the SPDC or the DKBA. The villagers are normally expected to bring their own food with them. When the villagers are forced to porter loads for any length of time, or for those who were arrested while in their fields or on the paths, what little rice that they were able to take with them soon runs out and they must either beg or go hungry. If this situation becomes extreme then food is provided to the porters, although this is typically done so grudgingly and even then only in sparse portions. Such portions are usually only half the amount that they would otherwise eat, if that. Furthermore, the food is usually only very low grade rice, a thin watery bean curry, and/or poor quality sesame or shrimp paste. Salt and chillies which normally are considered staples in Karen cooking are usually not provided. They are never fed any meat or fish. Meanwhile, the soldiers accompanying the porters dine on food looted from the villages that they have passed though, eating chicken or pork curries. Sometimes they steal the rice that the porters have brought with them, or swap it with their lower quality ration rice, taking the higher grade rice for themselves. It is usually only by begging that the villagers are able to get any more food when theirs runs out. Although, not all villagers have the courage to ask for more food from the soldiers as such requests are usually met with beatings or threats of being beaten for daring to ask for more. One villager from Bilin township told KHRG that when he asked for another scoop of rice on top of the paltry amount that he had been given, he was told that they wouldn't provide him with any rice but would be more than willing to give him a 'bread fist' (a Burmese term equivalent to 'knuckle sandwich').

"We carried their bags and baskets. It was raining at that time. Clothes and ammunition were in the baskets. We had to carry them to Thu K'Bee. We had to start carrying from the house near the village head's house. When we go ourselves, we can go and come back in one day. When we went with them, we left at 4 p.m. We had to sleep on the path. The next morning they continued and didn't feed us rice. They released us to come back after we entered Thu K'Bee. Then we found rice to eat."

"Saw Pa Lah" (M, 24), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #44, 11/02)

"They had to go and sleep there. Sometimes when they didn't go far, they released them when they arrived [at the next village or camp]. When they went far, they had to sleep two or three nights [on the way]. The SPDC fed them sometimes and sometimes they had to take food themselves. They had to take it themselves when they went for many days. They had to take it themselves. They had to take rice. The Burmese [SPDC] village head had to arrange it for them. The Burmese village head collected it from the villagers. Then they took it with them when they went."

"Saw Ni Maw" (M, 29), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #50, 3/03)

"We didn't bring our own food because we went to other villages. When the villagers from xxxx went to yyyy they know the villagers there, and when they go to zzzz they know the villagers there also. They eat food in their Uncle's and Aunt's houses. Don't think that they [SPDC] are going to feed you. They never feed you."

"Pa Chit Mu" (M, 76), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #80, 2/02)

"We carried for many days and when we couldn't carry anymore, we fled. They didn't feed us enough rice. I was worried about my house, wife and children and work left behind, so after I went for many days, I fled."

"Saw Yo Tha" (M, 48), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #16, 8/01)

"When they called a meeting [to order the villagers to carry rice] they said that they wouldn't feed us and that when we went to carry the rice we had to bring our own rice. We told them that the villagers don't have rice. Some of them have rice but some of them don't have rice, so it is a problem. When we [the village heads] ask them [the villagers] to go they say, 'I can't go because I don't have rice to bring.' We told them [SPDC], 'You ask but if you don't feed them rice not every villager from every house can come.' Then they thought for a long time and said that if they could provide food they would provide food. When they provided the food the villagers went to carry for them. We had to fight them a lot to get food for them [the villagers]. They were very sorry to lose it. ... They fed us two times. They said the size was one milk tin [195 grams / 7 ozs.]. We told them, 'One milk tin is not enough for us.' That is why we asked for two milk tins [of rice]. It was because some people are big and some are small. They gave it to us, but they were very sorry to lose it. The other food that they gave us was a very salty shrimp paste and it was very white [of poor quality]. We had to ask for monosodium glutamate and chillies from them. They didn't come to give it. If the cooks [villagers] were clever, we got monosodium glutamate and chillies. If the cooks weren't clever the carriers didn't get those things to eat."

"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)

"They didn't feed us enough. We also brought our own rice. They fed us our rice. They cooked our rice and shared it with us. The porters cooked it but they [SPDC] shared it with us. They fed us twice a day. They fed us beans. I didn't get enough to eat. One person got one spoonful. ... They ate better than we did. They ate pork and chicken curry. When we went to the villages, they threw the villagers' chickens in the baskets. The villagers didn't dare to complain."

"Saw Dee Kay" (M, 50), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #53, 3/03)

"They fed us regularly two times, but they fed us only one plate each time. They fed us one plate of rice, one bit of sesame paste and one chilli. We had our portion weighed out on a scale. We had only this if we didn't get enough to eat. They ate separately. The porters ate separately. They didn't feed the porters frogs or fish when they got them."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

"They fed us rice, but it wasn't enough. There was no chicken curry. They fed us a little bean soup. They said they didn't care whether we were fed or not. Sometimes when we asked for a little scoop of rice they said, 'You won't get rice, but you will get a bread fist.' [i.e. a 'knuckle sandwich'] We had to turn our heads. We went back to lie down. We had to drink water to be full enough. ... They fed us one time in the morning and one time in the evening. Sometimes they fed us each a spoonful. They didn't have any other food. They only had red shrimp paste. They boiled it with a lot of water. They didn't give us any sweet tea. ... Their food wasn't the same [as the porters]. They ate good food. They ate chicken curry and a good shrimp paste."

"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)

The treatment of villagers when they are portering depends largely on the unit the villagers are portering for. Some units are known for being particularly brutal, while others are comparatively moderate. Villagers who are unable to carry their loads are commonly yelled at and verbally abused by the soldiers and are sometimes hit or kicked in order to keep them moving. Some of the more violent units beat the porters with sticks and the butts of their rifles. One villager from Thaton township who was unable to carry his load due to illness was punched, kicked, and beaten with a rifle butt, breaking five of his ribs in the process. The beatings continued until he began coughing up blood. Luckily for him one of the soldiers, presumably one of the rank and file, took pity on him and aided in his escape, saying that if he did not flee the other soldiers would only continue to beat him. In the past, such beatings have from time to time not stopped until the porter had been killed. Another villager, "Saw Say Tee" [Interview #57] , from Bilin township said that he was beaten so badly he was no longer able to carry the load that he had been given. Since that time, he has been unable to work any more as a result of the beating that he received. When called upon again to go and porter yet another load, he had to send his wife in his stead. When his wife was unavailable to go, they have had to hire itinerant labourers to go in their place. Many villagers who become too weak to continue carrying are kicked and beaten, as though it were an incentive to get them moving again, presumably in the same way that one whips a horse to make it run faster. The strain of the heavy loads coupled with the lack of food proves to be too much for some and they simply buckle under the weight of their loads, in which case they are doubly beaten by the soldiers and then simply left to die where they lay beside the path.

In general, the conditions have improved somewhat, with fewer beatings being given. One plausible explanation for this may lie in ways in which the forced labour, with portering in particular, is being demanded. Most of the portering now being done by villagers in Thaton District is, as was mentioned above, from one village to the next. The periods and distances over which they must carry their loads are not nearly as great as they once were and are generally not long enough to sap their strength in the same way as if they had to carry for days on end. As a result, fewer villagers are being beaten for their inability to carry their loads. That aside, villagers complain that beatings are sometimes still given out and that the conditions of portering, while better, are still difficult and far from being acceptable. Meanwhile, convict porters are still treated as brutally as ever.

"When we couldn't walk they kicked us. When we couldn't climb the mountain they reviled and kicked us. We felt dizzy when we climbed the mountain. We fell down and they reviled us a lot."

"Saw Thaw Oo" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #31, 3/02)

"I have gone to carry loads. I went to carry five times during the last rainy season. I went three times in the dry season of this year [2003]. Before I came [to the refugee camp] I had to go one time and it took a month. After I went for a month I came up here. They tortured me. They beat, kicked, stomped, and soaked me in a buffalo puddle [a puddle of mud in which buffaloes wallow]. I couldn't endure it. They hurt me very often. They hurt me very often. I couldn't endure it."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

"They hurt me this year [2003]. I told him that I couldn't carry because I had a fever. He tied me, kicked me, and punched me. After he punched me, he kicked me with his big boots. Three of my ribs on the left side and two of my ribs on the right side were broken. After he tied me up, he punched me and kicked me. He punched my face and chest. He hit my thighs and back with the butt of his rifle. He hit my sides five or six times with the rifle butt. He didn't hit me again after I coughed blood. He ordered his soldiers to guard me all night. He didn't feed me any rice. He didn't feed me rice from the morning until the night. During the night one of his soldiers pitied me, so he untied me. After he untied me he told me to flee. Then he shot his gun and shouted, 'The porter is fleeing! The porter is fleeing!' The people shouted. I fled. He said, 'Flee and don't come back. If you come back the people will torture you again.' I didn't dare to go back to the village after I fled. I fled away. I didn't dare go back to the village. They came to ask about me in the village every day and only my wife was living there. They came and caught all of the chickens at my house. My wife fled to stay in someone else's house. She didn't dare to stay at home. They often came to ask about me. ... My friend told me that he [the SPDC officer] punched the soldier [who let him go] and one of his teeth came out. He told his sentry, 'You are a careless sentry. The person fled. You didn't tie him well enough.' He punched and beat him."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

"I always went to porter for the Burmese [soldiers], but I couldn't carry for them anymore since they beat me. After they beat me I couldn't work anymore. I had to go for portering, but my wife had to go instead. I couldn't go to porter. We had to hire people when we couldn't go ourselves."

"Saw Say Tee" (M, 48), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #57, 5/03)

"I saw it. Sometimes they kicked the villagers. They were villagers from xxxx. I saw it. It happened last year, in 2002. It was in the dry season during the month of Ta Baung [March]. It was hot. When they couldn't carry the loads, they left them. They kicked and stomped and after that left them. It was very painful. They kicked one man with their big boots. They kicked him on the back. They also kicked his sides. The people had to go and carry him back. The people saw him on the path. He couldn't walk, so they had left him. Later the people who were travelling saw him and they carried him back. The name of the one who suffered is Uncle aaaa. He lives in xxxx village. He is about 50 years old."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

Porters have on many occasions been wounded when the unit that they were portering for has been ambushed by the KNLA. On such occasions the porters are rarely given any medical attention. Though there has been relatively little fighting recently, villagers have been wounded or killed by landmines and crossfire. In February 2003, a KNLA unit opened fire on a boat carrying a small SPDC unit and a number of porters. Eight of the soldiers were killed, as were six porters with two more being wounded. The porters that were wounded had to pay for their own medical treatment, and the families of those killed received no compensation whatsoever.

Moreover, the porters are generally punished for supposedly knowing that the 'rebels' were in the area and thus by not sharing this information with the soldiers, they were responsible for the attack. These allegations are levelled against the porters following almost every ambush [also see the section dealing with 'Killings, Detention, and Torture' ] . Even in instances where it should be obvious that the porters had no prior knowledge of the whereabouts of the resistance, such as in those occasions where a number of them are wounded or even killed in the ambush, they are still punished. The most common form of punishment are beatings. The porters are kicked, punched, beaten with sticks, or with the butts of the soldiers' rifles. Some of the punishments doled out to the porters, however, are less physical and more psychological. As one villager told KHRG, the soldiers forced the porters to strip naked and run around without any clothes on, pull at one another's ears, and stand and squat repeatedly. 'Frog-squatting' and pulling on one's own earlobes, both of which make one look silly, are traditional forms of humiliation in Burma, and forcing adults to do this while running around naked makes it even more a form of psychological torture.

Furthermore, porters are also regularly used as human shields during ambushes. The soldiers stay close to or even hide behind the porters in the hope that the KNLA soldiers will not fire for fear of hitting one of the villagers. This sometimes seems to work with the KNLA being reluctant to open fire in case they accidentally wound or kill any of the porters. This does not prevent every ambush from taking place, and on many occasions porters have been wounded and killed while being held as human shields. One villager from Bilin township told KHRG that in late 2002 he was not only used as a human shield by the soldiers but also as a human minesweeper, being forced to walk in front of the soldiers at gunpoint. If there are any landmines planted on the path, the porters will detonate them while the soldiers walk at a safe distance behind them [also see the 'Landmines' section] .

"Fighting occurred once at Naw K'Toh. It happened in this month of Ta Po Tweh [Burmese month roughly corresponding to February, 2003]. When the fighting happened they were on a boat. Eight of their soldiers died. Six porters were injured and two porters died. A person from yyyy escaped. The soldiers were carrying ammunition and drowned. The people [other SPDC soldiers] went to get them later. The porters floated and the soldiers didn't float. The people had to pull them out along with their ammunition. They got six guns after they pulled them out. Two guns were lost. They couldn't find them. The boat was broken and the engine was destroyed. ... They [the porters] had to treat themselves. They [SPDC] didn't pay for the medicine. They also didn't give compensation for the porters who died."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

"They demanded five porters. One porter from xxxx was injured and there were only four porters left to carry the loads. He was injured once in his buttocks and two times in the hand. He was injured a little bit. He was injured a little bit on his hand and his leg. The people [KNLA] were waiting and ambushed them [detonated a landmine]. We didn't see anyone die. When it hurt him they ordered us to go and see [if he was alright]. We went to see and we didn't see anyone [SPDC] dead. Only one of them [SPDC] got injured. It hurt both of his legs. Two villagers were injured and two villagers died. The two villagers who died were from yyyy village. There were also porters from wwww, xxxx, yyyy and zzzz."

"Saw Pa Aye" (M, 28), villager from xxxx village (Interview #43, 10/02)

"Fighting has occurred when the people [KNLA] have ambushed them. Sometimes when they were ambushed they punished the porters. They tied them together and forced them to pull at their ears, and then forced them to run [around] without their clothes. They had to squat and stand up 100 times each. As a pair they had to stand face to face and pull on their ears."

"Naw Maw Thee" (F, 20), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #55, 4/03)

"The people [KNLA] shot at them a few times. They [SPDC] said that we asked them to shoot, so they beat us. They just shot four or five times and ran away. They [SPDC] protected themselves with the villagers [used the villagers as human shields]. They said the villagers had gone to tell [the KNLA], so they were shot at. They hid behind trees and bamboo. Then when they [KNLA] shot, they forced the porters to run out in front. We didn't have anything. We would die if we ran out in front. They stayed behind us in the forest. None of the porters were injured."

"Saw Mya Kaw" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #13, 6/01)

"Recently when they [SPDC] went back they took the villagers to follow them [as porters]. They summoned many villagers and ordered them to go and get [travel] passes. The villagers were not all there so they ordered them to go and call the people back from the hill fields. When the villagers didn't go to call them, they became annoyed and reviled us a lot. They said we were not their relatives and that they would kill us by planting landmines on the paths to the hill fields. They said they wouldn't need us when we are dead. They kept us as their cover [human shields] and took many of us to follow them. ... They kept us as their shields. If the people [KNLA] shot at them, it would hurt us. One Burmese soldier walked behind each villager. As for me, I was at the front. If there had been any landmines I would have been hurt by them. They forced me to clear their way [as a human minesweeper]."

"Saw Pa Lah" (M, 24), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #44, 11/02)

Villagers who become sick while portering are only provided very basic medical assistance, if any at all. The SPDC and the DKBA are both reluctant to give medical care to any of their porters. When assistance is given, it often amounts to no more than a single tablet of a painkiller such as paracetamol. Sometimes the villagers are released and must make their own way back to their village. Those who have become too weak to move under their own power are simply left behind on the trail to die, or left to the care of people in a village along the way.

"Sometimes they took care of them [the sick porters]. Sometimes they didn't take care of them. They released them. They didn't give them medicine; they released them to go back. Now they allow them to go back. They don't do as they did in the past. It has decreased a little."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

"Many of them got sick. They didn't take care of them. I didn't see that they took care of them. They gave them medicine, but they didn't get better. They still had fevers. They couldn't walk, but they were still calling them to follow. They called them until they couldn't walk anymore and then they left them at other villages. They always did it like that. They gave them a piece [tablet] of paracetamol, but they weren't cured. They didn't allow them to come back, but when they couldn't walk anymore, they left them at other villages. When they felt better their friends or relatives carried them back."

"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)

"One of my friends went [to porter] and he was sick for over 10 days. They didn't give him medicine. When he could no longer carry, he fled. Then they came to fine him. They fined him one duck."

"Saw Ko Tha" (M, 24), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #35, 4/02)

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Road Projects

While there is not an extensive road network in the parts of the district to the east of the main Rangoon-Martaban road (i.e. in Bilin, Pa'an, and Thaton townships), the SPDC is endeavouring to expand this network so that all areas are easily accessible to its troops. Numerous road building projects have now been under way for the past few years to this end. The SPDC claims that these roads are being built for the benefit of the villagers, often citing 'national development' as the cause. However, these roads have been used primarily to facilitate Army encroachment into areas where SPDC control is weak. The development of new roads is invariably followed by the establishment of new Army camps along those roads, ultimately resulting in the increased militarisation of the area. Army posts placed along the roads then restrict the movement of villagers to the extent that the roads become obstacles to free movement rather than the opposite. To the villagers, new roads mean more forced labour: building and later maintaining the roads, building the camps along the roads, portering supplies to those camps, and standing sentry on the roads.

Five roads dominate the region. One road, originating in Martaban, heads north through Thaton and Kyaik Khaw to Bilin and proceeds all the way to Rangoon . This road forks at Bilin to create the second road which continues its northward journey through Bilin township into Papun District where it eventually arrives at Papun town. The third road branches off the Rangoon-Martaban road at Kyaik Khaw, north of Thaton, firstly heading northeast to Wee Raw and then north, roughly following the course of the Donthami River through Lay Kay village and on into Papun District to join the Ka Ma Maung-Papun road at Ka Dtaing Dee. A fourth road links Myaing Galay with Thaton town to the west, while the fifth road branches from this road at Wah Bo Taw, just west of Myaing Galay, heading northwards along the western bank of the Salween River to Ka Ma Maung [see Map 3 of Thaton District for the locations of each of these roads] . While the Rangoon-Martaban road is sealed, the other four roads are all dirt roads which become impassable to vehicles in the wet season. Large sections of the roads wash away in the rainy season or become rutted and potholed, so every year villagers are forced to repair the roads once the rains cease. To do this, the villagers must carry earth and stones to fill any potholes and rebuild sections where the embankment has washed away. The villagers must also clear away any landslides that fall onto the road. Villagers are not paid for this work, nor are they supplied with food, tools, or building materials. The villagers are expected to take their own tools with them and cut any and all of the required building materials from the forest. The SPDC typically orders villagers to repair a specified section of the roads by a particular date. Some villagers have told KHRG that they were responsible for repairing ten miles [16 kms.] of the road. Such sections are usually located close to the village.

"They said that they would build a road. They told the villagers, 'What we are doing now is not for us. We are making it for the villagers.'"

"Saw Thu Day" (M, 35), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #96, 5/04)

"They had to make the road, carry earth, and build a bridge on the Ta Paw car road. They started building it from lower P'Nweh Kla to upper P'Nweh Kla. As for us, we stayed here [at xxxx village], so we had to go and work at Ta Paw. They continued building it. The villagers from Lay Kay also had to build it. Each place had to build a section. The villagers from Kru Kyi and Pwa Ghaw also had to go and build at Ta Paw. ... They build the road and then they will travel and carry their food up [to their camp]. They said, 'If the bridge breaks, you have to build it again. You built it this year and if it breaks next year, you have to build it again.'"

"Saw Eh K'Noh" (M, 57), refugee from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #85, 1/03)

"When the car road was destroyed because of rain, we had to go to spread stone and repair it. We had to start repairing the road at Htaw Pra and then to their camp. During the rainy season there was a flood and a landslide at their camp, so we had to go and repair it and put stone and sand."

"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)

The SPDC plans to upgrade these roads from unsealed dry season roads to all season roads by first paving them with stones and later with tar. On April 20 th 2004, Brigadier General Myint Aung, commanding officer of SPDC Military Operations Command (Sa Ka Ka) #9 temporarily based in the Lay Kay Army camp, ordered the upgrade of the old colonial road running from Kyaik Khaw to Lay Kay. In May 2004, each village near the path of this road was ordered to collect 300 kyin of stone which were to be placed neatly beside the road. A kyin is a pile of stone measuring ten feet [3 metres] by ten feet to a depth of one foot [30 cms.] , totalling 100 cubic feet [30.5 cubic metres] per pile. Each village was therefore ordered to collect 30,000 cubic feet [985 cubic metres] of stone. At least 20 separate villages were issued the same order, including Maw Lay, Ka T'Daw Ni, P'Nweh Klah , Noh Nya Thu, La Ko, Ka Meh, Ta Paw, Ler Klaw, Lay Kay, Ee Heh, Kru Si, Noh Aw Lah, Pwa Ghaw, Kyaw Kay Kee, Ta Thu Kee, Noh Law Plaw, Noh Ka Day, Htee Pa Doh Kee, Meh Theh Pwoh, and Ha T'Reh. Each of these villages had to assemble the 300 kyin , amassing a staggering 600,000 cubic feet [19,685 cubic metres] of stone. Some villages were given only two and a half weeks in which to assemble all 300 piles of stone. This unrealistic order required that everyone living in the village - men, women, and children, some as young as four or five years old - had to assist in collecting the stones. Some villages found themselves still collecting the stones two months later. Only a year before, in 2003, many of these same villages were also ordered to collect another 100 kyin of stones for use on the same road. These stones were positioned to form a solid base, over which a second layer, composed of laterite (reddish-coloured clay commonly used in road building that dries rock hard when exposed to air and sun) would be laid. After all of this is completed tar would be poured to seal the road.

These villagers from Bilin township are collecting stones for use in the construction of the Kyaik Khaw – Ka Dtaing Dtee forced labour road. In April 2004 each village was ordered by Brigadier General Myint Aung, commanding officer of Sa Ka Ka #9 to gather 300 kyin [30,000 cubic feet] of stone like the ones in this photo. Each kyin took 10 bullock cart loads of stone to assemble. None of the villagers were ever paid for the labour that they contributed. [Photo: KHRG]

"Now they have to go and collect stones to spread on the road on the other side of the Baw Naw River . They demand 300 piles of stone from our village. It is LIB #376. They came themselves to force us to do it. They came this morning [7/5/04]. We have to make 300 piles of stone on May 9 th 2004. We must go. If we don't go they will come and do something to us. We have to be afraid of them. They said we have to go for three days. It is time to start preparing our flat fields. I have already explained to them about this. It rains and we have to plough and dibble and do many other types of work."

"Saw Kwee Tha" (M, 56), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #90, 5/04)

"They started forcing us in the month of Tha Tin Kyaut [October 2002] to do the road. The villagers had to pack rice and go to dig the road. We could take a rest for two days. Go to dig today and then come back and stay for one or two days and then go back. They demanded many people. They demanded about 100 people. That was only from xxxx village. There are about 200 or 300 houses in xxxx village. ... The villagers from the other villages also had to go. They villages which stayed very far also had to come. They ordered all the villages in the area of Bilin township to come and work. Khaw Po Pleh village also came. Khaw Po Pleh village is on the other side of the river. All of the villages along the side of the road such as Ta Paw, P'Nweh Klah, and on to Ler Klaw had to do it. ... I don't know what they are making it for. It is a road for them to carry rations. We had to go and build it for them. We had to dig it ourselves. We had to carry the earth. They didn't use cars [bulldozers]. They forced the people to do it. We weren't free to work. ... They specified that each village had to do 10 miles. They made the bridges with logs, so we had to cut down the trees and carry them. The bullock carts and bullocks had to carry them."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

"Last year [2003] they demanded 100 piles of stone. They didn't pay us but they paid the other villages. They didn't pay our village. This year, they demanded 300 piles of stones. They said it would be 1,500 Kyat for one pile the same as last year. They allowed us to go and collect them at the same time as the villagers from Ka Meh and Ta Paw went to collect them. We told them there were no piles of stone. The villagers from Ka Meh and Ta Paw were searching for stones so we really had to go and look for them. Thirty people had to go each day. They said 30 people had to go and collect 15 piles of stone each day."

"Saw Tah Ler Kee" (M, 61), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #94, 5/04)

"The SPDC ordered us to go and collect stones. Each village has to collect 300 piles of stones. They said we couldn't stay [in our village anymore] if we didn't go because the order came from above so they have to force us to work. They didn't like it if we didn't work. We had to go and work for them. ... We have to go and dig the laterite with mattocks, pickaxes and crowbars. It is very difficult. If we only have to go and collect the stones it is easy. Laterite is very difficult. They said they would spread the stone, and then they would spread the laterite. ... They said they are going to use this road for peace and development. They are going to build this road well."

"Saw Bee Lu Lay" (M, 52), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #95, 5/04)

"Now they are ordering the villagers to make piles of stone. They started forcing us to do it on May 8 th 2004. They ordered us to do it and be finished on May 26 th 2004. They said it would be our fault if we didn't do it. The person who ordered us to do it in our area is the camp commander. The camp commander is Captain Kyaw Zin. He is the Ta Paw camp commander. It is LIB #376. According to his order, we have to collect 300 piles of stone, but we asked him to take pity on us. We reported the number of our houses. We have only 10 houses in the village so we couldn't collect 300 piles of stone. We only had to collect 11 piles of stone. ... If we didn't collect it, he said he would fine our village. They will fine us in money or cane, but we don't know which yet. We had to do it when they forced us because they have weapons."

"Saw Thu Day" (M, 35), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #96, 5/04)

"We have to send bullock carts for them. We had to send many when they carried the stones. We had to send about 40 or 50 bullock carts. It was for the piles of stone. We had to use about 10 bullock carts to carry one pile of stone. That was for only one pile. We had to use many bullock carts for 50 piles of stone. We had to carry them for more than one week. We haven't finished carrying it yet. There are not 50 piles yet. We stopped doing it because we have to go to the fields. We refused them."

"U Na Mu Thee" (M, 59), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #76, 5/04)

Also in April 2004, the DKBA began work on the construction of a road up to Meh Si mountain adjacent to Meh Si village in Bilin township. The DKBA had built a pagoda on the top of the mountain and then began forcing the villagers to construct a road from Ohn Daw (in Papun District) to Meh Si and then on to the pagoda. Order #6 shown below was issued to a village in Bilin township by Lieutenant Colonel Pu Ka Saw Wah, commanding officer of the DKBA Ka Saw Wah ('White Elephant') Battalion (also referred to in this order as Central Security Battalion #4), demanding that the village head send a quota of one person per household for a period of no less than five days to work on the road. The order repeatedly uses the word 'donation' to describe the request for labour. However, when no one arrived on the prescribed date, a second and somewhat more insistent order was sent, explicitly stating that the villagers should come prepared to work on the road, " equipped with mattocks, chopping hoes, machetes, clothes, and supplies for 3 days ". The villagers were required to sleep at the work site and were not allowed to return home until their stints were completed. Some villagers had returned home before their time was finished after running out of clothes and medicine. The DKBA accused them of escaping and ordered them to go back to the work site for an additional 15 days.

"They [DKBA] forced us to go to build a road to a pagoda. It is a car road. The cars will go to their pagoda at Meh Si; Mi Zone in Burmese. They demanded 50 villagers to go, but only 25 of us went. They already went for two days of the three days they had to go. They provided food and materials. The villagers didn't like it. They argued because they were not free to go. They said, 'If you are not free, you can hire someone to go instead. One person is 1,000 Kyat for the three days."

"Saw Kwee Tha" (M, 56), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #90, 5/04)

"We always have to go and replace the people at Meh Si pagoda. They do not allow us to come back. They don't allow them to come back if we don't go to replace the person. They [DKBA] are building a road from Ohn Daw to around the pagoda. In the past they called it 'Kyo Soh Yay Camp'. They force the villagers to dig it hard. They force them to work every day. The pagoda is on a hill. They will travel by car to the foot of the mountain and then they can climb up to the pagoda. They will make the road that climbs up the mountain beautifully. We don't know whether they will make it a concrete road. ... They wrote in a letter, 'You have to make the Meh Si pagoda road from Ohn Daw. You must go, so the people come to do the road.' They didn't like it if we didn't go. They said that we must go. That is their order."

"Saw Bee Lu Lay" (M, 52), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #95, 5/04)

According to a Karen township official, the SPDC has also begun to establish San Pya Kyay Ywa , or 'model villages' along the Myaing Galay-Ka Ma Maung car road. All of the villagers living in the villages that have been designated as model villages have to build their homes according to set guidelines determining style and location. Any homes that do not meet the guidelines are dismantled with orders that they should be rebuilt in keeping with the regulations. The SPDC began doing this in 2001. The villages of Noh P'Kway, Htaw Taw, Meh Neh Kay, T'Gaung Poe, Seik Kyaung, Ko Dah Gyi, Weh Pya, Mer Rer, They La Baw, Weh Pya Hta, Su Law Oh, Htee Nya Cha, Meh Kyi Hta, and Ka Ma Maung have all been designated as model villages.

"During this dry season [November 2002 – April 2003] they [SPDC] have forced more than the other years. This year they repaired both car roads. In past years the villagers had to cut and clear the brush along the sides of the road, but didn't have to do it as nicely as this year. This year the people had to build [bridges] with wood and lay stones. It was a red road in the past [a dirt road]. This year the villagers had to build all the bridges on the west side of the Baw Naw Kloh. I think that the villagers haven't finished doing it yet. I haven't seen that the government helps them with the road from Khoh Ni Koh. They provide them only with trucks and order them to carry stones and break them. The villagers had to carry them and lay it for them. Next year they will pour tar on the road. They laid the big types of stone and then spread the small stones and then they will pour the tar. This year they laid the big stones along it to the end. In the villages which the road passes in the plains, they have set up the villagers' houses. They call them 'San Pya Kyay Ywa' [' Model Village ']. They do it every year. Some people lost their land and didn't get compensation. Some people's houses were dismantled and built in the places where they allowed them. These are the villages of Noh P'Kway, Htaw Taw, Meh Neh Kay, T'Gaung Poe, Seik Kyaung, Ko Dah Gyi, Weh Pya, Mer Rer, They La Baw, Weh Pya Hta, Su Law Oh, Htee Nya Cha, Meh Kyi Hta and Ka Ma Maung. It started in 2001."

"Saw Kaw Thu" (M, 37), Karen township official, Pa'an township (Interview #6, 6/03)

Villagers are also ordered to build or repair bridges where the roads must cross over any rivers and streams along its route. The villagers are normally ordered to cut and mill the wood to be used in the construction at their own expense. However, on occasion the SPDC does meet at least a small portion of the cost. They may either supply some of the timber or provide the villagers with money to meet the expenses. These instances however are scarce. In many cases, the soldiers instruct the villagers to cut and mill the timber and then build the bridge all at their own expense, and that any costs incurred by the villagers will be later reimbursed by the military. This never happens, and it is the villagers who find themselves out of pocket. One villager from Thaton township told KHRG that the SPDC gave his village only 30,000 Kyat to cover the cost of the bridge that they were ordered to build. The actual cost of the bridge, however, including the milling of the timber, was close to 120,000 Kyat. The balance was met by the villagers. Another villager from Pa'an township told a KHRG researcher that they had spent over 100,000 Kyat on the bridge that they had to build, after an SPDC Army officer had initially told them that they would be reimbursed for all expenses related to the construction of the bridge. The villagers have never been repaid any amount of the money that they spent, and admit that they do not dare to ask for their refund for fear of punishment for being so bold as to ask.

"Last year we had to build a bridge at Bain Neh Daw. It is on the other side of the river. We didn't get payment. We had to build it until it was finished. They gave us this responsibility. It took only a month. They forced each person to go for three days. They gave us nothing, but they had enough to eat themselves. I don't know what they would have said if we didn't go. We arranged for the villagers from the village to go by rotation. If they [SPDC] didn't see the village head go, they would scold me and ask why we couldn't finish working by the specified date."

"Saw Loh Mu" (M, 45), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #93, 5/04)

"We had to make a bridge on the other side of Baw Naw Wa. We finished making one bridge and it still remains, but we have to make the bridge again [repair it] . It is not only from xxxx village, the villagers from Naw Aw La, Ha T'Reh, Ka Meh, Kyu Kyi, and Pwa Ghaw all have to go. It is for the car road. We finished one bridge. Every village made it. Noh Aw Lah and Kyu Kyu also did their separate work." - Pa Kee Thaw" (M, 60), village elder from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #86, 1/03)

"We had to do 'loh ah pay' [forced labour] hard. They forced us to build a bridge. They forced the villagers from xxxx. They were punishing the villagers from xxxx and yyyy. The reason for punishing us was because the people [KNU] had come back, so they forced us to build the bridge. We had to dig out the stumps of the trees and the bamboo. Some people were sawing logs. Some people were pulling logs. Some people had to go and mill the logs at the sawmill. Then we had to go and build it. ... We had to carry earth, dig the earth, build the bridge, saw and mill the logs for the bridge. We had to saw them ourselves. Some were sawing, some were pulling and some were carrying earth. The women were carrying the earth and the men were making the bridge and pulling logs. It wasn't so long ago, during this dry season [November 2002-April 2003]. ... We had to do it for a month. We weren't free to rest. We had to work and finish it in one month. Now it is finished."

"Naw Hla Win" (F, ?), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #58, 5/03)

"They ordered us to build a bridge in our village. We built it ourselves in our village. They paid. We hired the people to saw the wood, and then we built it ourselves. They gave only 30,000 Kyat for building fees and milling fees. One ton of wood is 60,000 Kyat. We can say we used two tons. They paid only 30,000 Kyat for two tons."

"Naw Eh Th'Saw" (F, 32), village head from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #97, 12/02)

"During the month of Tabaung [Burmese month corresponding to March] the Burmese ordered us to build a bridge at the Na Gyi River . We had to spend over 100,000 Kyat when we went to build it. We had to buy wood. We had to mill the wood. We had to carry it. They said they would repay us our money. The five villages of wwww, xxxx, yyyy, zzzz and vvvv had to do it. They didn't repay any money to those five villages. They told us they would pay, but until now they haven't paid. We can't ask them for it."

"Pa Hsa Ker" (M, 70), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #92, 5/04)

Forced labour is the most prevalent and all-inclusive human rights violation taking place in Burma today. The SPDC orders the villagers to complete the labour without any form of recompense. Moreover, performing labour further limits what little time the villagers have to support their families. These villagers are answering demands issued to them by LID #44 to cut and clear away all scrub from within 50 feet alongside the Bilin – Papun car road. The villagers were not paid nor fed, and all of the materials and tools needed for the job had to be supplied by themselves. These villagers were also responsible for building the road, also under orders from the SPDC. [Photo: KHRG]

Villagers are also regularly ordered to cut back the scrub and brush growing alongside the roads. This is done to provide wide swathes of open ground, or 'killing zones', flanking the roads and thus make it much more difficult for the KNLA to ambush SPDC Army units that are using the road. It also makes it difficult for anyone attempting to cross the road, whether be a KNLA unit or a group of IDPs, without being detected. Villagers living along the Kyaik Khaw-Lay Kay road have told KHRG that they have been ordered to clear the sides of the road of all vegetation down to ground level within 50 feet [15 metres] of either side of the road. Similar to the orders given when forced to repair a road; the villagers are typically assigned a segment of the road that they are responsible for clearing. This is usually specified as being from their own village to the next. This type of work results in many injuries as the villagers unearth or step on landmines that have been planted on the flanks of the road [also see the 'Landmines' section] . The SPDC, the DKBA, and the KNLA are all guilty of planting landmines alongside the roads, and those stepped on by the villagers may have been planted by any one of these groups. The SPDC does not compensate any villager who does happen to step on a landmine and is wounded, maimed, or killed while cutting back the bushes beside a road. No compensation is paid to the surviving family members of those killed, and anyone who is wounded yet survives must pay for their own medical treatment.

"We had to cut the bushes. We had to cut them level with the ground. We had to cut them on both sides of the road from the other side of Baw Naw. We have had to cut it for one or two years already. We always have to cut them. We have to cut them every day. We have had to do it a lot this year. We had to dig the road. When the road has potholes, we have to fill them. They said we have to carry the earth with baskets and mattocks."

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"We had to cut the brush beside the road. They said that they couldn't see over it. They said, 'You come to make the road. If you are hurt by the Karen soldiers' landmine, we will not give you compensation. You have to control it. You have to organise it.' I told them, 'I can't organise it. I won't come if I can't organise it. I don't dare to die yet.' They said, 'You come to work, so you have to organise it.'"

"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)

"When we went to repair the car road we went together with the villagers from Lay Kay. There is a camp there. The villagers from Lay Kay, Paya Raw, Thu K'Bee, Ler Po, Kyo Wai and Htee Si Baw, then down to Meh Theh Pwoh, Noh Law PLaw, Ta Paw, Ler Klaw, Shwe Oak, Mya Lay and Th'Waw Pya all have to go and cut the brush along the road. They said they would take action if we didn't go to cut the brush. We don't know what type of action. They have told us one or two times that they would relocate the villages which didn't obey. They said that if they didn't like xxxx village, they would drive us to Lay Kay and Lay Kaw Htee, there are many places. They said they would relocate us there. They said it was directed by the Division Commander. It was when Division #44 came."

"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)

"We had to cut the brush at the road, go repair the bridge and go to carry rice for them. We had to start cutting from the Khoh Loh Kloh [Salween River] to Paya Raw. The people from Lay Kay cut until the Khoh Loh Kloh. The people from xxxx cut from the Khoh Loh Kloh to Paya Raw. The people from Paya Raw cut to Kyo Wai. Kyo Wai cuts to Htee Pa Doh Hta. Htee Pa Doh Hta cuts until Yoh Kla and Yoh Kla cuts until Meh Baw Kee."

"Saw Dee Kay" (M, 50), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #53, 3/03)

"We had to cut the brush and dig the road to be the same level with the ground like a tar road. We did it with the people's energy. People build car roads with machines, but we did it with the people's energy. There were puddles and we had to carry logs and fill them. We had to dig it to level with the ground and cut the brush for 50 feet on each side. We had to cut and clear the bushes and small trees. Our village had to cut for over a mile. After we cut and levelled, we had to dig ditches on the sides. It was so long that we couldn't do it. We did it only to be finished in name. In the morning we had to go and work on the road. We weren't free to work for ourselves. We had to go and dig it for them two times. It rained after we finished the digging. The small water [trench] collapsed and filled up again."

"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)

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Demands for Building Materials

"They demanded wood and bamboo. Sometimes they demanded 100 shingles of thatch from each [village] section. We had to make them. Each house had to make 10 shingles. They demanded thatch, wood and bamboo every week."

"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)

Villagers who live near SPDC or DKBA camps are regularly ordered to provide building materials such as logs, bamboo, and thatch to those camps. Some of these materials are used to build new fences, barracks, warehouses, and homes for the soldiers' families, in addition to repairing the existing ones – the villagers know this because they are often then forced to do the work with the materials they have provided. However, the vast quantity of materials demanded by some camps far outweighs their need, and the materials are actually sold by the soldiers to make money for the commanding officers. The villagers must first go out into the forest to cut the materials before transporting them to the Army camp. The villagers are expected to use their own tools to cut the building materials as none are ever supplied by the SPDC or the DKBA. Whenever the villagers are ordered to supply logs to the Army camp, they must use their own bullock carts to haul them the distance. Some of these logs can be up to 5.5 metres [18 feet] in length, and 70 centimetres [27 inches] in circumference, weighing several tonnes. The villagers are not paid for their labour, or for any of the materials that they provide.

In early 2002, soldiers from LID #44 came to replace those from LID #66 who were stationed in the district. The newly arrived soldiers then ordered the villagers to build new Army camps for them. All of the materials needed for the construction had to be supplied by the villagers. The villagers in this photo are carrying roofing thatch for use in the construction of one of those newly established camps. Many villages in Thaton District are ordered to provide the SPDC and/or the DKBA with 1,000 shingles thatch each year. Most of this finds its way into the commercial markets with all of the profits going to the officers. None of this money is ever seen by the villagers who actually do the work. [Photo: KHRG]

"They forced us to cut small logs, bamboo and thatch to build the camp. They are forcing us a lot. We always have to send these things once a year. We have to send them to Lay Kay Army camp. It takes one hour to walk there. ... There are many different sizes of logs. Sometimes they are two or three handspans [45-70 cms. / 18-27 inches] in circumference. Some of them are 6 cubits, 10 cubits or 12 cubits [2.7, 4.6, 5.5 metres / 9, 15, 18 feet] in length. Sometimes they demand 200 pieces of bamboo and sometimes they demand 50 pieces. Sometimes they