Tue, 24 Jun 2014
Hpapun Photo Set: BGF Battalion #1013 land confiscation for army base in Dwe Lo Township, June 2012 to November 2013

This Photo Set shows the Tatmadaw-Border Guard Force (BGF) Battalion #1013 army camp, which has been under construction in Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District since June 2012, as well as photographs of villagers’ lands which were confiscated for its construction. This Photo Set also explains that, although villagers received compensation from the BGF for the land, they now regret their earlier decision to sign the land over to the BGF and accept the compensation.[1]

Photo Set | Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District (June 2012 to November 2013)

The following photos were taken by two villagers in Hpapun District and submitted to a KHRG community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. They are presented below, censored where necessary for security purposes.[2] The 12 photos below were received along with other information from Hpapun District, including 115 other photos.[3]

Tue, 24 Jun 2014

Footnotes: 

[1] As will be explained in a forthcoming KHRG News Bulletin, a KNU/KNLA-Peace Council member with links to the BGF impersonated a KNU headquarters member in order to convince the local community to sell their land.
 
[2] KHRG trains villagers in eastern Burma to document individual human rights abuses using a standardised reporting format; conduct interviews with other villagers; and write general updates on the situation in areas with which they are familiar.  When writing situation updates, villagers are encouraged to summarise recent events, raise issues that they consider to be important, and present their opinions or perspective on abuse and other local dynamics in their area.
 
[3] This Photo Set was compiled by KHRG office staff and is based on information from a community member from Hpapun District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. In order to increase the transparency of KHRG methodology and more directly communicate the experiences and perspectives of villagers in eastern Burma, KHRG aims to make all field information received available on the KHRG website once it has been processed and translated, subject only to security considerations. For additional reports categorised by Type, Issue, Location and Year, please see the Related Readings component following each report on KHRG’s redesigned Website.
 
[4] Major Htu Lu was was previously the commander of the DKBA battalion referred to as white elephant or k’chaw wah in the Karen language.
 
[5] As of May 21st 2014, all conversion estimates for the Kyat in this report are based on the official market rate of 965 kyat to the US $1.

Download Links

Related Readings