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

II. Forces in the District

Militarily, the informal ceasefire between the SPDC and the KNLA which was agreed upon in January 2004 has been widely observed in Thaton District. Very few clashes between the SPDC and KNLA have occurred in the district with both sides generally avoiding each other. SPDC soldiers often do not travel through the forest and usually use the roads or bigger paths to get from place to place. Much of their activity has consisted of simple patrolling without aggressively looking for the KNLA. This patrolling became progressively more active late in 2004, but clashes between the two sides have still been rare. The DKBA has been a little more aggressive in seeking out the KNLA during this time, but the KNLA has largely been able to avoid them.

The SPDC

The SPDC's grip on Thaton District is strong with several battalions constantly based in the area and many others that rotate through. Thaton District comes under the area of operations of the Southeast Regional Command headquartered in Moulmein , Mon State . This regional command maintains several battalions in the area including Infantry Battalion (IB) #24 and IB #96. In addition, Light Infantry Division (LID) #44 has its headquarters at Thaton and its 10 battalions often patrol the area. Other formations have also operated in the district for various periods of time [refer to 'Appendix C: SPDC Military Units in Thaton District, 2001-2005', for a list of units documented as being active in Thaton District between 2001 and 2005]. LID #66 entered the area in early 2003 and stayed there until mid-2004 when it was replaced by Sa Ka Ka (Military Operations Command – abbreviated from Sit Kaut Keh A'Kyay Seik ) #9. LID #66 is headquartered at Pyi (Prome) in Pegu Division and Sa Ka Ka #9 at Kyauktaw in Arakan State , but both had their local headquarters at the SPDC military camp adjacent to Lay Kay village in Bilin township for the duration of their stays in the district. The soldiers of LID #66 and Sa Ka Ka #9 were stationed in camps throughout the district and patrolled the surrounding countryside. In addition to the regular Army, the SPDC also has police posts in the areas of the district near the Salween River , along the roads and around the major towns, especially in the areas along and to the west of the main Rangoon-Martaban road and railway.

"From Wa Glu Koh to the plains they [the villagers] have had more experiences. There are many kinds of the enemy. There are Tha Ka Sa Pa [SPDC-controlled 'Anti-Insurgent Group'], SPDC, Pyitthu Sit [SPDC 'People's Militia'], Per Kaw [Military Police] and DKBA staying together. When they hear about us [KNU/KNLA], they gather with an SPDC column that is active and immediately chase us. That is why here [in the hills] and the plains are disconnected, but we hear their problems and they are doing things non-stop. They restrict the people more and more."

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

"I know the military police. They included military police. They wrote 'Tat Htain' [Military Police] on their shoulders."

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

Prior to the ceasefire, SPDC military units rotated in and out of camps throughout the district on a four to six month schedule. From these camps the SPDC patrolled the surrounding area occasionally looking for the KNLA, but more often to harass the villagers. Outside offensive formations, such as LID #66 and Sa Ka Ka #9 mentioned above, were brought in periodically to sweep the area. Following the ceasefire, the SPDC has spent even less of its time seeking out the KNLA and concentrated more of its time demanding forced labour, money, and building materials from the villagers. The Army works closely with the Village and the Village Tract Peace and Development Councils (PDCs) in the district. Many of the Army's demands for building materials, money, and forced labour are sent through the Village or Village Tract PDCs and bear the stamp of the local level PDC. Order #1 shown below is an example of one such order. This order was issued to the village in question by the Win Ta Pa Village PDC under instruction from Win Ta Pa Army camp commander, Captain Kyaw Zin Oo.

"They [SPDC] don't always come. Sometimes they come once a month and sometimes they come twice in one or two months."

"Naw Kyi Doh" (F, 44), widowed villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #37, 7/02)

The Tha Ka Sa Pa

In addition to regular Army units, the SPDC also operates a group called the Thaut Kya Thu Sit Kyay Yin A'Pwet ; more commonly known by its Burmese acronym as the Tha Ka Sa Pa ( 'Anti-Insurgent Group' in English). The Tha Ka Sa Pa operate in Thaton, Pa'an and Kyaikto townships, but not in Bilin township. The Tha Ka Sa Pa is rumoured to have originally been created in the 1960's by former Kawthoolei Armed Forces (KAF) soldiers who had surrendered to the Burmese regime along with former KNU chairperson Saw Hunter Thamwe in April 1964. According to Martin Smith, author of "Burma: Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity"(1), Hunter Thamwe defected with all of the KAF 5 th Brigade – which at that time operated within Thaton District (the area now covered by KNLA 1 st Brigade), #3 Battalion from Nyaunglebin District, along with a few others. KHRG researchers estimate there to be a total of approximately 400-500 Tha Ka Sa Pa soldiers presently operating in the three townships.

Most of the rank and file of the Tha Ka Sa Pa are villagers while the leaders appear to be ex-KNLA. In Thaton and Kyaikto townships villagers are forced to join only from villages which the Tha Ka Sa Pa trusts. The Tha Ka Sa Pa dictate how many people from each village must join and how long the enlistment period will be. One to four people are normally taken from the villages, although four to five villagers may be demanded from larger villages. The soldiers are not paid salaries. Instead, they are allowed to collect taxes from cattle and buffalo traders. The advantage to joining is that the villager no longer has to go as a porter or perform other forms of forced labour anymore. The villager is allowed to go and do his own work in the daytime, but must come back and stand guard as sentries in the evening.

The Tha Ka Sa Pa are given training, uniforms, and weapons by the SPDC. They carry AK47 and M16 assault rifles and knives. Although they have uniforms, the Tha Ka Sa Pa soldiers commonly wear civilian clothing, particularly short pants and sarongs. The Tha Ka Sa Pa soldiers spend much of their time guarding villages, but they also go out on patrols, during which they operate in small sections of four or five soldiers. The Tha Ka Sa Pa operate through a larger area and more independently than the Pyitthu Sit who only really guard villages and serve the SPDC as guides [see 'The Pyitthu Sit' below]. Tha Ka Sa Pa soldiers who have lost their weapons to the KNLA have been arrested by the SPDC and jailed as a result. Although most of the Tha Ka Sa Pa are Karen villagers themselves, some of them are little better than the SPDC or DKBA in their relations with the villagers. Villagers have reported that Tha Ka Sa Pa soldiers demand food from them and threaten them. They sometimes tell the villagers that they are really KNLA and question the villagers about their relationships with the KNU. On separate occasions in the past, they have killed villagers for having had contact with the KNU. One KHRG researcher said in 2003, that "[t]he SPDC uses them to kill villagers who contact the KNU." They are empowered and ordered by the SPDC to fine villagers and arrest them. Some of the operating methods of the Tha Ka Sa Pa are similar to those used by the Dam Byan Byaut Kya ('Guerrilla Retaliation Units') in Nyaunglebin and Toungoo Districts further north and there has been some confusion as to whether they are the same group or not. This has led to speculation in the past that the Dam Byan Byaut Kya may have expanded their area of operations into Thaton District. While similarities do exist, they are not the same. The Tha Ka Sa Pa is a paramilitary militia organisation recruited from among the villagers and ex-KNLA soldiers while the Dam Byan Byaut Kya are under the SPDC Army and made up of specially trained SPDC soldiers, who all appear to have been selected from battalions from Southern Regional Command. The Tha Ka Sa Pa are also not nearly as brutal as the Dam Byan Byaut Kya have proven themselves to be.

"The Tha Ka Sa Pa is the guerrilla retaliation unit. They are still active and they patrol in Pa'an, Thaton and Kyaikto townships. Their activities are the same as the Baw Bee Doh ['Short Pants' – villager slang for the Dam Byan Byaut Kya] in 3 rd Brigade [Nyaunglebin District] because the Baw Bee Doh are under the Tha Ka Sa Pa. When they are patrolling their change their insignia to that of the KNU and go to the villages, but they are the same as the SPDC soldiers. The SPDC soldiers select them and order them to do this in the villages. They are the same as the Baw Bee Doh group. They are the same group, but when they are in the centre, in the towns, they say their name is Tha Ka Sa Pa, but when they come into the mountains they wear short pants so people call them 'Baw Bee Doh'. The clothes they wear are the same as the civilians wear. They wear short pants, sarongs and ordinary clothes. They also wear KNU clothes and have KNU insignia. They made the insignia themselves. Some of them wear KNU insignia and some of them wear clothes like civilians wear. If three of them wear KNU clothes and insignia on the clothes, two of them wear ordinary clothes and carry their guns. When they work they have good intelligence. When they enter villages they ask people where the village head is and the people show them the village head's house. When they go to the village head's house they ask the village head about the KNU soldiers and to send them to their KNU friends. If people go to show them the KNU, they shoot at the KNU when they arrive at the KNU's place. They also shot and killed the villager who guided them. It was in the beginning of 2003. They investigate the civilians and if they know the villagers give rice to the KNU then they torture and hit the villagers. If they know people carry loads or carry guns or bullets, then they torture and kill the villagers also. They ask the villagers to show them the KNU's place and hit the people if they cannot show them. They speak Karen. They are Karen but they are not DKBA. Some KNU soldiers surrendered to them and they use those people. They speak Karen and they are Karen people. They are Karen people who went back to surrender and took their guns also, so they still have activities there until now."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

The Pyitthu Sit

The SPDC has organised Pyitthu Sit or 'People's Militia' in many of the villages in Thaton District, especially in the more flat areas of Pa'an, Thaton and Kyaikto townships. The terms of service in the Pyitthu Sit vary with some villagers having to go on one month rotating schedules and others on a more permanent basis – some as long as four years. The number of villagers forced to join the Pyitthu Sit depends on the size of the village, with the larger villages being expected to commit more men to the militia. Villagers who do not want to join the Pyitthu Sit must pay a fee of as much as 10,000 Kyat a month to hire someone to go in their place. The villagers are given basic military training by the SPDC and given weapons and uniforms once the training is over. After the training they are expected to stay in the villages and act as sentries. Occasionally they are taken along by patrolling SPDC units to act as guides. This is especially so if there are no DKBA around. They are expected to open fire if the KNU or KNLA come to their village. If a villager loses his weapon, he must pay back its cost, as happened to one villager from Neh Paw Hta village several years ago. No salaries are given to the militia and the villagers are expected to feed the militia in their village. Each house must give 10 baskets [210 kgs. / 460 lbs.] of paddy to the militia each year.

"After the training they put their soldiers [militia] in the village and give them some good guns and some not so good guns. They give G3's, G2's [BA63 and BA72 respectively] to use and rifles from the time of the Japanese [possibly WWII vintage Lee-Enfield rifles]. They keep 10 to 15 militia in the village and they also have special camps in the villages. They set up their place like a small building in the centre of the village and they have to sleep there and stand sentry there. All of the villages there have fences around them. Every village there has a fence and they allow one way to come and one way to go out. They have to stand sentry and that militia unit must guard so the KNU cannot come into the village and also so they will not shoot in the village if they do come in. But the militia don't stand sentry, they force the villagers to sentry. They don't give guns to the villagers when the villagers have to sentry. They take the guns with them. They force the villagers to take machetes, knives, slingshots, sticks or some sharp thing. They are villagers, but they have a little status, so they want to oppress the villagers. Each militia soldier has to work for four years. During the four years when they are in the militia, they don't have to work a flat field so the villagers have to do it for them. The SPDC doesn't support them with money or anything so the villagers have to serve them. Some militia have family and the villagers have to give them rice so each house has to give them two baskets of paddy. The villages there are big with about 100 or 200 houses so the militia groups can get enough rice. One militia soldier must work for four years in the militia, but some of them don't want to do that. The SPDC have camps in the villages and they also have soldiers, but the SPDC take the militia groups to patrol with them too."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

In February 2002, SPDC Army soldiers entered these men's village to capture villagers to take as forced labour porters.  Men are typically treated more brutally and are kept for longer periods of time than women are while portering for the SPDC, so many men, like those in this photo; flee from their village before the soldiers arrive to avoid being taken as porters. This however only leaves women and children behind in the village who must then go in place of the men. [Photo: KHRG]

"Fighting [between KNLA and Pyitthu Sit] did not occur in our village, but it has occurred in other villages. It occurred a long time ago. One of the Pyitthu Sit was killed when the outside KNU people came to shoot at Neh Paw Hta village. Their [Pyitthu Sit] weapon wasn't lost at Neh Paw Hta village, but they did lose one at La Meh T'Kaw. It was when the outside people came and got two guns from them, so they [SPDC] ordered them to pay the cost. Pa Lu Kyaw [Pyitthu Sit leader] ordered them to pay for the cost of two guns."

"Saw Po Win" (M, 37), villager from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #83, 1/03)

"The militia units shot at the KNU. The SPDC gave them guns and gave them their views. The SPDC set up their camps in the big villages and they also set up the militia groups in the village. They keep militia groups in every village and if they go to patrol the militia groups have to go patrol with them. So when the militia units see the KNU, the militia shoot at the KNU because when they attended the military training the SPDC gave them the opinion that the KNU is bad."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

"At the time when we were doing the flat fields we had to do Pyitthu Sit for the people [SPDC]. Sometimes we had to go and porter for the people. There is no Pyitthu Sit in the village, but the villagers have to do it by rotation. Each person has to do it for a month. Anyone who has a turn must do it. We can't not do it because we have to do it by rotation. Each person has to do it for a month. The leader of the Pyitthu Sit who arranges it is Pa Lu Kyaw. Pa Lu Kyaw is the biggest leader. They give us guns because we do Pyitthu Sit. We have to stay in our village and be sentries. We have to go around our village. When the people from outside [KNU/KNLA] come, we have to shoot at them. ... There are a few houses in the village so each person has to do it for a month. Each person has to do it two or three times a year. ... They don't pay us anything. Some villagers do not dare to do it, but they must do it. Some villagers have money so they hire people [to go in their stead]. To hire people with money, each person has to pay nearly 10,000 Kyat for one month. ... It is not enough for me each year because the villagers from our village who do not dare to be Pyitthu Sit have to hire people. They also call for a one-month village head. Each villager has to do it for a month. If they do not dare to do it they must hire someone. So we do like this and we eat like this. The villages of Meh K'Raw, La Meh T'Kaw, Noh Klee, Kyaw T'Ru , Wa T'Reh, Pway Lu Glu, Htee Kaw Wa, Noh Kra, and Naw Pa Doh have to do it. Ten people from each village have to do it for one month. After one month they change to another ten people. ... Ten people from each village have to do it so they give us ten guns. Mostly they call them AK [AK47 assault rifles, but are more likely to be Burmese-made copies such as the MA-1]."

"Saw Po Win" (M, 37), villager from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #83, 1/03)

Over the past couple of years the SPDC has begun giving large numbers of civilians basic military training. The SPDC says the reason for this is to prepare the country for a possible foreign invasion. The United States is often named as the likely invader. Displaying their paranoia over such a prospect, the SPDC recently relocated the seat of government and the ministries from the coastal port of Rangoon to Pyinmana in central Burma . Many commentators have quoted the junta's fears of the possibility of a sea-launched invasion of Burma by the United States as the reason. In areas of Thaton District which the SPDC has very strong control over, particularly near the towns, the SPDC has declared that all men under 45 years of age in villages near their camps must attend military training. The villagers are told that they have no choice but to go, although in some places villagers can pay 100,000 Kyat to avoid having to go to the training. This however is far beyond the means of most villagers. The trainings last for 25 days and are held at Myaing Galay, Ka Ma Maung, and Papun. No weapons or uniforms are issued after the training. The villagers are ordered to go back to their villages and stay at home, but to always send information to the SPDC. The idea is that the trained villagers can be recalled when they are needed. Presumably they would then be issued with uniforms and weapons. Many villagers are frightened of this because they are worried about being forced to join the SPDC Army. In the towns the SPDC has ordered that all students above 7 th Standard (Grade) and civil servants must also attend military training. This training is given to both males and females. Trainees were told to bring along a length of bamboo or wood to serve as a mock weapon during the training. The training reportedly lasts for three months and was done in every town in the district. Afterward, the trainees were allowed to go home. Some of the older students, however, were asked to join the Army [also see the 'Education and Health' section]. According to Andrew Selth, author of "Burma's Armed Forces: Power without Glory"(2) , this tactic has been employed across Burma with all members of the SPDC-aligned Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) having undergone basic military training, as have all members of the Auxiliary Fire Brigades, the Myanmar Red Cross Society, and civil servants.

"Five villagers are collected from each village and forced to attend the training and organise the militia. They give military training on how to shoot, how to detect and everything that soldiers should know. They give the training for four months. They give the training every year. They give the training three or four times a year. After they finish one training, they start another new training."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

The DKBA

Thaton District is the area of operations of the DKBA #333 Brigade. The three battalions of the brigade operate throughout the four townships of the district, but the DKBA soldiers are most heavily concentrated in Pa'an township. The headquarters for the brigade is at Ohn Daw at the confluence of the Yunzalin and Salween Rivers just across the border into Papun District, across from DKBA headquarters at Myaing Gyi Ngu (Khaw Taw in Karen). KHRG researchers estimate that the strength of the DKBA in the district has remained at about 200-300 soldiers since 2000. DKBA units and SPDC units often operate together in Thaton District, but DKBA units also operate independently. SPDC units often use the DKBA as guides when they go on patrols. The DKBA also operates together with the Tha Ka Sa Pa and the Tat Htain ('Military Police').

"They [DKBA] said that they come to make peace. I went to their meeting when they came. They said in the meeting that they don't do anything else and that they are fighting for religion."

"Saw Bway Htoo" (M, 59), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #19, 1/02)

"The SPDC gives full power to them, so in order for them [the villagers] to stay they have to give what they want. They give them [DKBA] full opportunities, so they do as they want. The SPDC is using them to break down our nationality, the KNU organisation. They use them in many ways."

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

"If I have to speak, their [DKBA] relations with us are good. Sometimes they are good, but some of them are no good."

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

The SPDC does not provide a salary to the DKBA in the district. Instead they have told the DKBA to conduct various businesses to make money. The DKBA does not have a central treasury or revenue department. Each DKBA Brigade is responsible for raising its own funds. Geographic location and the business savvy of the respective commanders are the key contributing factors explaining how some Brigades, such as #999 Brigade in Pa'an District, appear much wealthier and better equipped than others. In Thaton District, the DKBA earns money through taxation on boats moving along the rivers and on people travelling along the roads in the district. Logging and the sale of thatch also provide income to the DKBA, as does a DKBA-owned transport company. All of the thatch and much of the wood is demanded from villagers who are almost never paid for it. The DKBA also levies field taxes on some of the villages [see the 'Fees, Looting, and Extortion' section]. Another source of income that has been widely alleged is the sale and transportation of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS). This contention has been supported by KHRG researchers. Many of the DKBA soldiers are also reportedly users of the drug. The tablets are allegedly sold for 500 Kyat each in the district. The SPDC has not taken any action against DKBA soldiers selling the drug within the district, nor has any action been taken against DKBA soldiers transporting it to areas along the Burma-Thai border where it is smuggled across to Thailand . There seems to be an arrangement whereby DKBA cars are let through SPDC checkpoints unchecked. According to one KHRG researcher, these amphetamines come from the Wa, presumably members of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), in the north of Shan State .

"They have to find money for their income. The Burmese SPDC ordered them to find money and do business. Because of that the DKBA has to find money for their soldiers staying at the frontline. The SPDC forces them to trade logs and drugs. They are allowed to do these jobs freely by the SPDC. The SPDC soldiers at the checkpoints don't check and make problems for them when they take these. They have to go and collect the drugs from Wa State [the Wa area of Shan State] and bring it through Burma and up to Myawaddy and then export it to their regular customers. The #333 [Brigade] leaders take it there. ... The SPDC soldiers want to trade in that but their leaders don't allow them to do that. They are forbidden to do that, but the DKBA can do that. The DKBA can do it to eat and the Burmese don't prohibit them because they are Karen people. To get rid of these people the SPDC has tricked them and forced the DKBA to abuse the rights of the civilians. The Burmese SPDC government says that they don't practice drugs but they order the DKBA to do it."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

"Now they are doing a lot of drugs. It will be because the SPDC orders them to do it. I don't think the SPDC would allow them to do it if they hadn't ordered them to do it. I have never seen that the SPDC arrests them or restricts them. They must allow them to buy or sell it. They wouldn't do it if they weren't allowed to do it."

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

Most civilians in the district dislike the DKBA and many describe them as being the same as the SPDC. Indeed many of the methods that they employ are the same as those used by the SPDC. Many villagers have told KHRG researchers that they now fear the DKBA more than the SPDC. The DKBA #333 Brigade officer known as Moe Kyo ('Lightning' in Burmese) and the soldiers under him have become notorious in both Thaton District and Pa'an District to the east for their brutality to villagers. The DKBA often demand forced labour and wood and thatch from the villagers. DKBA soldiers have been known to beat villagers who do not comply with their demands. DKBA officers also threaten villagers that they will be killed or their villages burned down if they are attacked by the KNLA. DKBA officers have reportedly begun threatening villagers with death should the news of DKBA human rights violations get out. The DKBA have also placed yearly movement restrictions on villagers making it difficult for them to go to harvest their fields. Since 2003 some DKBA have taken to dressing up as KNLA commandoes when they go to villages and ordering the village head to provide them with a guide. The villagers trust them when they see the KNLA uniforms and provide them with a guide. Once the DKBA leave the village, the guide is tied up, tortured and interrogated about where the KNU/KNLA is hiding. In October 2004, the DKBA managed to arrest a KNU Agriculture Department head and several of his workers. The villagers in the area were ordered to pay 400,000 Kyat in ransom for each person. Some of the workers who were not ransomed were killed and the rest were put in prison.

"Another thing is they said that their religion is Buddhism, but when they go to the monastery they don't take off their slippers. They don't worship. They said they don't eat meat, but they eat more meat than we do."

"Saw Meh Tee" (M, 22), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #21, 1/02)

"Look at when Htoo Baw [a DKBA officer] came. He said, 'Don't come to shoot at me crazily. If the people [KNLA] come to shoot me with one bullet, I will burn the village.' He will kill us and we have to be afraid of him more than the Burmese. One day he told us like that. On a second day he told us like that. I didn't dare to move. For us, we have to forbid it [KNLA attacks], 'Don't do it. Don't do it. The people will kill us.' As for them [DKBA], they take cover behind us. They are the Koh Per Baw ['Yellow Headbands' – villager slang for the DKBA]. They are very rude. They are ruder than the Burmese. They demand to eat a lot of rice. Now they have demanded one basket and we have to find one basket at once. They said, 'You are the village head. If you go to complain and if I hear about it in a [radio] intercept, I will kill you.' So we don't dare to complain. We have to do it later, slowly. They would eat us if they heard about it in an intercept. That happened in November [2001]."

"Naw Lah Eh Mu" (F, 53), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #32, 3/02)

"All of the villagers are suffering. When they [DKBA] come they accuse us that we are Kawthoolei. They [DKBA and KNU] eat rice from the same pot. They are chasing each other and doing [fighting] each other. At the end of the day we are worse off. We can't do anything. We speak, but I don't think it's useful. We are villagers and workers. When they come, we welcome them as we can. What can we do if we don't welcome them? We welcome them, but they still don't look well on us. We thought that they lived the same in the past. Now, when they go back there they have to continue working and they are not finished with their duty yet. But they do things worse. They are killing each other. We are villagers so we can't flee and stay [anywhere]. They come up and oppress us. ... They ate some of the poultry. They say they are vegetarian, but they eat [meat] a lot."

"Saw Lu Doh Say" (M, 57), villager from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #22, 1/02)

"They made problems by scolding and threatening us. The villagers don't dare to talk about it. They [DKBA] said, 'If you tell, we will kill you.'"

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

"No, the Burmese soldiers don't torture us. Only the monk soldiers [DKBA] torture us. When the monk soldiers came to the village they arrested and beat the villagers. It was Maung Tin Soe and Eh Dah. They beat Pa Thay Tha and Maung Tin Nyo. They are villagers. They [DKBA] asked them the way and they didn't know, so they beat them."

"Saw Aye Dee" (M, 40), village head from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #100, 11/03)

"I wish the monk soldiers [DKBA] would disappear. As long as the monk soldiers are still alive, we will be poor. We have to really be afraid of them when the monk soldiers come. In the past we were afraid of the Burmese because they were not our nationality. Now we are afraid of them a little bit, but we are very afraid of the monk soldiers."

"Saw Wee Lee" (M, 42), villager from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #101, 11/03)

The KNU and KNLA

Thaton District falls within the area of operations of the KNLA 1 st Brigade. Although the KNLA no longer controls any real territory in the district it is still quite active. This is especially so in Bilin township, but the KNLA also operates in Pa'an, Thaton and Kyaikto townships. The KNLA operates in small guerrilla units utilising hit-and-run tactics, before the ceasefire occasionally ambushing SPDC and DKBA units. Since the ceasefire however, the KNLA has attempted to avoid any direct contact with the SPDC and DKBA and has been largely successful in doing so. The KNU also provides limited support to the villages in the form of monetary assistance and warnings about SPDC or DKBA troops who may be coming to the village. The KNU also provides medical assistance to villagers and some limited assistance to the schools [see the section on 'Education and Health' for more on this].

"They protect the villagers by giving them messages when they get information that the SPDC military will come to the village and ask the villagers to be careful."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

The KNU administers four townships in the district: Kyaikto, Bilin, Thaton and Pa'an townships [see Map 3 of Thaton District]. Paung township to the south was also formerly administered by the KNU, but owing to the vast extent of SPDC control in the area, the KNU/KNLA are no longer able to go there and thus no longer maintain the area as a township . The KNU collects yearly taxes from the villages in the four townships and also asks for food from the villagers. The villagers often do not want to pay because they are already paying the SPDC and DKBA, but they try to give something. There is usually less coercion involved than is used by other groups. Most villagers support the KNU, but they are caught between them on one side and the SPDC and DKBA on the other and after years of giving to all sides there is very little left. The villagers must also fear that the SPDC or DKBA may find out about their support for the KNU/KNLA. Village heads and sometimes individual villagers have been arrested, tortured, and sometimes executed for providing assistance to the KNU. The KNLA also recruits villagers to join its ranks. This is usually voluntary, but many villagers have become afraid to join the KNU, lest the DKBA find out and make problems for their families.

"They [KNLA] come, but they are a little better. They ask [for food] when they come. When they ask, we give it to them. They come to collect taxes. For example, 'Who is doing logging?' The people who are doing logging pay a tax. 'Who has a boat?' After the people pay them the taxes, they give them one or two bottles of alcohol and then they leave. We don't have to give a basket of rice to them. Only three or four soldiers come."

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

"Sometimes when they [KNU] come and they don't have enough men they ask for one, two, four or five people. They ask the same as the Burmese."

"Naw Tah Lay" (F, 26), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #25, 2/02)

"We have to work for them [KNU] because we are staying among them. Sometimes they come and talk with us nicely. We are sad if they don't talk with us nicely. There is not only one person who goes with them. Our children have also gone. Our relatives have also gone."

"Naw Thu Paw" (F, 43), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #26, 3/02)

"Sometimes the KNU asks the villagers to carry loads for them. The loads of the KNU are less heavy than for the other groups. They are about 6 or 7 viss [10-11.5 kgs. / 22-25 lbs.]. They carry their food. The KNU gives them the same food as the KNU soldiers eat."

"Saw Bah Heh" & "Saw Htoo Klay" (M, xx & M, xx ), KHRG field researchers (Interview #2, 8/03)

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