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SURVIVING IN SHADOW: Widespread Militarization and the Systematic Use of Forced Labour in the Campaign for Control of Thaton District
VI. Fees, Looting, and Extortion
Many SPDC Army officers use their service in rural areas to make easy money which they can use to start businesses in urban areas. Company and battalion commanders can return from a six month to a year rotation in a rural area with a profit of several million Kyat. The officers make their money through the exploitation of villagers and their own soldiers as forced labour on money-making projects, 'deductions' from soldiers' salaries, selling of the soldiers' rations, collection of forced labour fees, collection of ransoms of arrested village heads and villagers, theft of the villagers' property, and extortion.
"They carried their own food, but they sold it. They sold their rations after they got them. They sold them when they arrived in the other villages. They are very clever. They demand a lot."
"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)
"They sell their own rice also. They sell milk and sugar. The demand the other food from us. They sold their dried fish and they forced me to sell their dried fish. They said they had 80 viss [128 kgs. / 288 lbs.] of dried fish, but when we weighed it, we saw that it was only 50 viss [80 kgs. / 180 lbs.]. They asked us to sell 1 viss [1.6 kgs. / 3.6 lbs.] of dried fish for 600 Kyat, so we had to sell 1 viss of dried fish for 600 Kyat. Their dried fish was no good, it was yellow and beaten. We didn't want to eat it, but we shared it among every house to buy it. I asked the villagers to buy it and I gave ½ viss of dried fish to each house to help me buy it. We got 30,600 Kyat and we sent it to them. We had to buy it. We couldn't refuse it, so everyone had to buy it. Whether we wanted to buy it or not, we had to buy it."
"Daw Mu Lu Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #65, 7/03)
"We already went yesterday [18/1/04] and we came back now. We had to go to sell milk for them. We had to get 300 Kyat for one milk tin. They sold it and used the money for cigars. I told them we are poor and have nothing. When we see our friends, we see that they also don't have anything. We are very poor. ... I tell them, 'You get a salary. You should feed us.'"
"Naw Than Sha" (F, 53), village head from xxxx village (Interview #71, 1/04)
Rice quotas were supposedly abolished by the SPDC in 2003, but all that really happened was that the SPDC simply changed the name and form from a quota to a tax. The SPDC now demands a portion of the crop as taxes on flat fields, hill fields and plantations. Such fees are still referred to as ta won kyay , or 'obligation'. According to a villager from Pa'an township, the SPDC demands the same amount from plantations as it does from fields; for each acre under cultivation, the villagers must give eight baskets [168 kgs. / 368 lbs.] of produce to the soldiers. In the case of flat rice fields, villagers are able to reap anything up to 70 baskets [1,470 kgs. / 3,220 lbs.] of paddy for each acre. Even when weather conditions are favourable, which has not been the case for the past few years, and when the villagers are free to access their fields (which also has not been the case for the past few years), this amounts to being, at best, more than ten percent of their entire harvest, and at worst much more. Villagers employed as fishermen must pay 7,000 Kyat per year for the privilege, while those who use traps to catch fish must pay 2,500 Kyat per month. The same rate applies to those catching freshwater shrimp (prawns). Villagers who want to travel along the roads must also pay taxes at the many checkpoints that dot the roads. Trucks carrying logs or bamboo for sale must pay 1,000 Kyat per truck at the checkpoints. The DKBA also levee taxes on goods and cows that are being taken for sale. These 'taxes' are arbitrary with the amount being demanded depending largely on the soldiers at the checkpoint. A KHRG researcher says that the amount of money and produce gained from these taxes is enough for the DKBA to live on.
"Everyone who has fields or plantations must pay ta won kyay ['obligation'; a quota on crops]. Fields and plantations are the same; they have to pay 8 baskets [168 kgs. / 368 lbs.] for one acre. One acre can yield 70 baskets [1,470 kgs. / 3,220 lbs.] of paddy. If the paddy is good it will yield 70 baskets."
"Saw Po Win" (M, 37), villager from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #83, 1/03)
"They collected porter fees and so many other fees that I didn't understand it. Sometimes they collected them three times in a month. They were 1,500 Kyat, 2,000 Kyat, and 3,000 Kyat. The villagers who used nets to catch fish had to pay 7,000 Kyat a year. The villagers who used traps to catch fish had to pay 2,500 Kyat per month. They even collected 2,500 Kyat from the people hooking shrimp. They collected 5,000 Kyat for porter fees. Each house had to pay 5,000 Kyat per month. Many of the units are demanding this. It was [LIB] #206. [LIB] #206 demanded them from our village and [IB] #24 also demanded them from our village. ."
"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)
"Yes, we had to go and work for the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands; villager slang for the DKBA]. Not many of them were staying there. There were only six or seven people staying there. They were collecting taxes at Lay Kay from the cars that are travelling. They were collecting taxes from the trucks that were carrying logs and bamboo. It was like they were staying at a checkpoint. They demanded 1,000 Kyat from each truck. The Burmese [Army] demanded 1,000 Kyat and they [DKBA] demanded 1,000 Kyat."
"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)
"They [DKBA] find money in many ways. They demand whatever taxes they want from the people who are trading goods and cows. They torture and hold tightly [detain] the people who can't pay them. In the past they prohibited the people from going when the civilians went to buy and sell cows and buffaloes. They confiscated everything. Some people were in debt. If we look back, they collected taxes and then finally confiscated it all. The civilians couldn't get anything and they are now in debt. They [the villagers] were fighting and arguing a lot."
"Saw Kaw Thu" (M, 37), Karen township official, Pa'an township (Interview #6, 6/03)
SPDC and DKBA units that arrive at villages expect to be fed and either demand food from the village head or simply catch the villagers' chickens or other livestock, kill them and eat them. When food is demanded, the village head has to ask a villager to give a chicken or pig and money is then collected from the other villagers to pay for it. When the villagers cannot pay for it, the village head has to pay out of his or her own pocket. The SPDC or DKBA soldiers usually do not pay any money to reimburse the villagers. When money is paid for rice or meat, it is usually far below the normal market price. When the soldiers kill the villagers' livestock or steal their vegetables, the villagers are usually too afraid to say anything about it. In this case, nothing is ever paid and the villagers must simply stand by silently and watch it happen.
"Now they demand to eat rice, they buy it. Some people said that they [SPDC soldiers] have nothing. They have no rations, so they demand to eat for free. Sometimes they demand to eat two or three bowls [3.1-4.7 kgs. / 7-10.3 lbs.]. When they pay for it, they give 90 for one bowl [1.6 kgs. / 3.4 lbs.] of rice. The villagers pay 140 or 150 Kyat for one bowl because the price of rice is expensive."
"Naw Hser Paw" (F, 43), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #24, 2/02)
"They don't pay for the cost of the rice. They demand to eat it for free. They demand one basket [25 kgs. / 55 lbs.] or one big tin [12.5 kgs. / 27.6 lbs.] of rice when they come each time. They enter the village two or three times a month and I can't collect it anymore. I also can't give it to them anymore."
" Daw Way " (F, 53), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #9, 3/01)
"They demanded to eat one chicken. They didn't pay. It cost 1,500 Kyat. Our villagers paid for it. I told them [SPDC soldiers] it cost 1,500 Kyat, but they didn't pay. He said, 'You are feeding the Nga Pway ['Ringworm'; SPDC slang for KNU/KNLA], so when we come you must feed us.' I told them, 'When the Nga Pway come, they bought it to eat themselves. When you come you don't pay.' He said, 'Don't talk so much.'"
"Naw Wee Wee" (F, 42), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #48, 11/02)
"They would demand rice from the people when they arrived in another village and feed them [the porters]. Sometimes when I saw the porters who came from xxxx, Noh Ka Thay or Noh Law Plaw they hadn't fed them rice. They [SPDC] demanded rice to eat. They immediately demanded rice to eat when they entered my village. If they demanded one basket [25 kgs. / 55 lbs.], we had to give them one basket. If they demanded half a basket, we had to give half a basket. If they demanded one sack [50 kgs. / 110 lbs.], we had to give one sack."
"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)
"When they come one time they demand to eat one or two chickens. When they come another time they demand to eat one pig. So my salary all disappears [she is not compensated]. Sometimes the person whose turn it is to be the one-month village head pities me and provides it. Sometimes I have to search for and buy it myself. Some people paid me and said, 'You can do it for other people, so do it for me also. I will provide to you what the Burmese owe.' [i.e. 'give the soldiers what they have demanded from me, and I will pay you back later'] Some people pity me. Some people don't have money. If they said 8,000 Kyat, it was 8,000 Kyat. I had to pay for the Burmese."
"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)
"None of the Karen [KNU] ask from me. They are all my younger brothers and sisters [meaning friends]. None of them ask for a bottle of alcohol and a chicken. They see my house, so none of them want to ask from me. The Karen side doesn't even want to ask for one betel chew from me. The Burmese ask to eat from me. Sometimes they order me to bring a bottle of coconut oil. One bottle is 500 Kyat. I had to buy it. Sometimes they order me to bring a chicken. Then I have to bring it. They demanded chickens for breeding once a month. They said they would go back to breed them and I would get good luck. I had to say that I would get good luck because I was afraid of them. Later I pretended that I am foolish and said to them [SPDC], 'The people [KNU] don't ask from me, but you ask from me very often.' Sometimes I told them, 'Son, I am very poor, but you want to ask from me. You never feed us a plate of rice when you come.'"
"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)
"We have to give them porters when they demand them. We have to find food for them when they demand to eat. It is as you know about them. They demand to eat rice when their rations are gone. We have to do it when they demand to eat rice. When they demand one big tin [of rice; 12.5 kgs / 27.6 lbs.], we have to give one big tin. When they demand 10 bowls [15.6 kgs. / 34.5 lbs.], we have to give 10 bowls. If they pay for the rice, they pay. If they don't pay for the rice, it is finished. The villagers pay 250 Kyat for one bowl [1.6 kgs. / 3.4 lbs.]. They pay 100 Kyat for one bowl, but we have to give it to them. The villagers are very poor, but we have to ask for it from them. Some villagers don't have it and when we ask for it from them in anger, they give it to us. We can't stay without giving it to them [meaning they may be forced out of the village]."
"Naw Ber Kaw" (F, 52), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #39, 8/02)
"When the Ko Per Baw ['Yellow headbands'; villager slang for the DKBA] entered xxxx, they went and told the village head that they would eat one pig, so the village head had to get one pig for them. They wanted 20 viss [32 kgs. / 72 lbs.] of pork so we had to find 20 viss or more than 20 viss. Later we had to collect the money from the villagers. We had to collect 100 Kyat from each house and then go back and pay the owner of the pig."
"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)
"They [SPDC] did not demand paddy and rice. They only demanded it sometimes when their rations were gone. They demanded one or two bowls [1.6-3.2 kgs. / 3.4-6.8 lbs.]."
"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)
"He killed a person from Paya Raw. The people said that when they arrested a person from Paya Raw, they fed the soldiers pork and other types of meat. Win Htut Lin said, 'Come and feed me 10 viss [16 kgs. / 36 lbs.] of pork.' I said, 'Don't kill our people. We will feed you.' I told him that we couldn't find pork and that it was very expensive. We are in debt and we can't pay. He said, 'If that is so, feed us five roosters.' I gave him five roosters. ... He didn't pay. We have five sections and we collected one rooster from each section. We gave him five roosters. We sent the roosters to Kyo Wai because he stayed at Kyo Wai and ordered us to send them. He was going back."
"Daw Paw Ghay" (F, 50), village head from xxxx village (Interview #75, 7/03)
"When his [the LID #66 commander] column comes they demand to eat. As for him, he stays there [at Lay Kay] so we don't know him. In my village, when his columns come, they enter and eat. We don't dare to complain. It is because their Division Commander doesn't stay here. He stays in Lay Kay. If we go to complain to the Division Commander and then come back, they might come quietly to pull us away and kill me and it is finished. We are afraid of them. We villagers don't dare to go and complain."
"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)
"Sometimes when the Burmese come they demand to eat in the village. They demand three or four milk tins [585-780 kgs. / 1.3-1.7 lbs.] of rice from each person. They can't take it from the villagers who don't have rice. They take it from the villagers who have it."
"Saw Taw Lay" (M, 50), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #68, 11/03)
"When they don't have enough food, they demand food from the villagers. If they need five bowls [7.8 kgs. / 17.2 lbs.] of rice before they receive their salaries, they ask for it from the villagers. They demand to eat food from the villagers when their company enters the village. We have to cook rice for the companies of IB #8 and #9 when they enter the village. The fifteen-day village head must cook the rice for them. They also demand to eat fish. They force us to buy it for them. They go back to Htee Nya Paw village after we cook. We have to cook rice for them whenever they come. They don't bring their own food. The villagers must always cook for them."
"Saw Kyaw Thu" (M, 40) village tract head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #69, 11/03)
SPDC units sometimes ransack villages stealing plates, pots, cups, spoons, sarongs, earrings, shirts, machetes, axes or whatever else they want or can get their hands on. SPDC soldiers have walked into shops and simply taken various goods such as packs of noodles, salt, cheroots, soda, monosodium glutamate (MSG), candy, peanuts, cigarette lighters and medicine without paying. This is usually done by the rank and file soldiers, although it seems as though it is at least with the tacit permission of their officers. The soldiers keep what they like and sell the rest, often forcing the villagers to buy the goods. Villagers who live near Army camps sometimes have their chickens and fruit stolen by SPDC soldiers, often at night. The soldiers are sometimes forced to do this because their officers have already sold off their rations. Villagers have told KHRG researchers that sometimes the soldiers come to them begging for food because they do not have any themselves. The looting of the villages further terrorises the villagers and keeps them too poor to adequately feed their families or meet the regular demands placed on them by all armed groups. Some villagers in the district have reported that since the ceasefire began there has been a decrease in the systematic looting of their villages, but it still occurs.
"They scolded us. They called down the children and old people and then ordered the whole village to follow them. We followed them to the Commander. They called and gathered us. Then they shot our poultry to eat them. They ate them as they liked. They also fined us to give pigs. Recently when Sergeant Major Maw T'Lone [a KNLA soldier] came to shoot, they fined us 200,000 Kyat. If pigs, they fined us one or two pigs of 10 or 20 viss [16-32 kgs. / 36-72 lbs.] in weight. After we objected about that we had to give them only one pig. Until now we haven't paid [the pig's owner] completely for the pig because some of the villagers have money and some don't. We can't completely pay for the pig yet. ... They said that we fed them [KNLA] rice. They said that if we didn't feed them rice, then they wouldn't stay here. They said that we breed them."
"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)
"When they arrive, they shoot chickens to eat. They demand rice, sesame paste and chillies to eat. They demand to eat everything the people eat. When the owners aren't staying in a house they go up and take it themselves. ... They don't pay. When their commander demands, they say they will repay, but when we later go to collect it from them, they leave and are lost. This is when their commander demands things. The soldiers also demand with their hats, and they put things into their hats as though they were beggars. They beg for everything to eat."
"Naw Kee Per" (F, 44), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #40, 8/02)
"Their commander told them to buy things to eat, that when they can't buy they should ask for things to eat, and when they can't ask for things, stop. But their soldiers didn't stop. When they came they stole and ate the villagers' rice. They ate coconuts as they liked. They didn't buy them to eat. They even stole and ate the dogs. They stole and robbed to eat. When they couldn't demand things, they became angry. They stole things to eat in the night."
"Naw Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #38, 8/02)
"They came on August 2 nd [2002] and left on August 12 th . Their food was gone during these 10 days, so they lived and ate with the villagers. They demanded things to eat and stole things to eat. They ate 300 things from the villagers. They stole and ate 10 chickens, 3 baskets [75 kgs. / 165 lbs.] of rice and 3 dogs. When they demanded to eat the villagers fed them, but in the night they stole things to eat."
"Naw Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #38, 8/02)
"When they [SPDC soldiers] arrived near Paw Ghee Kee village they went to mill some coconut oil and it [a landmine] exploded. The people said that one of them with three chevrons [a sergeant] died. They stole things to eat and the women were praying they would stop, so they were hurt. The people [KNLA] were waiting and pulled a tripwire. One of the sergeants with three chevrons was dead. He stole a lot to eat. He robbed to eat. He was a vicious man."
"Naw Wah" (F, 38), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #38, 8/02)
"When my siblings went [for forced labour as porters] they usually had to carry food. When they [the soldiers] entered any village they shot and ate the villagers' poultry. They picked the villagers' ash pumpkins and cucumbers and put everything in the [porters'] baskets. The villagers couldn't carry them, but they had to carry them. The loads became heavier."
"Saw Ni Maw" (M, 29), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #50, 3/03)
"They took vegetables, gourds, ash pumpkins and we weren't able to eat them. Whenever they come they always eat. When they come they always pick ash pumpkins and young cucumbers. When they ordered me to find poultry, I had to find it. They ordered me to find one chicken of 5 rway [½ viss ; 816 grams / 1.8 lbs.]. Right now you can't find one chicken for 1,500 Kyat. We can't even find one for 2,000 Kyat."
"Naw Ba Kee" (F, 40), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #84, 1/03)
"Yes, they robbed. They caught the villagers' pigs and goats. They went into people's houses and took everything like the good ' nees' and ' tehkus' [women's and men's sarongs]. It happened in T'Maw Daw and Pa Pwaw. In another village, Hsa Mu Per, they went into the houses and took things. They opened the villagers' boxes and took their clothes. They took all the money they saw. It happened last year [2002], but I didn't see it this year."
"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)
"Yes, they took the good clothes. They took them last year [2002]. They took them for the prisoners. They took them and gave them to the prisoners who were friendly with them to wear. The prisoners [convict porters] were staying among them."
"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)
"Recently when they entered they demanded to eat 10 chickens. They stole and ate three ducks. It was last month [May 2003]."
"U Mo Day" (M, 40), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #61, 6/03)
"If we look at it one way, they enter the village and they shot less of our poultry. During the past five or six years, they shot and ate poultry a lot when they entered the village."
"Pa Hsa Ker" (M, 70), village head from xxxx village, Pa'an township (Interview #92, 5/04)
Villagers are also faced with almost constant demands for money from the soldiers in the form of 'fees' or 'donations for development'. Both the SPDC and the DKBA ask for fees for sports competitions and religious festivals. One villager from Thaton township told KHRG how each household from his village was ordered to pay 500 Kyat whenever the SPDC hosted football and boxing matches. The money demanded from the villagers is often in excess of what is needed to hold the event, with the extra pocketed by the officers. Over the past couple of years the SPDC has begun numerous 'development' projects in Thaton District to build schools and clinics [see the 'Education and Health' section] . Large sums of money are demanded from the villagers to build the schools and clinics. In actual fact, little or none of the money being extorted from the villagers goes towards the construction, because the villagers are also ordered to provide all of the materials and do all of the work. In 2002, the SPDC ordered the construction of a new high school in Lay Kay village. A number of villages in the area were ordered to pay several hundred thousand Kyat towards the construction and support of the school, none of which was ever used for development of the school. In 2003, Colonel Aung Htun, the commanding officer of LID #66, demanded 100,000 Kyat from each village in Pa'an township. In 2003, Colonel Aung Htun was later promoted to Brigadier General and the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
"They always demanded money. We had to pay two or three days at a time. We always had to pay after they ate something. Sometimes we paid more than 1,000 Kyat and sometimes we paid more than 2,000 Kyat. Sometimes they demanded big amounts and sometimes they demanded small amounts."
"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)
"They also collected money for food like chicken, goat and pig fees. We paid 7,000 Kyat or 8,000 Kyat per month. It was for chicken fees, pig fees, chilli fees, salt fees, cooking oil fees and onion fees. ... They held meetings and demanded money. We had to pay 1,500 Kyat or 700, 800 or 500 Kyat, 25 Kyat or 30 Kyat each time. I didn't understand about all the things. We also had to pay when people played football. Each house had to pay 500 Kyat. They also collected it when the people were boxing in the village. They collected it when the higher leaders came to watch. Each house had to pay 500 Kyat."
"Saw Play Kee" (M, 40), refugee from xxxx village, Thaton township (Interview #98, 3/03)
"When they say they will make an offering, they do it like this. They tell the village heads. Then the village heads collect 50 or 100 Kyat from each house. It is 4,000 or 5,000 Kyat each month. They don't demand it regularly. Sometimes they demand about 10,000 Kyat. It is more then 4,000 or 5,000 Kyat. Sometimes they demand more and sometimes they demand less. That is for each house. ... I don't know what they use it for. Now they are building a school. I don't know how they are doing it. We don't understand. When the people tell us to pay 100 Kyat, we pay 100 Kyat. When they demand 1,000 Kyat, we pay 1,000 Kyat. We can't argue because everybody must pay."
"Saw Lah Say" (M, 41), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #51, 3/03)
Another form of extortion is to demand fines from villagers whenever fighting occurs or landmines explode anywhere near their village. This form of extortion still occurs despite the ceasefire, because both the DKBA and the SPDC continue to fight the KNLA on occasion and landmines continue to be laid. The SPDC and the DKBA blame the villagers for any ambushes that take place, accusing them of knowing that it was going to happen and therefore failing their responsibility to inform them. In such cases, villagers are also often arrested, beaten, and tortured [see the 'Killings, Detention, and Torture' section] . Villages have been fined in cash, livestock, or food. In 2000, Moe Kyo of the DKBA demanded 10,000 Kyat from each household of a village in Bilin township following a firefight between KNLA and DKBA troops on the outskirts of the village. Also in Bilin township, a boat transporting rations destined for the SPDC Army camp at Lay Kay was ambushed by the KNLA and the rations were seized by the KNLA soldiers. The SPDC Army soldiers later went to one of the villages nearby and ordered the villagers to repay the cost of everything that was lost, even though some of the rations may originally have been extorted from other nearby villages.
"I didn't pay porter fees. Sometimes we heard that their food and rations were lost. They said they had to buy more to replace them. They came and demanded them from the village. I don't know what happened. The soldiers came on the way and the rations that they sent were lost. We don't know whether they stole them and sold them. They said they were lost and we had to replace them by buying it for them. They said they couldn't do it and that the villagers had to buy it for them."
"Saw Bo Ghay" (M, 36), refugee from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #52, 3/03)
"They [SPDC] have said that if one of their commanders is lost [killed], the villagers have to pay compensation. If one gun is lost, they have to pay the cost. They take bases [the land for camps] from the villagers. As for us [KNU/KNLA] if we fight and act strongly, the blame will be put on the civilians. For this reason we have decreased our activities, because this is a very important thing."
"Saw Kaw Thu" (M, 37), Karen township official, Pa'an township (Interview #6, 6/03)
"They haven't burned the village, but the SPDC and the DKBA gathered and fought the KNU one time. They did it at the gate of the village and the end of the village. Then they fined each house to give 10,000 Kyat within the same day. The villagers who didn't have money had to borrow it. They couldn't repay it all after that, but they had to repay it. It was three years ago. The DKBA fined us. It was Moe Kyo. If we didn't give it to them, they would have killed us and burned the village."
"Saw Taw Lay" (M, 50), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #68, 11/03)
"The people [KNLA] seized their rations, but they were not from xxxx village. The people seized their rations on a boat between Htee Si Baw and Khaw Poh Pleh villages. Xxxx village had to repay the rice. We had to pay the price."
"Saw Cho Aung" (M, 49), village head from xxxx village, Bilin township (Interview #64, 7/03)
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