Without Respite: Renewed Attacks on Villages and Internal Displacement in Toungoo District

Top of report | The Scope of Displacement | Implications for Health and Education | Increased Isolation of Villages in the Region | Examining the Motives behind the Offensive

Increased Isolation of Villages in the Region

As part of their efforts to isolate the hills and cut all contact between those living there and those living in the plains, SPDC Army soldiers have been imposing broad movement restrictions on villages in areas that are under their control. Villagers living in these areas are presently not allowed to travel outside their villages unless they secure a pass from the military, although this is now seldom granted. Many of the villagers who find themselves in this situation are now not able to tend to their fields and plantations, nor are they permitted to attend the markets in neighbouring villages. Hill villagers are stopped at SPDC checkpoints along the roads and not allowed to proceed. Villagers in the SPDC-controlled plains in the west of the district are ordered not to sell food to people from the hills to the east, and warned that the SPDC has landmined all the pathways into the hills. Beginning on July 21st 2005, the road from Toungoo town to Kler Lah was closed to all non-military traffic by order of Southern Regional Command. Shortly thereafter, the following order was pasted on the door of the Village Peace & Development Council office in Kler Lah: [9]

The 'insurgents', i.e. the KNLA, have no permanent presence on this road, which is heavily garrisoned by SPDC Army troops with checkpoints every few kilometres. Within weeks, villages in the area were suffering shortages of rice and basic commodities that used to be brought up the road by traders. Many began making secret trips down to the plains along forest pathways, a walk of several days at risk of stepping on landmines. One of these villagers told KHRG how he and a group of others were caught in Toungoo town in August, interrogated by military intelligence and held until they could raise a ransom of 10,000 Kyat before being released. [10] Fruit and other crops which villagers needed to sell at town markets had to be abandoned, threatening their livelihood for the coming year. The only vehicles now plying the roads of Toungoo District are those who have been issued orders by the military to cart rice for the soldiers in order to stock their camps in the hills. Villagers are also being forced to carry these supplies up the road on their backs, particularly when the road is washed out by the rains.

Restrictions on movement outside their villages had already made it difficult for many people to work their own fields, making them dependent on rice deliveries from the plains to feed their families. By closing the roads, the SPDC has blocked these villagers' access to food, both in SPDC-controlled villages and in the hills. The three battalions which comprise Tactical Operations Command (TOC) #2 of Military Operations Command (MOC) #16 are now enforcing these movement restrictions in Tantabin township, blocking all movement (of people and food) between the hills and the plains. [11]

"The place where we used to buy our food or rice has now been blocked by the SPDC. The SPDC has prohibited all of the sale and transport of food and rice. Now we only have a little bit of food left. We are faced with problems for our food supply. Many other villages are also in the same situation."

Saw F--- (M, 56), southeastern Tantabin township (March 2006)

The Free Burma Rangers have reported that closure of the roads was reiterated on February 24th 2006 in an order from LID #66, Tactical Operations Command #3 commander Tin Aung: "Villagers were told they were not allowed to travel to the plains area and the villagers from the plains were told not to travel on any of those roads. The Burma Army said they would kill all of the villagers if they did". [12] Those caught outside their village without official permission can, and have been, fired upon by SPDC Army soldiers. The soldiers then claim that they thought that the villager was a KNLA soldier, regardless of the fact that they were unarmed and were wearing civilian clothing.

A group of displaced villagers from Hee Daw Khaw, Kho Kee, and Klay Kee villages in eastern Tantabin township fleeing to a refugee camp in Thailand. The increased frequency of military patrols and the assaults on villages made it exceedingly difficult for these villagers to find enough food. Presented with few other options, many villagers have chanced the long and dangerous journey to Thailand, taking them through heavily militarized zones where they may be shot on sight and increasing their exposure to the ever-present threat of stepping on a landmine. The journey to the border can take up to three weeks for some to complete. Approximately 2,000 newly arrived refugees have crossed into Thailand since the beginning of the offensive. [Photo: KHRG]

According to a Karen National Union (KNU) press release (#3/2006, [incorrectly] dated January 7th 2006), soldiers from SPDC Infantry Battalion (IB) #20 dismantled the bridge near Par Der Ka village in Than Daung township on January 19th 2006, and then two more bridges near Htee Pu Chee and Thi Thaw Kaw on January 20th and 22nd respectively. All three of these bridges were steel suspension bridges, the first of which spanned the Day Loh River, while the other two crossed the Dweh Loh River (see Map). It is quite possible that the SPDC removed these bridges in order to further isolate the area to the east of the Day Loh River. Over the past decade, the SPDC has mounted repeated unsuccessful campaigns to depopulate and control this region, sending patrols out on search and destroy missions with orders to destroy all food supplies that they find and shoot all villagers on sight. The SPDC has not yet launched any extensive campaigns into this area this year, though the dismantling of these bridges suggests that they may be planning to do so.

This does not bode well for the villagers living to the east of the Day Loh River in Than Daung township. If the SPDC should extend the offensive into this area as well, as appears likely, the villagers in this region will be completely encircled. Over the past two years the SPDC has used two Karenni ceasefire groups, the Karenni Solidarity Organisation (KnSO) and the Karenni Nationalities Peoples' Liberation Front (KNPLF) to launch armed incursions from Karenni (Kayah) State into eastern Toungoo District in support of SPDC Army columns and to block the escape of villagers. The villagers living in the eastern stretches of the district therefore have not only had to flee the SPDC, but also the KnSO and the KNPLF. If the offensive expands east of the Day Loh river in Than Daung township, the villagers will be left unable to flee to the east into Karenni State for fear of encountering the KnSO or the KNPLF. Flight westward across the Day Loh River would send them into an area of heavy SPDC militarization, apart from the fact that the bridges are gone and large numbers of landmines have been planted along the banks of the river (see below). Fleeing to the north or south will also be dangerous as SPDC forces are already operating in these areas.

Landmines are another weapon being used by the SPDC to isolate hill villagers and restrict their movements. Toungoo District has suffered from extensive landmine contamination for years. Throughout the protracted conflict and more recently during the ceasefire, landmines have been planted in their thousands over the past few decades throughout the district. The SPDC and its proxies, the Karenni Solidarity Organization (KnSO) and the Karenni Nationalities Peoples' Liberation Front (KNPLF), as well as the KNLA, are all guilty of deploying antipersonnel mines in Toungoo District.

A KNLA soldier removing a landmine from a path near Than Daung Gyi in Than Daung township. This mine is a copy of the US-made M-14 blast mine. KHRG has not yet been able to ascertain where these mines are manufactured or where the SPDC is acquiring them from. Some reports claim that SPDC Army soldiers are planting a further 2,000 landmines throughout the district to isolate some areas and restrict the movement of villagers. [Photo: KHRG]

A KNU radio transcript acquired by a KHRG field researcher stated that: "In Than Daung township, LID #66 and Southern Command troops planted landmines in many different areas. They have planted landmines at Pa Weh village all the way up to Htee Bpu Kee, from Hta Yeh Ploh to Htee Bpu Kee, from Thi Thaw Ko to Htee Bpu Kee, and from K'Ter Kee to Dee Dah Ko and across to the [Day Loh] River. [The SPDC also planted mines on] all of the paths along the banks of the Day Loh River that the villagers use. The enemy [SPDC] planted so many landmines that the villagers can't go to the markets to buy and sell food or go to their hill fields. They can't do anything so they are facing many difficulties and problems" (see Map for locations). The deployment of these landmines represents an extensive north-south line which bisects the district. This line begins in the far north of the district around Htee Bpu Kee and Hta Yeh Ploh, follows the course of the Day Loh River and continues southward past Than Daung Gyi into Tantabin township and onwards all the way down into Nyaunglebin District. Many of the mines deployed along the banks of the Day Loh River and around Than Daung Gyi were planted there by soldiers from SPDC Infantry Battalions (IB) #20, #39, and #124. The geographic pattern to the laying of these mines suggests that the SPDC is trying to restrict any communications or movement of villagers from the eastern hills to the plains in the west of the district, and vice versa. This limits the access that hill villagers will have to food, with the intent of slowly starving them out of the hills and down into SPDC controlled villages where they can be used for forced labour and extortion.

A recent report by FBR supports this theory. FBR estimates that in addition to the thousands of mines already in situ, the SPDC is now deploying 2,000 new landmines across the district: "The Burma Army is now laying landmines in a north-south line along the Day Lo[h] river in the vicinity of Thandaung [Gyi], north of Toungoo. It is reported that over 2000 anti-personnel mines will be laid to stop all civilian mo[ve]ment from the mountains to the plains [in] this area". [13]

The southeastern tracts of the district where most of the attacks have been focused so far are already plagued with landmines. A common tactic employed by SPDC Army troops is to loot or destroy everything in a village once the villagers have been relocated or have fled, then plant landmines in and around the village before leaving. This is done to maim or kill any villagers who attempt to return, thereby providing 'encouragement' to move to SPDC-controlled areas. The soldiers bury their mines in places that they know villagers must walk, such as at the base of the ladder leading into a house, in a villager's plantation, directly in front of their rice storage barn, and even in schools. The SPDC troops who burned Hee Daw Khaw village in southeastern Toungoo District in late November 2005 left only the church and the pastor's house unburned, but laid a landmine at the entrance to the church and planted others at other strategic locations throughout the village. [14] Now that so many villages in this area are displaced as a result of the offensive, SPDC Army soldiers have been roving from village to village looting and destroying the abandoned villages, littering them with landmines before moving on.

"The Burmese troops planted landmines near the village but the villagers didn't know where they were planted, so many of them died from the landmines when they went outside [the village]. The Burmese soldiers would plant the landmines whenever they entered the village. [They would plant them] under the ladders, on the paths that the villagers used, and in the places where the students were studying. But because the villagers didn't know about this, many have been killed. Although they said that they planted them against the KNU, few KNU soldiers have been killed by the landmines. Most of the victims have been villagers. The main way that the Burmese soldiers use landmines is whenever they enter a village they will plant the landmines as they leave. They also plant them where the people work and many of the villagers' livestock have been killed. They have also planted landmines at the villagers' rice barns so the villagers will be killed when they go to get their rice".

Saw H, southwestern Tantabin township.

Many villagers have lost their limbs or their lives to landmines in Toungoo District this year. On January 4th 2006, five villagers were wounded when one of them stepped on a landmine planted by IB #39 near Shwe Nyaung Bin in Than Daung township. Two days later on January 6th, while walking along a path near Than Daung Gyi, two brothers detonated a landmine, killing one outright and seriously wounding the other. The mine had been planted there by soldiers from IB #124. On January 24th 2006, a 48 year old villager lost his leg to a mine planted by soldiers from IB #20 near Tah Yeh Pee village, Tantabin township. Then in March 2006, Par Weh Der Ko villager Saw Lay was killed after he stepped on another landmine planted by IB #20. His 50 year old travelling companion also received injuries from the explosion, but was lucky to escape with his life. SPDC Army soldiers refused to allow him to seek treatment in Than Daung Gyi, telling him they did not want him to be seen by any "foreigners". While Than Daung Gyi has been developed and marketed as a tourist destination, foreign tourists are not yet permitted access to the area so it is unclear exactly which foreigners they feared would be present.

Most landmine victims in Toungoo District die from their injuries. Medical attention may be several days' walk away, during which time the victim dies either from shock or loss of blood (see "Implications for Health and Education"). The SPDC rarely treats any villagers who inadvertently step on their mines. They always deny responsibility and tell the villagers that their 'cousins' in the KNLA must have planted them, so the villager should look to the KNLA for accountability. Most medical care that civilian landmine victims receive comes from KNLA medics, or to a lesser extent from independent Karen relief teams that occasionally travel into these areas with backpacks full of medicine. Both the KNLA medics and the Karen relief organizations alike try their best to serve all in need, although all of these groups suffer from lack of funds and a lack of supplies. Ultimately, the demand far exceeds the supply. Landmines represent an invisible and indiscriminate scourge for the villagers of Toungoo District, and indeed all of Karen State, and their continued deployment throughout the district by all parties to the conflict will only result in many more villagers being wounded, maimed, or killed.

Top of report | The Scope of Displacement | Implications for Health and Education | Increased Isolation of Villages in the Region | Examining the Motives behind the Offensive

Footnotes

[9] See photos 8-2 through 8-5 in Section 8 of KHRG Photo Gallery: 2005 (April 5th 2006), accessible on the KHRG website at http://www.khrg.org/photoreports/2005photos/gallery2005/section8.html

[10] See photo 8-6 in Section 8 of KHRG Photo Gallery: 2005 (April 5th 2006). Accessible on the KHRG website at http://www.khrg.org/photoreports/2005photos/gallery2005/section8.html.

[11] These battalions are Infantry Battalion #240 and Light Infantry Battalions #567 and #568.

[12] Free Burma Rangers. "Burma Army activities in Toungoo District, Western Karen State ", 25/5/06. Received by email.

[13] Free Burma Rangers. "Burma Army Launches New Attacks in Western and Northern Karen States", 15/5/06. Received by email.

[14] See photos 1-32 through 1-34 in Section 1 of KHRG Photo Gallery: 2005 (April 5th 2006). Accessible on the KHRG website at http://www.khrg.org/photoreports/2005photos/gallery2005/section1.html.