PORTERS: SLORC'S 6TH BRIGADE OFFENSIVE

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
March 22, 1995 / KHRG #95-11

At the beginning of March 1995, after taking Manerplaw and Kawmoora, SLORC began an offensive against the Karen National Union's 6th Brigade area, 50 to 100 km. south of the border town of Myawaddy, where the KNU had set up its new mobile leadership headquarters. Several SLORC Battalions were sent to the area and are now attacking throughout the region. The KNU leadership has already moved on but the attacks continue to intensify, making it clear that this is not just an offensive aimed at the Karen leadership, but at all Karen-controlled areas. SLORC troops are using the extensive network of logging roads, built by Thai logging companies with KNU concessions throughout the area, to move quickly. Karen soldiers are not heavily defending most locations, claiming that they are sparing their men for future mobile columns as they adopt more of a mobile guerrilla strategy. Thousands of refugees are already fleeing the area and have formed 2 new refugee camps in Thailand, and thousands more are likely to come. Hundreds of conscripted civilian porters have also fled the SLORC troops already. They say that SLORC is conducting large-scale porter sweeps in towns and villages of southern Burma, and that the high ratio of porters to soldiers in this offensive (often 3 to 10 porters for every soldier) is leading to the escape of large numbers of porters. The six men whose stories are given below were interviewed by an independent observer on March 18, 1995. Their names have been changed and their village names omitted in order to protect them on their return to Burma. Please feel free to use this information in any way which may help put a stop to this form of slavery and abuse in Burma.

Interviews

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INTERVIEW #1.

NAME: "Mya Sein"        SEX: M       AGE: 28
ADDRESS: Moulmein Town, Mon State
DISCRIPTION: Trishaw driver

I was taken on March 7, 1995. I was on the street with my trishaw. I was taken to an army base at Thein Zayat, near Thaton. I was then sent to Pa'an and then to Thingan Nyi Naung with the other porters. I had to carry 75 mm shells for the 44th Light Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Battalion. I was kicked twice by a soldier when I was getting tired. One 60 year old man asked for extra food, so the soldier hit him in the eye. His eye was bleeding. A 70 year old man died because he had to work too much and the soldiers would not give him water. His body was left under a tree. When people die they are just crossed off the list of porters. The soldiers never tell the family that they died, instead they say they escaped. I fled on the 14th of March when there was fighting around Wah Lay. I was taken as a porter once before, three years ago, and taken to somewhere across from Mae Sot [i.e. near Myawaddy].

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INTERVIEW #2.

NAME: "Than Myint"        SEX: M           AGE: 35
ADDRESS: Thanbyuzayat Town, southern Mon State
DISCRIPTION: Farmer

I was taken more than 20 days ago. The village headman called me and I was put on a truck by the 31st Battalion. I was held for eight days in Thanbyuzayat and had to work building roads, breaking stones, and digging trenches. Then I was sent to the base of the 104th Battalion near Moulmein. I was sent by boat with the 104th to Kyone Doh and then by car to Thingan Nyi Naung. We were then taken south to the Palu area. I carried goods for two days and then I got sick as we were walking through the jungle and the soldiers threw me under a tree. I got up and continued walking slowly. "Win Tin" and "Mya Sein" saw me and helped me and gave me water. We escaped together. I still have pains in my chest.

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INTERVIEW #3.

NAME: "Hlaing Wai Oo"            SEX: M           AGE: 20
ADDRESS: Moulmein Town, Mon State
DISCRIPTION: Trishaw driver

On March 9th, I was in a cinema watching a foreign movie when I was taken together with about 70 other men. I was taken by boat to Kyone Doh, then one day later we went by truck to Thingan Nyi Naung, and then went with the others by truck to the Palu area. We were given very little to eat, just a small plastic bag with cooked rice, and it was very salty. I saw three men killed while we were moving with the army. One man was lying by the road, his head was bloody and he had been beaten to death. I saw another body, an old man, beside the road. We cannot stop and look at people who have been injured or have died, we have to keep walking and looking straight ahead when we see a body. The third man could no longer carry anything, so a soldier hit him on the chest and head. Then he starrted hitting him on the shoulder with a 75 mm shell. The porter said to the soldier "Kill me, I can't go on anymore." Then the soldier just kicked him down the hill, so we don't know for sure if he died, but I think so. The soldiers told us that if we tried to run away we would be killed. I ran away on March 14, during the fighting between Wah Lay and Kaneh Li.

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INTERVIEW #4.

NAME: "Naing Win Lwin"            SEX: M           AGE: 26
ADDRESS: Moulmein Town, Mon State
DISCRIPTION: Trishaw driver

I was in the movie theatre with my family [the same as "Hlaing Wai Oo"] on March 9th. The soldiers of the 104th Battalion brought a truck up to the entrance of the movie theatre and they told all the men to stand to one side and the women to stand to the other. Then the men were tied together and put on the truck. We were taken to the dock and put on a boat to Kyone Doh and then put on a truck and taken to Thingan Nyi Naung. On the truck to Thingan Nyi Naung I was hit on the back of my head, my face, and my back when I lifted my head to look around. We were supposed to keep our heads bowed down. We were not given any water on the truck. If people asked for water they were beaten. Most of the people on the truck were beaten at least once. The soldiers kept their guns pointed at us in case anybody tried to jump off the truck and run away. Many people are being taken as porters now, even patients returning from the hospital, although they are so weak they cannot carry anything. Many porters ran away during the fighting a few days ago. Many have gone into Thailand. All of us want to go back to our homes as soon as we can.

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INTERVIEW #5.

NAME: "Win Htun"              SEX: M         AGE: 22
ADDRESS: Pa'an Town, Karen State
DISCRIPTION: Firewood hawker

In mid-February I was taken to be a porter. I was on my way to a coffee shop with my wife when I was taken. A lot of other people on the road were taken, especially a lot of bus drivers. Only men were taken. I was held in Pa'an for five days in the jail. I was taken by car from Pa'an to Thingan Nyi Naung where I was held for five days. When we were in Thingan Nyi Naung we stayed in a monastery. We were then taken with the soldiers in a convoy of 100 trucks from Thingan Nyi Naung and went somewhere near Palu. I was with 200 other porters and about 500-600 soldiers. I had to go with the 44th Light Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Battalion. I had to carry food and ammunition. I saw many people being beaten by the soldiers. One man was too tired to carry anything so a soldier kicked him down a hill. I don't know if he died or not. I escaped on the 14th of March during the fighting around Wah Lay.

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INTERVIEW #6.

NAME: "Win Tin"           SEX: M        AGE: 26
ADDRESS: Pa'an Town, Karen State
DISCRIPTION: Truck mechanic / spare driver

In mid-February, I was taken to be a porter. I was taken by car from Pa'an to Thingan Nyi Naung, where I was held for five days along with other porters. Then I was taken by truck to Myawaddy and then to somewhere around Palu. I then had to carry food and 75 mm shells for the 44th Light Infantry Division, 2nd Infantry Battalion, as they moved to attack the KNLA. I escaped on the 13th of March while the soldiers were moving through the jungle. I was only given food two times a day and it was not enough. I was not beaten but I saw many people beaten around me as we were moving through the jungle, about three or four people were beaten within a few hours. Some people were very old, about 60, and others were very young, between 13 and 16.