FORCED LABOUR IN THE IRRAWADDY DELTA

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
May 16, 1996 / KHRG #96-18

The following accounts were given in interviews with people from the Irrawaddy Delta region southwest of Rangoon. The area is fertile farmland with a population which is half Karen and half Burman. Out of sight of the rest of the world and with no easy escape for the people who live there, it has seen some of the SLORC’s worst human rights abuses, particularly after a failed attempt by the Karen National Union to start a Karen uprising there in 1991. Now the region suffers from extensive forced labour on SLORC road-building projects and tourism-related projects such as Bassein Airport and the Nga Saw beach project.

The interviews below with people who witnessed the Nga Saw beach project were conducted by the Hsaw Wah Deh independent human rights monitoring group in May 1996. The names of those interviewed have been changed to protect them. For further background, see "Conditions in the Irrawaddy Delta" (KHRG #95-29, 4/8/95), "SLORC Officers Talk About Forced Labour and Refugees" (KHRG 25/9/94), "Letters from the Irrawaddy Delta" (KHRG 6/12/93), and other related reports.

Topic Summary

Forced labour for tourism development (Item #1,2), forced labour on roads (#1,2), rice confiscation quotas (#3).

Interviews

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NAME: "Naw Paw Wah"     SEX: F     AGE: 36
DISCRIPTION: Karen Buddhist schoolteacher

I served as a teacher in Kawkareik. I resigned last year and moved to Pa’an, and after that to Irrawaddy Division. What I have seen is that the whole people have to work all the time doing "voluntary labour".

In Irrawaddy Division I visited my relatives in Bassein, and I saw that there is road construction there too. The Chairman of SLORC, General Than Shwe, found a beach northwest of Bassein called Nga Saw beach, and he named it "the most beautiful beach in Burma". Then many Battalions were transferred there and started to prepare it for Visit Myanmar Year. The local villagers had to construct a new road from Nga Saw to Thalat Kwa, close to Bassein. The height of the road [embankment] is 12 feet and the width at least 50 feet. There were bulldozers there but they only worked if the villagers gave money for the fuel and operating costs. Many coconut trees and mango trees were cut down to clear ground for bungalows and barracks for the soldiers. I heard that after the villagers finish moving the earth [to make the road embankment], the Chinese will come and tar the road. I don’t know which Chinese, from China or from Burma.

NAME: "Saw Wah"     SEX: M     AGE: 60
ADDRESS: Bassein Town, Irrawaddy Division INTERVIEWED: 14/5/96
DISCRIPTION: Karen Christian

Villagers in our area [Bassein] have to work on road construction on the road from Thalat Kwa to Nga Saw. Nga Saw is a beautiful beach which is 20 miles north of Chaung Tha beach. The SLORC decided to open this beach for tourism. Therefore, thousands of villagers have to work clearing the ground for guards’ buildings [barracks for the troops supervising the forced labour] and for bungalows, and then to build a new road from Nga Saw to Thalat Kwa, which is on the opposite riverbank from Bassein. The SLORC authorities ordered many villages to the work, including Kyauk Pya, Na Tha Mu, Padauk Gone, The Chaung, Chaung Tha, Bote Pin Seik, Ngan Chaung, and Sa Pah Kyi villages. The villagers receive no wages and no medical assistance when accidents occur. Moreover, they have to bring their own food and supplies to the road construction sites.

The road is about 10 feet high and 30 feet wide, and it crosses some hills. When the earthwork is finished, I heard that Chinese will come and lay stones and tar coat the road, but I don’t know what Chinese [from China or from Burma]. Chinese are Chinese.

Another road construction is the Pantanaw-Rangoon road. All the villages in Myaungmya district have to go and work in turns on this road this year, 1996.

In March this year, Kyah Kan village in Myaungmya Township was destroyed by an accidental fire. After that, the Ya Wa Ta [Village LORC, local SLORC authorities] demanded money ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 Kyats from each family to buy back their own plot of land. Kyone Ma Ngay town was also destroyed by fire in March, and the same thing happened there.

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About 16 years ago in Irrawaddy Division, there was a lot of flooding rising and covering all the fields in that region. Mostly, the land there is low and suitable for farming unless it is a bad year and there are floods. "The crops that we had are now gone ... that’s our problem", one farmer said.

Because of the floods, the farmers couldn’t get enough rice, as they had planned. On top of this, they had no rights to sell the rice freely. The government told them to sell the rice cheaply to them. The giving of ‘quota rice’ to the government did not become less, and they often had to buy rice from other farmers to give as ‘quota rice’.

"We don’t have enough rice even for our own families, let alone for when the time comes that we have to sell it to the group who has the duty to buy rice for the government."

All the farmers were worried about having to sell rice to this group. Every year when the farmers finished harvesting and working their farms, a group including police and government people came and started buying rice cheaply from the villagers for the government.

This year, as usual, when the group arrived the villagers greeted them by playing traditional music. "Have you prepared your rice to sell?" the group leader asked. "Leaders, masters, leave that for a while... now come and have food that our villagers are offering you", a village elder said.

Then the group went for food, and sat down. The villagers offered a lot of curries and beautiful food ... but no rice! "Now leaders, start to eat, accept everything that we are offering you", one villager who was waving a fan over the group said. "Hey! Where is the rice?" the group leader asked. "Don’t worry, we will deal with that later. Please take some more food", village elders said. The group couldn’t say anything, and got unhappy with the food.

After the meal, one elderly villager said, "As our leaders know, this year because of the floods we didn’t get enough rice. Therefore we couldn’t offer you rice. But thank you very much for accepting our offering."

Later on, the group leader said to the villagers, "Today we won’t buy any rice from you, but because of this we will respond to you later." Then they went to another village, and the same thing happened. Then they went back to town with no rice.

One week later to the day, the same group came to the village with weapons and three navy boats to discuss the matter with the villagers again. "All villagers come and put all of your rice here!" the group leader pointed to the ground and ordered.

Therefore all villagers came and put all of their rice on the ground as was ordered. Then, "One thing is, this year villagers who fail to give ‘quota rice’, we will allow them to give it next year, but you must give it," he added.

One year later, some government workers came to the village and said, "People who were village elders last year will all be changed, because they are all useless." The old village elders couldn’t do anything about this.