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The destruction of villages and their forced relocation to military-controlled sites has
long been a tactic of the Burmese Army in its efforts to bring the civilian population
under control. However, in the past 3 to 4 years the regime has become much more
systematic in its village destruction campaigns, in several cases declaring entire areas
to be harbouring ‘insurgents’ and proceeding to destroy hundreds of villages at
a time. In Shan State approximately 1,500 villages have been ordered to relocate and
destroyed since 1996 in an attempt to undermine the Shan State Army; in Karenni (Kayah)
State about 200 villages covering most of the state have been destroyed; in the hills of
northern Papun District and eastern Nyaunglebin District, the regime’s troops can
seldom catch the villagers to force them to relocate, so they have gone from village to
village, shelling villages from the hilltops without warning and then burning every house
and shed. In the process, another 200 villages have been destroyed since 1997. These
attacks are carried out with the sole purpose of forcing the villagers out, and there are
very seldom any opposition soldiers in the villages when the attacks occur. Many of the
destroyed villages do not even have more than rare and sporadic contact with opposition
forces.
Some of the villagers are forced by written orders to go to SPDC relocation sites, after which the Army columns destroy their villages, but most villagers know that they will receive nothing at the relocation sites so when they are ordered to relocate or their village is attacked they simply flee into hiding in the surrounding hills. After destroying the houses, the SPDC troops seek out and destroy the food supplies by finding and burning the paddy storage barns where the villagers keep their rice stocks, and in some areas trampling, uprooting or burning crops they find in the fields. In Papun and Nyaunglebin Districts and in Karenni (Kayah) State, the SPDC Army has stepped up activities to destroy villages and hunt out the internally displaced since November 1999, leading to new flows of refugees to Thailand from both regions. In northern Papun District alone, the Karen National Union (KNU) estimates that there are now 38 SPDC Battalions active in hunting internally displaced people, burning their shelters and landmining their villages. In Toungoo District, more hill villages are now being burned as the SPDC tries to force people out of the hills which they have difficulty controlling. Further south in Dooplaya District, the SPDC announced in November 1999 that all hill villages in Kya In township would be relocated and destroyed and their rice harvest confiscated, and these relocations are now ongoing.
In areas where the SPDC is in control or is trying to further consolidate
its control, the destruction of villages is also used as an intimidation tactic and as a
punishment for failure to obey demands for forced labourers, extortion money, and
materials. This frequently occurs in Thaton and Pa’an districts of Karen State.
Papun District
Approximately 200 villages have been destroyed in northern Papun and
eastern Nyaunglebin Districts since 1997 as the SPDC tries to force villagers out of the
hills to Army-controlled sites. Most of the villagers are now displaced and hiding in the
hills, where an increasing number of SPDC Battalions (currently 38 Battalions in Papun
District, according to the KNU) are hunting them out and continuing to burn and landmine
their villages and food supplies. Villagers are now also fleeing areas of Dweh Loh
township southwest of Papun, where SPDC troops have commenced a new wave of village
destruction since March 2000. For further information see "Wholesale Destruction"
(KHRG, April 1998) and "Information
Update #2000-U1" (KHRG, April 2000), and photos in Photo Set 97-B, Photo Set 99-A, and Photo Set 99-B. KHRG will also
soon be publishing a new report on this region.
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Photos #1-1, 1-2: On January 16th 2000 at 7:30 a.m., SPDC troops came to drive the villagers out of Tee Ler Kee village in Papun District. The villagers fled, and the troops shot up the village and burned some houses, then left. These pictures were taken just after the troops had left the village. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-3: Villagers’ homes in Ler Mu Plaw village, Lu Thaw township, burned by SPDC troops in January 2000. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photos #1-4, 1-5: Villagers’ homes in Naw Yo Hta village tract, Lu Thaw township, burned by SPDC troops in January 2000. The homes shown in Photo #1-5 were built by villagers who had already fled Saw Mu Plaw village and built new houses in Naw Yo Hta area, only to have 10 of them burned. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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Photos #1-6, 1-7: Dta Baw Der village, Papun District, burned by SPDC troops in July 1999. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-8: A buffalo lies dead in an abandoned village in the Meh Gha Law area in February 2000, shot by an SPDC patrol. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-9: Paddy fields in the Meh Gha Law - Dta Kaw Hta area which were trampled and destroyed by SPDC troops in late 1999 before they ripened. The photo was taken about 2 months later, at the beginning of January 2000. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-10: Part of a hillside rice field in the Meh Gha Law area, burned by SPDC troops in December 1999. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-11: A farmfield hut and paddy supply which was destroyed by SPDC troops in a hill field in the Meh Gha Law area in December 1999. Note the paddy in the left foreground, dumped on the ground and gone to seed. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-12: All that remains of the paddy storage barn of Saw B--- from Ker Ghaw Ko village, Lu Thaw township, after it was burned by SPDC troops in January 2000. 70 baskets of paddy were destroyed. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-13: Tee Ler Kee village school, Papun District, burned by SPDC troops in 1999. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
Nyaunglebin District
The situation in the hills of eastern Nyaunglebin District is similar to that in northern Papun District (see related notes in the section above). For further background see "Death Squads and Displacement" (KHRG May 1999) and "Wholesale Destruction" (KHRG April 1998), as well as photos from Nyaunglebin District in Photo Set 99-A and Photo Set 99-B.
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Photos #1-14, 1-15: Tee Thu Thay village, burned by SPDC troops in late 1999; the second photo shows the rice from Saw B---’s paddy storage barn in the village. The troops seek out and burn any rice they can find. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-16: Ywa May Day village, burned by SPDC troops. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-17: Tee Thu Hta village, burned by SPDC troops in the first half of 1999. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-18: The church bell of Ka Pa Hta village, Mone township, burned in March 1999. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-19: One of the villagers of xxxx village, Mone township, stands in the remains of his home. He and the other villagers now live in hiding in the forest. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-20: The paddy from Saw P---’s paddy storage barn in Haw Ko Ghaw village, burned and destroyed by SPDC troops. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
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Photos #1-21, 1-22: The Christian church in Tha Baw Der village, burned down by SPDC troops in 1999. SPDC patrols specifically target community structures such as churches and schools for burning. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
Toungoo District
The SPDC has been trying to force villagers out of the rugged and remote hills of Toungoo District for some time now, particularly to the heavily garrisoned new forced labour roads from Kler Lah (Baw Ga Li Gyi) to Bu Sah Kee and from Kler Lah eastward toward Mawchi in southern Karenni (Kayah) State. In the past year or more, this has increasingly resulted in the burning of villages and the shooting of internally displaced people in hiding in the hills. For further information see "False Peace" (KHRG, March 1999), and the photos of burned homes, uprooted crops and internally displaced villagers killed by SPDC troops in Photo Set 99-B and Photo Set 99-A.
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Photos #1-23, 1-24, 1-25: K--- village, burned down by SPDC troops from Infantry Battalion #59 (led by Battalion 2nd-in-Command Yain Saw) on October 20th 1999. Five houses were burned and the rest abandoned as the villagers fled into hiding in the forest. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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[Warning: the above photos are somewhat graphic.]
Photos #1-26, 1-27: Naw Y---, age 60, a Karen Christian farmer from K--- village now living in hiding in the forest. On October 20th 1999, the SPDC troops from Infantry Battalion #59 set her house alight while she was inside it, and she suffered severe burns to her back and wrist. [Photos: KHRG researcher]
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Photo #1-28: One of the paddy storage barns of K--- village, burned and destroyed along with over 10 baskets of paddy on October 20th 1999 along with 5 houses of the village. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
Thaton District
The SPDC has extensive control in much of Thaton District, but there is still opposition activity. Villages are routinely and summarily punished for any perceived support of the opposition and any failure to comply with SPDC and DKBA demands for forced labour and extortion. For details see "Caught in the Middle" (KHRG, September 1999) and related photos in Photo Set 99-B.
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Photo #1-29: Saw M---, 27, standing in the remains of his house in M--- village, Pa’an township, which was burned on September 7th 1999 by commander Moe Kyo of the DKBA’s 999 Brigade. Now he lives in hiding in the forest. [Photo: KHRG researcher]
In 1995 the SLORC military junta made a ceasefire deal with the Karenni
National Progressive Party (KNPP), but then broke it by attacking the KNPP. Since then,
the SLORC and SPDC have tried to undermine the KNPP by forcibly relocating and destroying
approximately 200 villages which cover the entire map of Karenni (Kayah) State. Thousands
of people went to SPDC relocation sites, while others fled into the hills to survive,
where they are still fleeing SPDC columns who hunt them out. Since late 1999 the SPDC has
increased its efforts to destroy any remaining village structures and food supplies and
root out these villagers, and their circumstances are desperate. For further background
see "Continuing Fear and Hunger"
(KHRG, May 1999) and photos in Photo Set 97-A.
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Photos #1-30, 1-31: Ko Kaw Daw Ko village, #2 district, burned on January 20th 2000 by SPDC Light Infantry Battalion #516. [Photo: FBR volunteer]
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Photo #1-32: The village school of Pa Koh village, burned by SPDC troops in January 2000. [Photo: FBR volunteer]
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