B-40

B-41

Villagers from Nyaunglebin District do forced labour, building a road on March 10th 2007. SPDC Light Infantry Battalion #350 ordered local residents to construct the road from Taw Lu Koh village to Noh Poe village. The villagers can be seen here using mattocks to break up clay from the nearby fields which they then collect in wicker baskets and pile atop the road's surface. Both children [photo B-41] and women [photo B-42] are visible among those doing the forced labour. [Photo: KHRG]

B-42

B-43

B-44

This young girl from Htih Paw village, shown here on March 17th 2007, must take care of her two younger siblings while her parents are out in the fields tending to their crops. Increasing demands for labour and agricultural crops by local army units have forced many villagers to spend more time doing cultivation, requiring that their children take on additional tasks such as caring for their siblings and other children. [Photo: KHRG]

B-45

B-46

On May 11th 2007, SPDC Battalion Commander Kyaw So Nyunt of Light Infantry Battalion #102, Light Infantry Division #44 ordered residents of Ee Heh village, Thaton District to deliver 'ironwood' logs to him. At the time of this photo these villagers were in the process of transporting the logs to the Baw Naw river bank for delivery to Kyaw So Nyunt. [Photo: KHRG]

B-47

B-48

In May 2007, SPDC Battalion Commander Min Zaw Oo of Light Infantry Battalion #102 ordered the residents of Gkroo Kee village to fabricate and deliver 300 thatch shingles to his camp in Thaton District. Villagers can be seen on May 17th gathering together the already finished shingles [photos B-47 and B-48] and carrying them by foot from their village [photos and B-49, B-50 and B-51]. Most of those involved in making and transporting these shingles were women along with many children [Photos B-50 and B-51]. [Photo: KHRG]

B-49

B-50

B-51

In photos B-52 and B-53 below Gkroo Kee villagers arrive at Baw Naw (Don Th'Mih) riverbank where they load the shingles onto a boat that will ferry them across the water. On the other side of the river these villagers must unload the boat and travel the rest of the way to Battalion Commander Min Zaw Oo's camp on foot. [Photo: KHRG]

B-52

B-53

C-15

C-16

On February 5th 2007, DKBA forces ordered each household from Wah Mee Day village to provide 50 thatch shingles. As there are 25 households in Wah Mee Day, this makes for a total of 1,250 thatch shingles. These items are labour intensive to produce involving the collection of raw materials from the forest, cutting and binding each individual shingle and then delivering the end product to the designated location. As of February 20th 2007 when these photos were taken, the local villagers had only partially completed the amount ordered. [Photo: KHRG]

C-17

C-18

C-19

A double-row perimeter fence made of sticks interwoven with split bamboo encloses Taw Lu Koh village, Nyaunglebin District. It is standard SPDC Army practice to force the residents of relocation sites or other military-controlled villages in Karen State to construct a perimeter fence enclosing their village. While the Army claims this protects villagers from bandits, it more typically serves to prevent villagers' efforts to evade military patrols demanding forced labour, money or supplies. [Photos: KHRG]

C-37

C-38

In photo C-37 and C-38 residents of Kwee Hta Mah village, Meh Cho village tract, Papun District gather together and depart on March 12th 2007 to engage in forced labour portering SPDC Army rations as ordered by Soe Win, commander of SPDC LIB #219. Commander Soe Win's demands for forced labour have not been isolated occurrences. [Photo: KHRG]

C-39

Photos C-39, C-40, C-41 and C-142 show another incident of forced labour for the residents of Kwee Hta Mah villages on February 25th 2007. In this photo the villagers are collecting bamboo poles and binding them together to form a raft which will then float downstream to the LIB #219 camp at Waw Muh as ordered by Soe Win.

This bamboo will then be used to construct buildings at the Waw Mu army camp. For more details on the SPDC's institutionalised and pervasive use for forced labour see Shouldering the Burden of Militarisation: SPDC, DKBA and KPF order documents and forced labour since September 2006. [Photo: KHRG]

C-40

C-41

C-42

Taken on March 20th 2007, these photographs show the residents of Wah Tho Law village, Meh Way village tract, Papun District as they gather together and prepare to head out for forced labour portering SPDC Army rations. Photo C-43 shows bottles of water, leaf-wrapped parcels of rice and a large watermelon which villagers have assembled to take along during portering. [Photo: KHRG]

C-43

C-44

C-45

In photo C-47 women carry empty wicker baskets on their backs to be used for carrying the army rations. Not only do SPDC personnel typically not provide any form of remuneration for forced labour, they furthermore provide no food for the duration of the work. Villagers, such as those shown here, must therefore bring along their own provisions. [Photo: KHRG]

C-46

C-47

C-95

Piles of bamboo poles which Mah Lee Ler villagers have collected lie alongside Meh Wah Koh river on June 3rd 2007.

Commander Tin Lin Oo of SPDC LIB #213, based at Saw Mu K'Ler Koh earlier ordered Mah Lee Ler villagers to cut down 200 bamboo poles and deliver them to his army camp. Commander Tin Lin Oo said he would use the bamboo to repair structures at the camp. [Photo: KHRG]

C-96

C-113

C-114

On June 14th 2007, villagers in Lay Kaw Htee village tract, Papun District divide the rice from one large rice sack [64 kg. / 140.8 lb.] into smaller bags so as to make carrying it more manageable. A local police officer ordered the villagers to deliver the rice to the police headquarters. [Photo: KHRG]