This update covers four issues in the Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, T’Naw Th’Ree (Tanintharyi) Township, Mergui-Tavoy District: attendance at Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[2] schools, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM),[3] COVID-19 and the movement of State Administration Council (SAC) troops[4] in the period from March to June 2021.
Children attending KECD schools
Where parents send their children for schooling has become an issue in some of the villages in the Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, T’Naw Th’Ree Township, Mergui-Tavoy District. On June 15th 2021, three officers from Sa Ya Pa (Military Security Affairs [MSA][5]) came to A--- village and asked the children who attend KECD schools to come back to the village [the students are in school in other areas]. They [the MSA officers] said they heard that the children who go to Karen schools are going to become Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[6] soldiers and so they [the MSA officers] came to check [surveil] the villagers. The intelligence [MSA] officers came to the village two or three times, after receiving surveillance reports from da lan [informants] in the village.
Some parents from B--- village who haven’t registered their children at the [government] school have been threatened by the village head, who said they would be charged for opposing the country since they had not registered their children.[7] Some of the village leaders were appointed by the State Administration Council (SAC)[8] after the military coup and they do as they are ordered by the SAC. I [the community member trained by KHRG] could not conduct any interviews because the Sa Ya Pa were there when I was documenting.
CDM
Since March 3rd 2021, participants in the CDM have come to Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, Mergui-Tavoy District. Some CDM participants struggle to have food, lack healthcare, or have stopped receiving their salary. They resolve these issues in different ways [but no further information was provided]. While most of the people who participate in the CDM are teachers, some are police, protest organizers, or healthcare workers, and some are representatives from Pyidaungsu Hluttaw [parliament]. Some have had to leave their families and children and flee to hide somewhere safe. However, they will continue to participate in the CDM and fight until the end. The Karen National Union (KNU)[9] is taking care of the 50 CDM participants who arrived in the area during the period from March 3rd 2021 to June 24th 2021.
COVID-19
There are more cases of COVID-19 in the Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, Mergui-Tavoy District. [Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) seems to be offering some testing, particularly for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.] There have been no reports of individuals in Karen villages dying of COVID-19, but it is believed that four or five individuals from [ethnic] Burmese villages in the area have died. Some who have contracted COVID-19 have gone to the public hospital, while others are using herbal medicines and following the prescribed COVID-19 procedures.
Moreover, some of the villagers are concerned about the virus because many people are travelling. The Myanmar authorities told them to shut down the churches, but are allowing the government primary and high schools to open. The KNU leaders wanted to set up a required COVID-19 checkpoint to monitor outsiders traveling in the area, but Myanmar government authorities have not allowed it. The Myanmar government authorities in Lay Nya Bok Pyin area only do what they want to do [that is, they disregard the requests of the local KNU]. As more COVID-19 cases are found, local villagers are faced with travel and livelihood difficulties, including an increase in the price of goods.
The movement of SAC troops
The military rotated troops in many places including the Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, Mergui-Tavoy District. Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[10] #559 from Lay Nya village went to the upper [northern] part of Mergui-Tavoy on March 25th 2021. The troops [unreported battalion number] from the upper part of Mergui-Tavoy came to the lower part [rotated south]. On June 17th 2021, the troops placed themselves in multiple palm tree plantations in M--- and N--- villages, remaining there and performing patrols through the evening before returning to their camp in the morning. On June 20th 2021, SAC troops crossed the Lay Nya Bridge during the troop rotations. There are many Karen villages in the upper part of the Lay Nya area and they [the local villagers] are afraid to travel [to go to work or to their plantations] due to the presence of the SAC troops. Consequently, the local villagers are faced with livelihood challenges.
This is the current situation in the Lay Nya Bok Pyin area, Mergui-Tavoy District. The local villagers are afraid of the rotating SAC troops and there are many problems for CDM participants. It is also difficult for me [the KHRG researcher] to travel alone for documentation.
Further background reading on the current situation in Mergui-Tavoy District can be found in the following KHRG reports: