Pa’an villagers flee to KNU territory

March 8, 2010

March 8, 2010
HURFOM, Pa’an: According to information received by HURFOM’s field reporter in the first week of March 2010, more than 100 villagers from Kawee Noe village, in Karen State’s Pa’an Township, have fled from their homes into Karen National Union territory (KNU), after several weeks of forced labor at the hands of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
A villager reported to HURFOM’s reporter, who visited the shelter in KNU territory, that starting in the second week of January 2010, large numbers of Kwee Noh Htar villagers were forced to perform manual labor for both DKBA and SPDC troops for an extended period of time. This source claimed that he and his fellow villagers were forced to dig trenches, build fences around the battalions’ base camps, and build barracks; these individuals were given no time to work in their own farms and gardens, and instead were made to contribute all of their time to performing unpaid labor. This source informed HURFOM that Kwee Noh Htar villagers soon lacked sufficient food to feed their families, and starting in mid-February, victims began fleeing from the village to safety two miles away, in territory controlled by KNU Brigades No.s 1, 3 and 5.
“Too much time we have had to work for both the DKBA and SPDC troops, we have no food for our families to eat for survival. We have no time to work on farms to get food and incomes. After we discussed this with each other we decided we must leave the village. If we had continued living there, we were all going to die” explain Saw Lay Phoe, a 45 year-old Kwee Noh Htar villager. According HURFOM’s field reporter, most of Kwee Noh Htar villagers taking shelter in KNU territory were dangerously underweight, and exhibited significant signs of malnourishment. In particular, children from the village were extremely thin, and most had swollen stomachs.
Victims informed HURFOM’s reporter that both DKBA and SPDC troops subjected villagers to a role-call system for the unpaid labor they were forced to perform. Villagers who failed to show up to role-call were often beaten, placed in stocks, or fined.
According to another victim, who spoke to HURFOM’s reporter in KNU territory, the villagers were not even permitted to know the identities of their tormentors. Reportedly, the SPDC troops refused to reveal their battalion number to the villagers, and when victims asked soldiers for this information, the soldiers simply replied, “What are you going to do?”
“I was not happy with the DKBA after what they did to us, because they are also Karen but they treated us the same as animals. As for Burmese troops, it is ok for them [to treat us like that] because they are not Karen, they don’t need to take care of Karen people, but as for the DKBA I am angry with them,” a Kwee Noh Htar resident told HURFOM.