200 Karen villagers forced into service in Than Tha Bin Township

2010 January 25
January 25, 2010
HURFOM: Between January 7th and January 10th of this year, at least 200 villagers from various Karen communities in Than Tha Bin Township, Thaungoo district in Pegu division, were forced into service by soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 424 and Military Operation Command (MOC) No. 20, both based in Than Tha Bin Township.Area residents informed HUFOM’s field reporter that over the course of 3 days, conscripted villagers were forced to porter food and building materials for the battalions’ use; other villagers were pressed into service cutting bamboo to be used as building materials for the battalions in their various encampments around the township.
“From my village [Shan Yow Pole], we [villagers] had to provide the soldiers 100 bamboo poles for the soldiers’ buildings. We not only had to cut it [the bamboo], but we also had to carry it to the army camp,” said a 55 year-old Shan Yow Pole resident.
According to a Mae Kyauk village resident, on January 7th, 30 villagers from Mae Kyauk village, 30 residents of Dae Doe village, and 10 villagers from Ye Toe Kyin village were forced to porter food for soldiers from a small camp in Mae Kyauk village to an encampment in Bow Ka Lee village. The trip between the camps took the 70 villagers 3 days to complete; one porter was left behind after injuring his leg.
“We left him alone for three days. When we came back, he was in a serious condition because of his leg. The soldiers did not give him any medicine or nursing”, this Mae Kyauk resident told HURFOM’s reporter. “Soldiers do not care about us villagers, they only use us for labor. When we get hurt they leave us, and they only choose those who can work for them. The ones that are useless to them are left behind to die,” complained a 30 year-old Dae Doe villager to HURFOM’s reporter.
According to a Ka Lae village resident, on January 8th, a military column from LIB No.424 was ambushed by a group of Karen Nation Union (KNU) soldiers. Following the attack, the battalion entered Ka Lae village, where the column’s soldiers tortured villagers, verbally harassed them, and accused them of being members of the KNU. Following this abuse, the soldiers departed, forcibly taking 58 Ka Lae villagers with them to use as porters. The status of these individuals is still unknown.
The presence of LIB No. 424 and MOC No. 20 in the area provide an added burden to villagers already struggling to survive after a year of low agricultural output, especially as many area residents are being forced to donate quantities of rice to the battalions.
“We villagers had no choice, to we had to work as they [the soldiers] said. We did not get enough food for this year [due to low production], and now we not only have to work for the soldiers but also we have to provide food for them”, said a 40 year-old Bae Kaw Dae villager