Shan Human Rights Foundation

February- 2010

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COMMENTARY: Forced Labour
        Last month, the ILO Executive Director and the Burmese Labour Minister signed the third extension of the trial period of the Supplementary Understanding, which in 2007 established the complaints mechanism operated by the ILO liaison officer in Burma on a yearly basis, for one more year.
        The ILO’s intention, to help Burma get rid of the long-standing and deplorable practice of using unpaid civilian forced labour, may have been sincere, as Burma has long been a party to the ILO Convention. However, the results of the complaints mechanism after the last 2 terms of the trial period have still been far from satisfactory, both in terms of providing a safe atmosphere for filing complaints and taking punitive action against the perpetrators, apparently due to the halfheartedness on the part of the Burmese military authorities.
        Interviewed by the media, the ILO Director has openly acknowledged that the use of forced labour remains a problem throughout the country, putting more emphasis on the forcible recruitment of minors into the military which, he said, had been recognized at a high level.
        Given the challenges even in dealing with obvious cases of forced labour taking place at easily reachable places, it is not hard to imagine how much more difficult it is in remote places like rural Shan State.
        Forced labour, especially requisitioned by the military, is still widespread all over Shan State and what has been taking place at the higher levels still has little effect on the ground.
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SITUATION OF FORCED PORTERING IN SHAN STATE
        The use of unpaid forced porters and guides by SPDC military patrols remains widespread in many areas of Shan State.
        The following are some such instances that took place during mid 2009:

VILLAGERS FORCED TO SERVE AS UNPAID PORTERS FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN MURNG-KERNG
        In July 2009, villagers of Khi Khaw village in Khur Ong Ouay village tract, Murng-Kerng township, were forced to serve as unpaid porters for several days by the SPDC troops from IB131 during their patrols of the rural areas in Murng-Kerng township.
        On 4 July 2009, a patrol of about 28 SPDC troops from IB131 came to Khi Khaw village in Khur Ong Ouay village tract in Murng-Kerng township and forcibly conscripted 5 male villagers to serve the military as unpaid porters.
        The villagers were forced to carry heavy loads of mortar shells, pots and pans, and food stuff such as rice, bean, cooking oil, vegetables, garlic and onions, etc., and go with the SPDC troops  as they patrolled Tong Laao and Paang Ketu village tract areas.
        Of the 5 porters, 2 of them, Zaai Awng, aged 37 and Kaw-Ling, had to carry food stuff and pots and pans, and the other 3 (names unavailable) had to carry 6 mm mortar shells. Each had to carry 4 shells, 2 of which were hung on either side of their shoulder poles.
        After 4 days and 3 nights, the villagers were released by the SPDC troops at Paang Ketu village. During their porter service, the villagers were said to be adequately fed and allowed to rest at night by the SPDC troops, but they received nothing for their time and labour.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO SERVE AS UNPAID GUIDES AND PORTERS, FOOD AND LIVESTOCK EXTORTED, IN KUN-HING
        For several weeks, during mid 2009, villagers of Kaeng Lom village tract in Kun-Hing township were forced to serve as unpaid guides and porters by the SPDC troops from IB246, who also demanded food and livestock from the villagers for their consumption during their patrols of the area.
        In May and June 2009, a patrol of 35 SPDC troops from IB246 came to Kaeng Lom village tract in Kun-Hing township and patrolled the area for several weeks, forcing villagers of villages they stopped at or passed through to serve as unpaid guides and porters, and provide chickens and pigs and other food stuff.
        The SPDC troops first came to Kaeng Lom village and conscripted 15 villagers to serve as unpaid guides and porters, and also demanded some rice, chickens, pigs and other food stuff from the villagers. The villagers were then forced to carry all the food stuff and other military things and go with the patrol, and serve as guides as well when necessary.
        When they reached another village, the SPDC troops released the villagers they had brought with them and conscripted another shift of 15 villagers from the respective village to replace them, and demanded more food stuff and livestock as they deemed necessary.
        As they went from one village to another, the SPDC troops replaced their guides and porters and demanded more food if necessary. Sometimes they spent 1 or 2 nights in a village and continued their patrol until they reached another village.
        The SPDC troops had been doing this for several weeks, and had not yet returned to their base, when this report was received in July 2009. They had been going round and round to about 7 villages in Kaeng Lom village tract. The villages were: Kaeng Lom, Nam Paa Man, Pa Phaa, Naa Ke, Paang Sak, Nawng Leng and Saai Leng.
        It was said that the SPDC troops suspected there were Shan soldiers hiding and active in the area and had continuously patrolled it for several weeks. However, they did not provide their own food nor carry their own things, but forced the burden on the local villagers.
        Villagers on their part had to take turns to fulfill their forced labour duty and at the same time collect money among themselves to pay for the food stuff and livestock that had to be provided free of charge for the SPDC troops’ consumption.
VILLAGERS FORCED TO CATCH CHICKENS, SERVE AS GUIDES AND PORTERS AND USED AS DECOYS FOR SEVERAL DAYS, IN LOI-LEM
        In mid 2009, villagers of Kung Long village in Sa-Nin village tract in Loi-Lem township were forced to catch chickens and serve as guides and porters, and were also used as decoys or false-targets, for several days by the SPDC troops from IB12.
        In early June 2009, a patrol of about 40 SPDC troops from IB12 came to Kung Long village in Sa-Nin village tract  and ordered the villagers to provide 10 viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg) of chickens within an hour. Since all the chickens in the village had been let loose during the day, the villagers were forced to round them up in order to catch them.
        When enough chickens were caught, the SPDC troops conscripted 3 male villagers of Kung Long to serve as guides and porters as they prepared to leave the village. The 3 villagers were: Zaai Ti, aged 38, Zaai Thi, aged 37 and Zaai Nae, aged 47.
        The SPDC troops made Zaai Thi put on a military cap and wear a military jacket, and put ammunition belts on his shoulders and forced him to go before the troops. This made Zaai Thi look like an SPDC soldier taking the front point and leading the military patrol, only that he was not entrusted with a gun.
        While Zaai Thi was being used simultaneously as a guide, porter and decoy, the other 2 villagers were forced to carry chickens and other food stuff and walk among the SPDC soldiers in the middle of the patrol.
        After 2 nights and 3 days, the 3 villagers were released when they reached Wan Dawk village in the same village tract. The SPDC troops seemed to be preparing to spend the night in Wan Dawk village when the 3 villagers left and headed back towards their village.

FORCED PORTERING IN MURNG-PAENG
        During early and mid 2009, villagers in Murng Pu Long village tract in Murng-Paeng township had to provide forced labour as unpaid porters for the SPDC troops that patrolled the forests in the area on a regular basis.
        The SPDC troops regularly patrolled the forests to supervise and protect some Chinese logging companies doing business at different places in the area. The patrols, consisting of troops from locally based military battalions, usually stopped for a few days at one place and continued to another.
        As they travelled round and round from one place to another, the SPDC troops needed to take food stuff, ammunition and other necessary things along with them. About 10 porters were needed to carry those things and local villagers were called upon to do the job.
        The villagers had to work in rotation and systematically provide 10 porters at a time, which were replaced every few days, on a regular basis to fulfill this forced labour duty. The villagers received nothing for their time and labour but could face punishment if they failed to discharge this compulsory duty.
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SITUATION OF FORCED MILITARY SERVICE
        Young male civilians, sometimes even under-aged children, have often been forced or cheated into military service by agents of the military, although it was supposed to be voluntary.
        Serving in the people’s militia forces was also compulsory in many areas of Shan State.
        The following are some such incidents:

A MAN DECEIVED AND FORCED INTO MILITARY SERVICE IN KAENG-TUNG
        In mid 2009, a man in Kaeng-Tung town was deceived and forced to join the military by the SPDC military authorities of local known as No. 11 Regional Headquarters, in Kaeng-Tung township.
        Saam Peng, male, aged 24, lived in No. 1 quarter of Kaeng-Tung town and earned a living as a day labourer. His job was mainly carrying and moving things for people in the area around the main market place in the centre of the town and earning wages for doing it.
        Early in the morning of 10 May 2009, Saam Peng was heading for the town’s centre from his living quarter when a taxi stopped beside him and the driver said he wanted to hire a labourer to load and unload things from his car at the No.11 Regional Headquarters.
        Since such an offer was a common practice, Saam Peng immediately accepted it and hopped into the car as it headed towards the military base, suspecting nothing even though he did not know the driver. The taxi stopped in front of an office building at the base and the driver went into it, leaving Saam Peng waiting in the car.
        After a while, 2 SPDC soldiers came out and called Saam Peng into the office, and the taxi driver drove his car away without saying anything to him. It was only then that Saam Peng realized he had been deceived and was forced to join the Burmese army as a soldier.
        About 10 days after Saam Peng had disappeared, a taxi stopped in front of a house where he used to live with his widow mother. The taxi driver, though no one seemed to know his actual identity, then told Saam Peng’s mother that her son had joined the Burmese army and was undergoing military training at the military headquarters.
        Saam Peng’s aging widow mother was shocked at the news and did not believe that her son had willingly joined the military because he was her only son and the only one that had been working as a labourer and supporting her since his father died some years ago.
        Saam Peng’s mother, Pa Aam Soi, together with some of their relatives and community leaders then went to the military base to inquire about her son. They were allowed to see Saam Peng, and learned the truth from him that he had been deceived and forced into military service.
        Saam Peng’s mother then implored the military authorities to release her son because she had only him to rely on, but the authorities said they could not do that because his name had already be registered and submitted to the higher authorities at the General Headquarters.
        The authorities told his mother that they would let Saam Peng visit her when his military training was over, and that he would be drawing the same salaries as other SPDC private soldiers by that time, before dismissing her and those who had accompanied her.
        Rumours about similar incidents taking place in different places in Kaeng-Tung and other townships were rife during 2009. However, details of meny such incidents were difficult to gather due to various reasons, including the fear of further abuses.
PEOPLE FORCED TO JOIN PEOPLE’S MILITIA OR HOME GUARD IN MURNG-PAENG
        During early and mid 2009, villagers in Murng-Paeng township were forced by the township SPDC military authorities to join a people’s militia force and undergo military training in Murng Maa village tract in Murng-Paeng township.
        Each year over the last several years, a new batch or two of villagers in Murng-Paeng township had to join the township people’s militia and enroll in military training courses given by SPDC army officers. This was one such course that took place during early and mid 2009.
        Each village tract in the whole township had to send a quota of new recruits to the training. For instance, Murng Pu Long village tract was required to provide 5 able-bodied male villagers to attend the training. The villagers had to return to their respective villages after training and stay inactive militarily until they were called upon.
        All these activities were being forced upon the villagers who received nothing for their time and labour. Moreover, they could not refuse to comply with such requirements or they would have to face other kinds of abuses or punishment.
        Similar incidents were said to have been taking place in many other townships in Shan State over the last several years, with new batches of villagers given military training every year and sporadic training courses given to old members who had been left inactive for some time.

MEMBERS OF PEOPLE’S MILITIA FROM TA-KHI-LAEK AND MURNG-PHYAK FORCED TO UNDERGO MORE TRAINING, MONEY EXTORTED, IN KAENG-TUNG
        In mid 2009, old members of people’s militia from Ta-Khi-Laek and Murng-Phyak townships were required to undergo a special training course at the Triangle Regional Command Headquarters in Kaeng-Tung township.
        During the second week of May 2009, members of people’s militia from several village tracts such as Ta Lur, Murng Laen, Kaeng Laab, Murng Ko and Murng Phong, etc., in Ta-Khi-Laek and Murng-Phyak townships were ordered to attend a special training course at a military base known as ‘G-1’ in Kaeng-Tung township.
        There were about 250 trainees altogether and the expenses for their round-trip travel and food during the training course, which cost not less than 10,000 kyat for each trainee, were the responsibility of their respective village tract.
        On the final day of the training, the commander of the ‘G-1’ in his closing speech said that members of people’s military that had undergone the training would sometime in the future become full-fledged government servants and receive salaries and other support just like other SPDC army soldiers. Therefore they should always be ready to help protect the country when necessary, he said.
        According to some of the trainees, the training covered courses not only on military matters but also how to collect intelligence, how to spy on other villagers to find out if they did improper things and how to search houses for illegal overnight guests, etc..

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SITUATION OF FORCED LABOUR IMPOSED ON CIVILIAN VEHICLES
        Civilian vehicles have been regularly, systematically and forcibly used by SPDC military authorities at almost every military base and camp in Shan State.
        Occasionally, large numbers of vehicles were also forcibly used at military-sponsored special events.
        The following are some such instances:

VILLAGERS’ VEHICLES FORCIBLY USED, MONEY EXTORTED, IN LAI-KHA
        In early and mid 2009, civilian tractors and motorcycles were forcibly used on a regular basis by SPDC troops of IB64 manning 2 separate outpost camps in Lai-Kha township.
        One of the outposts was situated at Zalaai Khum village in Wan Thi village tract. The other villages in Wan Thi village tract were Nawng Hur, Nawng Kern, Phaa Wawng, Wan Thi, Nawng Wo Haang Kaang, Maak Mong Sem, Kun Saai and Ho Nam.
        These villages were required to provide 3 mini-tractors to be used at the camp on a regular basis. In addition to transporting troops and rations, the tractors were also used to collect firewood and transport charcoal, which was made with forced labour of the villagers, to the main base of IB64 every week.
        Fuel for the tractors was also bought with money collected from the villagers. Money for buying fuel and other things such as pork and chickens for the SPDC troops was extorted collectively on a monthly basis. Every household was required to give 20,000 kyat, 10,000 kyat or 5,000 kyat in accordance with the economic and social status of each.
        The other outpost camp was located at a place called Ta Maak Laang Heng on the outskirts of Lai-Kha town. The SPDC troops manning this camp required villagers of the surrounding villages to provide them with 2 motorcycles for their daily use.
        A couple of villagers’ motorcycles had to be kept at the military camp for the troops to use as necessary for the duration of 7 days, after which they were replaced by another pair that would also stay at the camp for another week, and so on.
        Together with each shift of motorcycles, about 60,000 kyat of money had to be given to the troops to buy fuel for the motorcycles for 7 days. The money was also forcibly collected from the villagers of the surrounding villages on a weekly basis.
        The motorcycles were used by the SPDC troops for running errands and visiting villages in the surrounding areas. In visiting villages, their main purposes were usually collecting food such as fruits, vegetables and chickens, etc., which they always took without asking and/or paying for.
        The troops took a little from each orchard and garden along their way until their backpacks were full before returning to their camp. They also shot with catapults and caught chickens they found on their way. When villagers tried to stop them, the troops scolded them and verbally abused and threatened them.
        Some villagers who once tried to stop them were scolded and threatened by the SPDC troops, saying, “Don’t you know the situation is quite confusing? It is because of your Shan soldiers who roam the countryside and create all kinds of trouble. Are you their supporters? Do you want to be arrested?” Villages affected by this forcible use of motorcycles included Ho Nawng village in the municipal area of the town and many other villages in Wan Saang village tract.
PEOPLE FORCED TO ATTEND THE OPENING CEREMONY OF A NEW AIRPORT, BUILT ON CONFISCATED LAND, VEHICLES FORCED TO PROVIDE FREE SERVICE, IN KAENG-TUNG
        In April 2009, thousands of people in Kaeng-Tung township were forced to attend the opening ceremony of a new airport during which they had to stand in line for hours, from early to late morning, without food and water.
        The new airport was just an enlargement of the existing small airstrip at the Kaeng-Tung airport, on which only small propeller airplanes could land. The airstrip had been made larger and longer, 150 ft wide and 8,000 ft long, to accommodate small and medium sizes jet planes.
        In enlarging the airport, the SPDC authorities confiscated large areas of land adjacent to the airport, which happened to be residential quarters of surrounding villages. The airport took over the whole area of Kaeng Laek village and parts of Phuay Hung and Yaang Khwaay villages.
        Villagers whose houses happened to be in the areas were forced to relocate to other places. The whole village of Kaeng Laek was relocated to a place near Nawng Taang Nawng Khawn village, which was formerly rice fields of the local villagers, which had also been confiscated some time previously. Those who were affected by it, however, received nothing in compensation.
        Because the opening ceremony was to be presided over by the SPDC prime minister Thein Sein, together with ministers from construction and tourism ministries, an order was issued in advance requiring people to attend it in numbers not less than the designated quotas: 400 people from each of the 5 town quarters and 600 people from each of the 10 village tracts.
        On the day of the ceremony, 25 April 2009, people were required to be at the airport around 5:00 a.m. early in the morning and stand in line, waiting for the arrival of the authorities. However, when they came, it was already 8:30 a.m., after people were made to stand in line for hours and it was only the beginning, and the sun was getting hot.
        Most of the civilian trucks and cars in the township were also conscripted by the authorities on the day of the ceremony. They were required to transport all the people to the airport early in the morning and back to their places after the ceremony. They not only received nothing for their time and labour, but had to provide their own motor fuel.
        At the ceremony, prime mister Thein Sein told the people that in order to provide better means of transportation for the people, the government had spent a lot of money to expand the Kaeng-Tung airport. Previously, small planes capable of carrying only about 40 people were able to land here, but from now on big jet planes with about 90 passengers would be able to land, making traveling by air much easier, he said.
        For many people of Kaeng-Tung, however, although having a bigger airport was a good thing it should not have been prioritized over other much more urgent things. What the people needed most at the moment were, they said, adequate electricity and water supplies.
        Kaeng-Tung town had long been facing the problems of water and electricity shortage, although people were required to pay the fees regularly. The situation had become worse after one of the 2 main generators that used to supply electricity to the town had been shifted to the recently established radar centre at Loi Muay.
        The other generator, located in Murng Khawn village tract, was used mainly for the military. While the military bases received power 24 hours a day, civilian residential quarters received only a few hours in 2-3 days time, sometimes during day time and sometimes at night. But there were some people who got electricity almost 24 hours: those who knew how to pay 20,000 kyat of extra fees per month under the table.
        Most SPDC authorities were in the habit of asking people at meetings and other occasions about their troubles as if they would help solve them for the people. However, when the commander of the Triangle Regional Command asked the people on various occasions he always included a particular phrase, and that was “except about water and electricity”.