Interview #25

Shan Farmer
Nam Zarng Township, Shan State, Burma

I can't go to work for the Burmese soldiers because I'm very old, but my relative did it. He is the only one man in my family, so if there is an order to do work for the Burmese soldiers, he has to go. During this time, troops came to our village from the beginning of April 2000 until the end of January 2001. My family got orders to go porter four times. When we got an order, my relative had to go. Before the Burmese soldiers arrested and tortured him [in September 2000], he portered two times. Each time, he had to carry foods and weapons for the troops who were patrolling. . . .

After my relative was tortured by the Burmese soldiers, he was very afraid of them, and when he heard about Burmese soldiers, he was very alarmed. If my family got the order to porter, he did not go. So I had to hire some one to go, 3,500 kyat for each time. The last time was eight days before I went to Thailand. I came to Thailand in January 2001. [The interviewee was interviewed in February 2001.] I got the order to porter from [a village elder]. . . . Villagers had to go for four days until new people came to replace them, and they were allowed to return home. If it is [villagers'] duty to porter and [they] refuse to go, there will not be enough porters from my village. So the Burmese soldiers will come to my village and ask who did not want to porter, and the village will point the [villager who does] not go, and they might punish [that villager]. So [villagers] don't want to go, but [they] have to go because [they] can't do anything except follow their orders.