Interview #37

Shan Farmer
Murng Kerng Township, Shan State, Burma

I came to Thailand in February 2001 because where I lived in Shan State there were many Burmese soldiers. They asked us for food and to work for them. We never got paid, and if we grew something on our farms, the SPDC soldiers would just take it. They forced us to move to other places, and if we went back to the old village, we would be killed by SPDC soldiers. The fences around our farms were destroyed by the soldiers, and the livestock (buffaloes and cows) would come and eat our crops. . . .

There was a Burmese military battalion about five minutes away. Soldiers would force villagers to work for them, cutting bamboo and fencing the battalion camps. We had to go to where the battalions were based, 200-500 soldiers. I had to work for the battalion about three times, usually for one day at a time along with 100 or 200 other people. I never received any payment for that work. I was beaten by a soldier while doing forced labor a year ago. I was clearing the grass in the battalion camp, and the soldier thought I was not doing a good job, so he beat me three times on my back. I could not understand what the soldier said to me, but I understood that he was not satisfied with my work. Other villagers were also beaten, including women.

Two months ago, in January 2001, was the last time I did forced labor. I worked for two days. I was in the village, and the SPDC soldiers gave a letter to the village tract headman who passed it on to the village headman. I saw the letter at the headman's house. It was in Burmese, so I could not understand it, but the headman translated it for me. It said every household had to go work at the battalion camp the next day and had to bring their own food and tools to build a fence at the battalion camp.

We were ordered to gather at 11AM. The headman ordered the villagers to go, and there were about 200 people doing the work. The oldest person was 80 years old, and the youngest was 10 years old. There were about 70-80 children working and about 30 elderly people. About half of the workers were women, including about ten women who were noticeably pregnant. I did not want to go do the work, but I could not refuse. According to the headman, the soldiers would choose any of a variety of ways to punish anyone who refused-beating, taking money, taking animals or rice. I heard about villagers who refused to go for forced labor and each person was fined 10,000 kyat as a result.

Each villager had to bring an ox cart full of bamboo that we had to gather or buy ourselves. I borrowed 500 kyat from another villager and bought the bamboo then carried it in my own oxcart. We had to prepare the bamboo before arriving, cutting it into sticks and sharpening the ends. We worked from 11AM until 5PM. The work was difficult. We had to cut small and large trees and dig out the tree roots. Then we had to completely clear the area and build a fence around it. On that day, I had to build 20 yards of fence, but I could not finish, so I had to do continue for a second day. The villagers who are able to speak Burmese from learning in school could speak to the soldiers, including the headman. The headman supervised the work at the camp. The soldiers were holding sticks and supervising. If they did not approve of the work being done by a villager, they would beat them. I saw three villagers beaten by the soldiers because the fencing was not good enough. They also ordered them to re-do the work.

If the situation improves in my village and there is no more fighting, I want go back. I want to be sure I have enough food and general well-being and income to give donations at the temple.