Interview #9

Karen Villager
Ye Pyu Township, Tenasserim Division, Burma

I came to the border a week ago. [The interviewee was interviewed in May 2001.] I was a porter for LIB 104. . . . I had to be a porter in April 2001. I do not remember the date. I had to go for six days. There were about 70 soldiers patrolling in the area after one of their soldiers was killed on the car road. There are two companies from LIB 104. . . . The soldiers collected 18 porters from three villages. . . . As the soldiers divided into two groups, we porters also separated into two groups. The group that I had to follow [had] eight porters, and we had to carry food and cooking supplies for the soldiers. We also had to bring our food when we carry their food while they were patrolling.

Before I had to go porter [for six days in April], soldiers came and arrested about 20 villagers to carry for them from my village to another village. They left in the morning and came back in the evening. They had to carry food for the soldiers when they were patrolling. The next day they asked for ten porters, but they were given five porters, and I was among the five. The time when the village called me to go for porter, I was walking in the village. At first I planned to run away, but my mother told me not to do this. She did not want the village head getting in trouble because I did not go to porter. I had to go because at that time my father was not home.

The first day we walked a half day from the village and slept in the jungle. The second and third day we traveled the whole day and slept in the jungle too. The fourth day we patrolled until 3pm, and we arrived at another village. The next day we walked from that village to another one. On the sixth day we were released to go back home in the evening. In that morning, one of the porters ran away because the soldiers said that he had to go for more days. He escaped in the morning, and we were allow to come back in the evening.

The village also had to do free labor for cleaning the car road, 50 feet on each side of the road. After one of the soldiers was killed, they ordered the villagers to clean more, up to 100 feet on both sides. So, if you add the first time and the second time, there are 150 feet in one side of the road that the villagers had to clear. Before I came to the border they still had to clear the car road.