Name: Ryan
Email:
Web Site: http://www.twitter.com/ryansisson
Bio: About the Author: Ryan is a Co-Founder of eleho. He was introduced to Burma in 2005 while on a trip to visit a children's home in Mae Sot, and works on the business side of the organization. Feel free to contact with any questions or comments. ryan@eleho.org
Posts by Ryan:
HRW: Justice For The Burmese
March 3rd, 2010by Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch
Published in: The International Herald Tribune
February 28, 2010
Stanley Weiss (“A first step toward democracy?” Views, Feb. 23) demonstrates the triumph of cynicism over principle in discussing Burma’s planned elections.
If Burma’s ruling generals stage elections in 2010 “without violence or repression,” it will be a step forward, Mr. Weiss argues. He has an odd definition of repression, which apparently does not include an election “stage-managed by the military.”
If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy “chooses not to participate,” it will surely be because the N.L.D., which won Burma’s last elections in 1990 but has suffered repression since, determines the election will be rigged. To pretend that violence will not be part of the process is disingenuous, since its threat by an army with a very bloody record is something all Burmese have to consider before joining an opposition party or taking to the streets.
Here’s the reality: Peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks in 2007 were crushed with extreme violence. The 2008 constitutional referendum was rigged. More than 2,100 political prisoners languish in horrific prisons. The junta has refused to engage in serious dialogue with the opposition. And without concerted international pressure, particularly from China, there will be no meaningful change.
Mr. Weiss argues that bogus elections and an end to sanctions will lead to a new Burma. But why a regime wallowing in cash from selling the country’s natural resources – while most Burmese live in poverty – would relax its grip if sanctions ended is a mystery. Instead, the United States, the European Union, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should finally implement serious targeted financial sanctions. And the United Nations should tell the generals that if they don’t reform quickly it will authorize an inquiry into decades of massive human rights abuses by the military.
International justice should be on the international agenda. That would get the generals’ attention.
Brad Adams, London
Asia director, Human Rights Watch
For all Human Rights Watch reporting on Burma, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/asia/burma.
FBR REPORT: Families Flee as Attacks Continue
March 1st, 2010FBR REPORT: Families Flee as Attacks Continue
Western Karen State, Burma
26 February, 2010
More than 2,100 newly displaced Karen villagers hide from Burma Army after attacks
Seven Burma Army battalions (Five as the assault element and two in support) attacked villagers in Ler Doh township, Nyaunglebin District, Western Karen State, displacing over 2,100 villagers. The attacking battalions are advancing from three directions; north, west and east.
The first phase of this attack started in late January and resulted in the killing of 3 villagers, the destruction and burning of 2 villages and the displacement of 1,000 people in Ler Doh and 1,000 in a different area of Hsaw Hti. (please see January reports at www.freeburmarangers.org). The second phase of this attack started on February 5rh, is continuig today with 2,100 in hiding, 14 schools abandoned and 46 houses burned in the Toe Hta area, 28 houses in the Ka Di Mu Der area , 30 houses in Hti Baw Hta, and earlier 11 houses burned in Kweh Der. Total houses destroyed in these attacks is 125. Including farm huts and a clinic it is about 140 buildings destroyed.
The Karen resisitance (National Liberation Army) are trying to protect the people from these attacks and the Free Burma Ranger relief teams and others are providing humanitarian assstiance. . At least two villagers have been shot dead by the Burma Army which does not discriminate between combatants and civilians as it seeks to terrorize the Karen people. (See three reports UPDATE OF BURMA ARMY ATTACKS, MURDERS, DISPLACEMENT AND FORCED LABOR IN KAREN STATE, BURMA from January 21-31 .)
The FBR teams with the help of Partners are also bringing new medical supplies and are working with township medics to help treat those who have fled. These people, unable to return to their villages, now face life on the run and without sufficient food. They are also much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as dysentery, acute respiratory infections and malaria. The IDPs are trying to keep their children’s education going, but 14 schools have been closed as a direct result of these attacks. One clinic has also been burned to the ground by the Burma Army.
Seven battalions (each with about 130 men) from the Burma Army’s Military Operation Command 10, their command post being at Hti Baw Hta, Light Infantry Battalions 362 and 367, Tactical Operation Command 3 of Military Operation Command 10 attacking from the north, LIBs 361, 366 and 368 and troops from the Southern Command attacking from the west and east are responsible for the attacks. The numbers of the two supporting battalions are not known yet. They are using mortars and machine guns on the civilians in the area.
FBR teams saw Burma Army troops with villagers they were forcing to carry loads for them. In every area here that the Burma Army controls, they force villagers to carry loads and work for them. In spite of the threat of punishment of death, the villagers attempt to avoid this work and actively support the resistance instead. But often they cannot avoid carrying loads for the Burma Army occupying troops. 12 new FBR teams have joined the existing FBR teams in these areas and are providing medical and other humanitarian assistance. Over 2000 patients have been treated and over 100 loads of relief materials have been distributed by the new teams. There is now a need for more medical supplies to help those displaced by the new attacks. (Thanks to Partners Relief And Development (PRAD) and others who are sending more medical and food support and thanks to PRAD and Genocide Intervention Network for help with the early warning system of radios and other communications equipment that villagers use to warn each other and better escape impeding attacks.)
HRW Report: Migrant Workers Face Killings, Extortion, Labor Rights Abuses
February 28th, 2010For Immediate Release
Thailand: Migrant Workers Face Killings, Extortion, Labor Rights Abuses
February Deadline for Renewal of Work Permits Invites Exploitation
(Bangkok, February 23, 2010) – The Thai government should swiftly act to end police abuse and discriminatory laws and policies against migrant workers and their families, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The February deadline for more than a million migrant workers to enter the “nationality verification” process or face immediate deportation creates the risk of further abuses and should be postponed until it can be carried out in a fair manner.
Human Rights Watch’s 124-page report, “From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand,” is based on 82 interviews with migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and restrictions on organizing.
“Migrant workers make huge contributions to Thailand’s economy, but receive little protection from abuse and exploitation,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Those from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos suffer horribly at the hands of corrupt civil servants and police, unscrupulous employers, and violent thugs, who all realize they can abuse migrants with little fear of consequences.”
Human Rights Watch said that migrant workers face an imminent threat from the Thai government’s decision that all migrants must enter the national verification process by February 28, or face arrest and deportation. Eighty percent of the migrant workers in Thailand are from Burma. They are particularly at risk, as they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country. The costs of the nationality verification process, which can amount to two or three months of salary, are unacceptably high for these migrant communities.
Human Rights Watch said that unrealistic demands set by the Thai government, coupled with a complicated and unregulated nationality verification process, could lead to mass deportations of migrants from Thailand to Burma and situations that could result in fundamental human rights and labor rights violations.
Police abuse migrants with impunity. A Burmese migrant told Human Rights Watch that she witnessed two Thai policemen in Ranong repeatedly kick a Burmese youth in the chest, killing him, because he did not reply to their inquiries in Thai.
“Many Burmese were watching and nobody went and helped because all of the people were afraid of those police, so nobody said anything about this killing, and nobody informed the police station,” said the witness. “When I saw this [killing], I felt that we Burmese people always have to be humble and have to be afraid of the Thai police. I feel that there is no security for our Burmese people [in Thailand] or for myself.”
Local police and officials frequently ignore or fail to effectively investigate complaints. Provincial decrees and national laws prohibit migrants from establishing their own organizations to assert their rights, while restrictions in policy on changing employers, moving outside designated areas, and convening meetings with more than a handful of persons leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation and ill-treatment.
Another migrant worker told Human Rights Watch how two armed men approached her in the rubber plantation where she worked, shot her husband dead in front of her, and then both men raped her. Despite a suspect being named in a police report, the police did not pursue the case.
“I am Burmese and a migrant worker. That is why the police don’t care about this case,” she said. ”My husband and I are only migrant workers and we have no rights here.”
Migrants reported constant fear of extortion by the police, who demand money or valuables from migrants held in police custody in exchange for their release. It is not uncommon for a migrant to lose the equivalent of one to several months’ pay in one extortion incident.
“Many officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs,” said Adams. “They are just part of a system that robs and mistreats migrants wherever they turn.”
Human Rights Watch found that in several provinces decrees by provincial governors have increased migrants’ vulnerability by enforcing prohibitions on use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing nighttime curfews. These repressive decrees reflect the treatment of migrants as a national security problem instead of as part of a global phenomenon of the movement of people for economic, environmental, and political reasons.
“If the Abhisit government really is reformist, it should immediately abolish the provincial decrees that keep migrants effectively held under lock and key, bound to their job sites, and cut off from the outside world,” said Adams.
Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to establish an independent and impartial commission to investigate allegations of abuse by police and other authorities against migrants. Such a commission should have the power to subpoena, require presentation of evidence, and recommend criminal and civil charges against abusers. It should make public reports on a periodic basis.
“Life is extremely uncertain and unsafe for migrants in Thailand as they flee one difficult or deadly situation into another,” said Adams. “They are a living example of the Thai proverb which describes how the vulnerable ‘escape from the tiger, but then meet the crocodile.’”
The Human Rights Watch report, “From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand” is available at:
http://www.hrw.org/node/88619
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Thailand, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/thailand
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-333 (mobile)
In Bangkok, Sunai Phasuk (English, Thai): +66-81-632-3052 (mobile)
In Perth, Elaine Pearson (English): + +61-4155-47-898 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
Buy Great Threads & Support A Great Cause
February 20th, 2010Do What You Love to Help People and You Will Always Love What You Do!*
From the Hello Destroyers Website…
Thats a lot of words on a shirt. But I wanted to make this shirt to remind people to follow our dreams. Some people draw, some dance, some sing, some speak, some are great at finances, or are farmers, there are a ton of things. We all have gifts. The question is, what do we do with these gifts and talents?
10% of this Shirt will go towards our friends at Eleho: Compassion for the Afflicted. Co-founded by Bryan Monzon and Ryan Sisson in California, Eleho is composed of people who have a huge passion to help and reach the people inside the borders of Burma.
Check Out Our Friends – Hello Destroyers
February 20th, 2010They support us and therefore they rock! Check them out.
HRW Report: Burma: Release Democracy Leader U Tin Oo
February 20th, 2010urma: Release Democracy Leader U Tin Oo
Harsh Sentence for US Citizen Nyi Nyi Aung Highlights Challenges for Visiting UN Official
(New York, February 11, 2010) – The Burmese military government should immediately release the 84-year-old opposition leader U Tin Oo, whose house arrest order expires on February 13, 2010, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should also immediately release the human rights activist Nyi Nyi Aung, a US citizen sentenced to three years in prison on February 10 on spurious charges after an unfair trial.
U Tin Oo, the deputy leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), has spent nearly seven years in prison and under house arrest in Rangoon. He has been held under an annually renewed detention order and denied access to visitors and fellow party leaders since 2003. U Tin Oo’s house arrest order expires one day before the arrival of the United Nations human rights envoy on Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, for a visit through February 20.
“U Tin Oo has paid dearly for his courageous opposition to military rule,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “His release on schedule will be an important test of whether Burma’s generals will allow even modest pluralism before the elections this year.”
Authorities arrested U Tin Oo in May 2003 on politically motivated charges of disturbing public order after pro-government militias attacked the convoy carrying him and other opposition leaders, including the National League for Democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, near Depayin, upper Burma. U Tin Oo helped form the NLD in 1988 and was also under house arrest from 1989 to 1995.
Nyi Nyi Aung, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin, was sentenced on February 10 to three years in prison by a closed court inside Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison on politically motivated charges of violating the immigration law, currency offenses, and forging documents. A native of Burma, Nyi Nyi Aung was held in Insein prison more than 20 years ago for a short period, where he was tortured. After his release he fled to Thailand. He went to the US as a refugee in 1993 and later became a US citizen, where he remained involved in peaceful activities in the United States and Thailand to seek the release of political prisoners in Burma.
Nyi Nyi Aung was arrested when he arrived in Rangoon on September 3, 2009. He was initially accused of national security violations, but other trumped-up charges were added later. He was accused of holding a forged Burmese national identity card, even though he holds a US passport, and of immigration offenses. He was also charged with failing to declare foreign currency at customs, even though authorities arrested him before he passed through customs.
“The real reason Nyi Nyi Aung is behind bars today is his bravery in standing up for political prisoners,” Adams said. “That Burma’s generals didn’t think twice about throwing a US citizen in jail shows their contempt for recent US efforts to have a high-level political dialogue with the government.”
In the past year, the Burmese military government has arrested at least 270 political activists throughout the country, adding them to an estimated 2,195 political prisoners. During the same period, about 266 were released. Since October, 44 activists have been sentenced to harsh prison terms, most ranging from 5 to 52 years. On December 12 a court sentenced U Nanda Vantha, a Buddhist monk from Mandalay, to 71 years in prison.
Human Rights Watch’s campaign, 2100 in 2010: Free Burma’s Political Prisoners, calls on the international community to press for the release of all political detainees (the number stood at 2,100 when the campaign began) ahead of national elections announced for some time in 2010.
Human Rights Watch urged influential countries, including China, India, and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to call publicly for the release of all political prisoners in Burma.
“The UN envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana has his work cut out for him on this trip,” Adams said. “He should press Burma for the immediate release of U Tin Oo, Nyi Nyi Aung, and thousands of other political prisoners to stop this disgraceful charade of releasing a few prisoners and refilling their prison cells with new victims.”
To read the December 2009 Human Rights Watch news release, “Burma: Clinton Should Press for Release of Burmese-American,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/18/burma-clinton-should-press-release-burmese-american
To read the February 2007 Human Rights Watch news release, “Burma: Pro-democracy Leader Detained Indefinitely,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/02/15/burma-pro-democracy-activist-detained-indefinitely
To read the Human Rights Watch World Report Burma chapter, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/87392
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-333 (mobile)
In Bangkok, David Mathieson (English): +66-87-176-2205 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Tom Malinowski (English): +1-202-612-4358; or +1-202-309-3551 (mobile)
FBR REPORT: 2,100 Displaced, Villages Burned, Schools Abandoned as Seven Burma Army Battalions Attack
February 20th, 2010FBR REPORT: 2,100 Displaced, Villages Burned, Schools Abandoned as Seven Burma Army Battalions Attack
Karen State, Burma
12 February, 2010
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Over 2,100 people displaced, 4 villages burned, 14 schools abandoned and a clinic burned as seven Burma Army battalions attack villagers in Western Karen State, Burma. 12 February 2010. (Reports relayed from teams in the field with the IDPs)
More than 2,100 newly displaced Karen villagers hide from Burma Army after attacks:
Seven Burma Army battalions (Five as the assault element and two in support) attacked villagers in Ler Doh township, Nyaunglebin District, Western Karen State, displacing over 2,100 villagers. The attacking battalions are advancing from three directions; north, west and east.
The first phase of this attack started in late January and resulted in the killing of 3 villagers, the destruction and burning of 2 villages and the displacement of 1,000 people in Ler Doh and 1,000 in a different area of Hsaw Hti. (please see January reports at www.freeburmarangers.org). The second phase of this attack started on February 5rh, is continuig today with 2,100 in hiding, 14 schools abandoned and 46 houses burned in the Toe Hta area, 28 houses in the Ka Di Mu Der area , 30 houses in Hti Baw Hta, and earlier 11 houses burned in Kweh Der. Total houses destroyed in these attacks is 125. Including farm huts and a clinic it is about 140 buildings destroyed.
The Karen resisitance (National Liberation Army) are trying to protect the people from these attacks and the Free Burma Ranger relief teams and others are providing humanitarian assstiance. . At least two villagers have been shot dead by the Burma Army which does not discriminate between combatants and civilians as it seeks to terrorize the Karen people. (See three reports UPDATE OF BURMA ARMY ATTACKS, MURDERS, DISPLACEMENT AND FORCED LABOR IN KAREN STATE, BURMA from January 21-31 .)
The FBR teams with the help of Partners are also bringing new medical supplies and are working with township medics to help treat those who have fled. These people, unable to return to their villages, now face life on the run and without sufficient food. They are also much more likely to suffer from illnesses such as dysentery, acute respiratory infections and malaria. The IDPs are trying to keep their children’s education going, but 14 schools have been closed as a direct result of these attacks. One clinic has also been burned to the ground by the Burma Army.
Seven battalions (each with about 130 men) from the Burma Army’s Military Operation Command 10, their command post being at Hti Baw Hta, Light Infantry Battalions 362 and 367, Tactical Operation Command 3 of Military Operation Command 10 attacking from the north, LIBs 361, 366 and 368 and troops from the Southern Command attacking from the west and east are responsible for the attacks. The numbers of the two supporting battalions are not known yet. They are using mortars and machine guns on the civilians in the area.
FBR teams saw Burma Army troops with villagers they were forcing to carry loads for them. In every area here that the Burma Army controls, they force villagers to carry loads and work for them. In spite of the threat of punishment of death, the villagers attempt to avoid this work and actively support the resistance instead. But often they cannot avoid carrying loads for the Burma Army occupying troops. 12 new FBR teams have joined the existing FBR teams in these areas and are providing medical and other humanitarian assistance. Over 2000 patients have been treated and over 100 loads of relief materials have been distributed by the new teams. There is now a need for more medical supplies to help those displaced by the new attacks. (Thanks to Partners Relief And Development (PRAD) and others who are sending more medical and food support and thanks to PRAD and Genocide Intervention Network for help with the early warning system of radios and other communications equipment that villagers use to warn each other and better escape impeding attacks.)
Thank you and God bless you,The Free Burma Rangers
HRW Report – Thailand: Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugee
February 11th, 2010Thailand: Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugees
Push-backs to Burma into Heavily Mined Areas Threaten Lives
(New York, February 6, 2010) – Thailand should immediately stop pressuring ethnic Karen refugees to return to Burma, Human Rights Watch said today. Repatriation to the designated “return zone” in Burma would place returnees at serious risk of human rights abuses and landmines.
On February 5, Thai military and civilian officials sent three families of Karen refugees, comprising 12 adults and children, from a temporary refugee site at the Thai border to Ler Per Her, a site for internally displaced persons inside Karen state in Burma. The families are part of a group of 30 families recently singled out to return to an area in Burma from which they fled after fighting in mid-2009. Thai military officials gave assurances to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that any returns would be voluntarily, but the return followed weeks of aggressive tactics to coerce the refugees to return, Human Rights Watch said.
“Thai authorities are cajoling and threatening Karen refugees to head back into harm’s way, while maintaining Thailand is not breaching international refugee law,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai government should reverse course before these refugees are harmed by mines or pressed into forced labor by the Burmese army.”
In May and June 2009, approximately 4,500 Karen fled pervasive use of forced labor and a military offensive in northeastern Karen state by the Burmese army and their proxy-militia, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), against the anti-government Karen National Union (KNU) and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). They crossed the border and settled into Nong Bua and Mae U Su, two temporary refugee sites in Tha Song Yang district of Tak province in western Thailand. An estimated 2,400 of the refugees are living in rudimentary quarters in these isolated temporary sites close to the border.
Local Thai military officials claim there is no fighting across the border in Burma and assert that it is safe for the Karen to return. However, refugees at one of the sites told Human Rights Watch there has been extensive planting of landmines in their villages back in Burma, and they fear being used as forced porters by the Burmese army and the DKBA.
Human Rights Watch has grave fears for the safety of civilians forcibly returned to active conflict zones inside Burma. All three parties to the conflict in Karen state extensively use antipersonnel mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Burmese army, DKBA, and KNLA continue to plant landmines near their military bases, on trails in the jungles, and around civilian settlements and agricultural fields. According to the Burma section of the annual Landmine Monitor Report there were 721 casualties from landmine injuries in the country in 2008. Burma has not ratified the Mine Ban Treaty and rarely participates in international forums to ban the use of landmines. There are virtually no de-mining operations currently in eastern Burma, and landmine education is limited.
On January 18, a 25-year-old Karen woman who was nine months pregnant stepped on a landmine in the refugee return zone, losing half of her left foot.
I walked back into Karen state with my ten-year-old nephew. I was 9 months pregnant. I was walking on the path leading into the village, and I followed the buffalo just off the path and then stepped on the landmine. Half of my foot disappeared. I could not walk. My nephew ran back over to Thailand to get my husband to help me. It took about 30 minutes for them to come. Three men carried me on a [makeshift bamboo] stretcher. I was worried, I feared for my baby. I was taken to Mae Sot hospital [in Thailand] and they took my baby out [C-section] on the same day. I don’t want to go back to my village [in Burma]. I only went back once and I stepped on a landmine. I’m afraid to go back again. It is not safe anywhere.
“The risks from landmines to people forced back to Burma are deadly real,” said Adams.
Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to halt all plans to return the group and to allow UNHCR to interview and conduct refugee status determinations. International refugee support organizations have repeatedly recommended that all 2,400 Karen be temporarily relocated to an existing refugee camp at Mae La, a one hour’s drive south of Tha Song Yang.
Human Rights Watch said that the Thai government should not heed empty promises by the DKBA and KNLA, which have reportedly told Thai military officials and refugee representatives at Nong Bua and Mae U Su that they will clear landmines in the Ler Per Her return area. The DKBA has agreed to become part of the Burmese army’s “Border Security Guard,” and has expanded its territorial control over much of the Thai-Burma border in Karen state. Armed groups make extensive use of landmines to exert local control in situations of continued low level conflict punctuated by military offensives.
“Trusting armed militias to remove the landmines they have sown is no way to reassure refugees, and Thai authorities should not be complicit in this charade,” Adams said. “Thailand should instead properly screen, register and shelter these families instead of threatening them into crossing a border.”
To read the Human Rights Watch World Report Burma chapter, click here:
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/87392
To read the December 2006 Human Rights Watch news release, “Burma: Landmines Kill, Maim and Starve Civilians,” please visit:http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/12/20/burma-landmines-kill-maim-and-starve-civilians
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-333 (mobile)
In Bangkok, Dave Mathieson (English): +66-87-176-2205 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
Thank You
February 3rd, 2010Dear Friends of eleho,
As we look ahead to 2010 we want to take a moment to thank each of you for your support of eleho in 2009. Last year presented us with amazing opportunities to spread awareness and build deep, strategic relationships both here in the States and in Burma/Thailand. We’d like to share a few of the highlights with you.
In October members of the eleho team got to share the stage with Bono and U2 during a tribute to Aung San Suu Kyi that was broadcast live around the world. Also here at home we supported the technology and social media for a national live advocacy event for Burma called the Ignite Project brining together over a thousand people for a first of its kind event for Burma.
In the Thai-Burma border areas we focused on continuing to develop our network of Burma organizations that are serving the people on the ground. One such connection is with Compassio, an organization that is transforming the lives of street children in the border towns. Last fall we sent a team to Thailand to lay the foundation for a new project called Twenty-4-Hope in partnership with Compassio. We will lead web development, filmmaking, and awareness strategy to launch a $20 monthly giving initiative in support of Compassio’s inspiring work, like their child protection center, mobile health clinic, and safe houses. We could not be more excited to launch this project with Compassio and watch the lives of Burmese children in Mae Sot, Thailand change as a result.
Each time we travel to Burma/Thailand we meet more of the amazing people that we strive to serve. Their stories are our inspiration and our mission. As we continue to develop eleho we are more excited and committed than ever to bring the most compelling stories to you and connect you to the best ways to make a difference. If you would like to make a donation to support our work, you can do so at www.eleho.org/donate
Thanks for making our work possible.
Sincerely,
Ryan Sisson
Co-Founder, eleho
FBR Report: Update of Burma Army Attacks, Murders, Displacement, and Forced Labor In Karen State
January 26th, 2010FBR REPORT: UPDATE OF BURMA ARMY ATTACKS, MURDERS, DISPLACEMENT AND FORCED LABOR IN KAREN STATE, BURMA
Report relayed directly from the field by FBR Relief Teams in Karen State
21 January, 2010
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
On January 17: Keh Der village in Ler Doh Township was attacked by LIB 367. 10. Ten houses were burned down. 2 villagers were shot and killed
This and related attacks have now displaced 1,000 people from 10 villages in the area.
On January 18th the Burma Army shot villagers at Hti Aw Top and captured two women and one man in Mon Township
On January 19 LIB 427 from Naw Soe camp shot at villagers from Kaw Htoo Toe while they were harvesting bamboo, scattering the villagers. Today (January 21) an FBR team responding to the attacks found the decapitated body of one of these villagers.
In total, more than 2000 people have been displaced by Burma Army attacks this week.
Dear friends,
This is an update with photos of Burma Army attacks, murders, displacement and forced labor against villagers and IDPs in Karen State, Burma. There are no large scale offensives at this time but over 2,000 people have been displaced in attacks this week while villagers were shot to death by Burma Army patrols. Yesterday while doing a reconnaissance of a Burma Army camp, we saw Burma Army troops with villagers they were forcing to carry loads for them. In every area here that the Burma Army controls, they force villagers to carry loads and work for them.
In spite of the threat of punishment of death, the villagers attempt to avoid this work and actively support the resistance instead. But often they cannot avoid carrying loads for the Burma Army occupying troops.
Here 12 new FBR teams have joined the existing FBR teams in these areas and are providing medical and other humanitarian assistance. Over 2000 patients have treated and over 100 loads of relief materials have been distributed by the new teams. There is now a need for more medical supplies to help those displaced by the new attacks. (Thanks to PRAD and others who are sending more medical and food support and thanks to PRAD and GI for help with the early warning system of radios and other communications equipment that villagers use to warn each other and better escape impeding attacks.)
The following are reports from the teams themselves sent to our HQ team as we move through the three Northern and Western Karen State Districts of Toungoo, Muthraw/Papun, and Nyaunglebin Districts. There is also one report from Dooplaya District South Central Karen State where there is forced labor and a build-up of Burma Army troops- but no offensive yet. We have consolidated these reports and they are below as well as some photos and a map from one of the teams. Thanks for all your help and encouragement,
May God bless you,
A Relief Team Leader, Free Burma Rangers
Western Karen State, Burma
Attacks and Murders:
Two men killed:
On January 17: Keh Der village in Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District, was attacked by LIB 367 under Military Operation Command 10. Ten houses were burned down. 2 villagers were shot and killed. One man’s name is Saw Mya Kaw Htoo. He is 48. He has a wife and 6 children (5 girls). The villagers ran before the SPDC attacked, but later some villagers went back to try to retrieve some of their belongings and that was when Saw Mya Kaw Htoo was shot. The second villager killed was Saw Ey Moo who was killed on the 19th of January 2010 by the same patrolling unit. Because of the early warning system everybody ran away before the Burma Army troops attacked this village or there may have been more people killed. Now the Burma Army is patrolling in this area of Kgaw Hta village and Keh Der village tract.
Two women and one man captured:
On January 18th the Burma Army shot villagers at Hti Aw Top and captured two women and one man in Mon Township, Ler Klah village tract. The villagers were on their way to selling their goods when they were captured and tied up. The three villagers names are 1) Saw Poe lae, 2) Naw Gu Htoo, 3) Naw Day Poe. There was 1 Burma Army column divided into 3 small groups. The troops were patrolling in the area and planned to meet a column from Ko Pla Lay Ko at Saw Ka Der area somewhere.
One man shot and decapitated:
Southern Toungoo District: On January 19.1.10 at 11:38am LIB 427 from Naw Soe camp shot at 3 villagers from Kaw Htoo Toe while they were harvesting bamboo. One villager, Saw Htoo Nay Wa was wounded. When the villager was shot one of the other villagers tried to help the wounded man. The Burma Army was chasing them and shooting and he could not help Saw Htoo Nay Wa’s intestines were protruding out of his body from the gunshot wound. Today, a FBR team responding to the attacks, found the decapitated body of Saw Nay Wa.
Attacks in Ler Doh, Nyaunglebin District displaces 1,000 people from 10 villages:
As per above report, the Burma Army burned Khwe Der village, killed two villager and displaced 10 villages. The villages are; Khwe Der, Kaw Taw Kee, Thur Kaw der, Thaung Nya Der, Kaw Hta, Ler Taw Loo, Day Baw Kee, Muki, Hti Law Kee, Ko Lu.
Attacks in Southern Nyaunglebin District displaces over 200:
On January 18th the Burma Army attacked Hti Blah village in Hsaw Hti Township, Southern Nyaunglebin District. Over 200 people fled their homes and the Burma Army looted and destroyed property in Hti Bla. (The home of one of our FBR medics is here and he lost his home and his belongings).
Forced Labor:
Burma Army and porters carry water from village up their camp at Maladaw forced relocation site. Jan 18 2010
In Toungoo District, Karen State Burma MOC 7 (Military Operation Command) commander Kyaw Myo Aye and TOC 3 (Tactical Operation Command) commander Yae Min stay at Kler La (Baw Glee Gee) camp, and LIB 542 (Light Infantry Battalion) commander Kyaw Zay Oo stay at Play Sa Lo camp.
On 12.1.10 LIB 542 forced 36 villagers to carry Burma Army food supplies from Lay Day camp to Play Sa Lo camp. Villagers from Play Sa Lo (4 female and 5 male), Yay Lo (10 female, 10 male), Glow Ba Der (2 female, 5 male) are forced to carry loads.
On 13.1.10 the Burma Army forced 87 villagers from Play Sa Lo (26 female, 21 male) and Lay Gho Lo village (25 female, 15 male) to carry loads of food for the Burma Army.
On 14.1.10 the Burma Army forced 40 villagers from Play Sa Lo (16 female, 21 male), Yay Lo (1 female, 1 male), Glow Ba Der (1 female) to carry loads of food for the Burma Army
On 15.1.10 the Burma Army forced 38 villagers from Yay Lo (2 female, 2 male), Glow Ba Der (6 female, 4 male), Play Sa Lo (13 female, male 11) to carry loads of food for the Burma Army
From 12.1.10 to 15.1.10 the Burma Army forced 201 villagers to carry their food supply from Lay Day to Play Sa Lo two times each day. They forced each male to carry 20Kg and each female to carry 15Kg loads each time.
On 16.1.10 forty more BA soldiers from LIB 542 arrived at Play Sa Lo camp
On 17.1.10 The Burma Army forced villagers including school students to carry food supplies from Lay Day camp to Play Sa Lo camp. The villagers forced to carry loads were: Naw Koo Htoo 16 years old, Naw Ka Moo 15 years old, Naw Nay Ree 16 years old, Naw Blu Gay Paw 14 years old, Naw Bway Moo 10 years old, Saw Eh Dee Htoo 9 years old, Saw Nay Do 10 years old, Saw Then Oo Kyai 40 years old.
New Kayan, Karenni and Karen teams with IDP kids (GLC) Mon Township
On 16th January 2010 the teams did a program at Nwa Ta (Hti Ler Baw Ta village tract) and in that area there are over seventy families with at least five-hundred people total. There are four schools with nine school teachers with seventy-one students. In the area there are three orphan children. The father died in 2006 and the mother died in October 2009. The teams helped these orphans with what they could. These children cannot attend school, but we will try to send them to school next year.
Orphaned Children
The teams provided medical help and did a Good Life Club program in this village. We combined four schools from three villages and the teams treated one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and thirty people during the day.
Four porters escape from Burma Army camp
Four porters ran away from Ler Mu Plaw Burma Army camp on January 13. There are two Shan Burman Buddhists, 30 and 37 years old from Kachin State, a 41 year old Burman Buddhist from Daw Bo Township, and a 24 year old Shan Burman from Mo Gout east.
The four had been imprisoned in Myitkyina prison for two years on drug trafficking charges. They were mistreated in prison and moved to Pyinmana Cain Tha camp in October 2008 and forced to be miners. If they fell sick or could not work, they were beaten. They were sent on to Toungoo prison where they joined a total of 500 prisoner porters who were then sent to the front line of fighting against the Karen National Liberation Army.
When they got to Ler Mu Plaw camp in mid December 2009, they were forced to dig trenches, bunkers, foxholes, and carry loads, fetch water and firewood for all the Burma Army soldiers. They also had to carry out any Burma Army soldiers who were injured or killed in the fighting. The four men escaped to the KNLA’s 5th brigade company from where they will travel home.
Infantry Battalion 223, based at Ler Mu Plaw, has 28 soldiers at the camp, reduced from 45.
FBR teams in Nyaunglebin District, north west Karen state, report the Burma Army are patrolling in the villages around the Burma Army camps and stocking up on food and horses.
Other Burma Army Activity:
Burma Army situation at Ler Mu Plaw Camp
Now the IB 223 is at Ler Mu Plaw Camp. On top of the camp there are 23 soldiers, the middle of the hill 5 soldiers and there are no soldiers in the bottom. The troops have 4 artillery, one RPG 7, and 1 machine gun. In the very beginning the size of the troops was 45 soldiers, but now they are only 28 soldiers. The soldiers are very afraid. During night security one man takes 3 places and rings a bamboo bell every hour and another soldier takes his place.
Situation in Ler Klah village tract, Hti Kgo village
Today we received news that the Burma Army from Hti Ler Baw Ta and Koplalay Ko camps are patrolling. People here are worried about this. At Hti Ler Baw Hta camp the Light Infantry Battalion 370 arrived. All area IDPs are on alert.
On 12th of January the Burma Army sent 27 food trucks and 70 horses from Hsaw Me Lu to Muthe Camp and continued on to Paw Kay Ko camp.
20January; Mone Township: Villagers form Yulo village forced to carry loads from Hti Mu Hta (Moebya) Burma Army camp to Lay Day Camp. We saw the troops and porters through an opening in the trees but could not get a good photograph.
Dooplaya District, South Central, Karen State
Build up of Burma Army- two more divisional sized units arrive
Report on 18.1.10
Before 9 January in Dooplaya district there was only one Burma Army Military Operations Command (MOC). A MOC is a divisional sized unit with 10 battalions. They usually operate with 7 battalions forward and three in their base area. MOC 12 has been operating in Dooplaya District but now on 9.1.10 the Burma Army has reinforced MOC 12 with two new MOCs-MOC 19 and MOC 8. The reported purpose of the increased Burma Army presence in this area is to control the Mon State armed resistance groups that do not want to become a border guard force for the Burma Army. The second reason is to clear out the KNU (Karen National Union) from Dooplaya District. The Burma Army also uses the DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army), a Karen proxy force of the Burma Army, to fight the KNU. The Burma Army is sending more supplies than normal and are also including food for the DKBA. (Note: Some DKBA units report they do not actually receive the food supplies.)
Burma army trucks transport supplies and troops to attack the Karen Dec 09
15.1.10 South Eastern Command called Karen Peace Force, Karen Nation Union, and Democratic Buddhist Army for a meeting in Mah Lah May. The meeting is about becoming the border guard force but no group has responded yet as to whether or not they will take on this role and surrender their arms to the Burma Army.
FBR Team Activity report:
This is an excerpt of a report from one of the teams and is an example of how the teams report to us in the field
On 18th January, 2010 the team provided help, medical care, and did a GLC program at Hti Kgo. About 300 people came and over 150 people treated. The teams gave out children’s packages GLC T-shirts, Bibles, hymnals, and Lego toys to the children and the church. The teams did interviews of some people and a pastor.
Good Life Club program for kids, 21 Jan 2010
Today we left Hti Kgo and spent a night at Tawawpu. There the teams provided medical care and gave out mosquito-nets to the IDPs. There are 18 houses with about 100 people. The teams treated about 60 people. Most of the patient’s issues were coughing, ARI, and malaria.
On January 18 at 2:40 PM a group of Villagers from Aung Soe Moe village went to their farm in the jungle. This is not allowed under SPDC control. However, it is what all villagers have to do to survive; they grow their rice and other crops in the jungle. So they went to their farm anyway and on their way home LIB 370 under Military Operation Command 10, shot them. Now three villagers are missing, two men and one woman. Nobody knows what happened to them, but they are feared dead.
January 19. Light Infantry Battalion 367, under Military Operation Command 10 attacked Htu Gaw Soe village. Before they arrived at the village, at 1:05PM they saw Saw E Moo on their way close to Htu Gaw Soe village and shot and killed him. He was 40 years old and has a wife and 5 children.
Right now 10 villages are hiding in the jungle, this is approximately 1000 people. They have limited food. They are fleeing and hiding in the jungle.
Now LIB 427 patrol has arrived at Naw Htee Kaw area (near Saw Wa Der area). Villagers from Saw Wa Der, Yer Lo, Ho Htoo Toe, and May Daw Ko villages all fled into the jungle and are currently living in hiding sites. Our teams are now at Klaw Ki village, Saw Ka Der village tract. The team provides medical help during the day and will continue.
Thank you for your help, advice and prayers. God bless you, the
Combined Ler Doh, new Karen, Karenni, and Kayan FBR teams.
Nyaunglebin District, Western Karen State
