BBC

MON NATIONAL RELIEF COMMITTEE

MONTHLY REPORT

1996DECEMBER

The Five Points of the Aim of The Mon National Relief Committee

1. Resettlement of the refugees who become homeless due to the oppression of Rangoon military regime.

2. To help the welfare of the refugees who become jobless due to the oppression of Rangoon military regime.

3. To take care and look after the health of the refugees.

4. To fight against illiteracy for the children in the refugee camps.

5. To struggle for human right

.. .,

The Organization of

Mon National Relief Committee

1. Phra Wongsa Pala - Chairman

2. N ai Shwe Thein - Vice Chairman

3. N ai Kasauh Mon - Acting Secretary

4. Nai Dung Htaw -Member

5. Nai Chit Nyunt -Member

6. Phra Tay Jae -Member

Monthly Report of Mon National Relief Committee (December, 1996)

Unstable Ceasefire Situation and Refugee Problem

In the ceasefire agreement pOint with SLORC, the NMSP has been put under pressure to lessen its troop movement in area where it recently retained semi-control. In the ceasefire negotiation table round, theSLORC always mentioned that the whole Burma must have only One Army under the name of tatmadaw. Since the SLORC officials mentioned such a word, it meant to abolish the other army structures one day in the future. After Burma retained independence from British, the demand for racial equality rights has been rooted and accompaning armed struggleof theehnicnationalitiesstarted at the same period. After nearly five decades for armed struggle, the most ethnic peoples in Burma found the own national lib ration armies to defend their peoples from the abuses of tatmadawand control theirown territoryand accepting the support from the own people. The standard of those ethnic armies have been reached into a well organized armed forces along their experiences and the guerrilla life of the armies have been prolonged.

Because of the adopted policy, the SLORC have pressured the ethnic armed oppositions to lessen down their activities and to abandon their control in some areas. Acccoring to the NMSP-SLORC ceasfire agreement, the most MNLA troops have to abandon some areas where are under the name of temporary troop location. In 1996, the Mon troops have gradually withdrawn from six areas of the temporary troop locations. Because of the troop withdrawal, the dissatisfication on the ceasefire have been progressively taken place among the Mon local troops.

Besides pressuring the ethnic armed forces to move from some areasj the SLORC has appropriated other option to get more control along the border areas. Since the SLORC has attempted to join the ASEAN as a membership, it tried to control the border points for trading or other purposes with Thailand. Thus, it defini tely tried to pressure the ceasefire groups to leave from the border control pOints.

Because of such mentioned purposes, the SLORC intructed to the NMSP to abandon two of its border areas at the end of 1996. In October-Novmeber, the SLORC gave more pressure to the NMSP to withdraw their armed forces from those areas. After the adopted plan, the NMSP agreed to withdraw its troops in Mergui District area and because of the plan, the local Mon troops in the area declaredthemselvesformingtheMonArmy,MerguiDistrlct(MAMD)andsplitedout from theNMSP. Following the split, the SLORC local battalions under the command of SLORC's Coastal Region Command based in Mergui town has launched the serial military offensives to the area.

Similarly, the Mon troops from the Tovay District also have to move from their headquarters before the end of 1996. In December, the troops from the area have left their bases gradually. By the end of December, all of their troops must complete the withdrawal process according the agreement.

After the fighting resumed in the southern part area in Mergui District, the internal refugees in the area has lost chance for harvesting in the area and the crops in the area were destoyed after it over­riped. The land in the area is more convenient to grow cucumber and chili, but a smaH number of refugees grew rice. Normally, those refugees collected their crops and sold it to Thai treaders and they

could get income and bought rice to eat.

The refugees have very li ttle choice for them, they could not return back to their native villages and by the way they could not move into Thailand. Since the fighting resumed in the area, the refugees have to hide in the jungle for several weeks and they have faced shortage of food. The campsites are very uvlnerable for the attacks of the SLORC troops which launched the serial offensives in recent November. However, the MAMD troops have provided enough protection to those refugees there after the serial small and large scales fightings happened in the area. But the increased concerns for those stuck refugees have been grown by MNRC and called the international community to not isolate those war-suffering victims.

Another concern is also gradually grown for the refugees who are reSiding in the Kin Chaung area of Tavoy District. Those refugees were relocated in March 1996 from Payaw to the NMSP's Tavoy District control Kin Chaung area. After the Mon troops moved, the refugees will remain in the Kin Chaung area and it has been still unclear whatwill happen on those refugees in the future. The NMSP also asked the SLORC not to take base in that area and to recognize the area as border development area and to allow the refugees staying longer. However, the NMSP did not know what is the decision of the SLORC whether it will take base or not. If the SLORC troops came for examining on the Mon troops for a while, the refugees could stay in the area, or if they came with aim to take base the refugees have to flee from the area.

Brief Human Rights Situation in 1996 in Rural Areas

Related to the refugee and immigrant fluxes, the root problems are not only economic hardships in the country butalso human rights violations 01 the tatmadaw. The human· rights violations also created the immigrants to Thailand since the refugee camps were unstable enough to take refuge after they escaped their villages.' .

Even thought the SLORC promised the NMSP officials that portering cases will stop after the ceasefire because of no fighting, but the forced portering abuses have been still committed by SLORC local troops to the Mon population. Normally, the SLORClocal troops always used the porters notonly large scale military offensives to the rebel bases and also when it changed their troops from one base to another. They used the villager porters to carry ammunitions and supplies along with their troops. In the whole year 1996, several Mon local inhabitants have been used as forced porters along SLORC's military activities of Yebyu, Ye, Kya-Inn-Seikyi, Kyone-Doe, Phar An townships' areas. The most military activities are with duties to take security of Ye-Tavoy railway construction, Total Cooperated gas pipeline construction and the offensives to KNU bases and changing of local bases.

The conscription of forced labour of the local inhabitants in Ye-Tavoy railway construction have been taken place in Ye, Yebyu and Tavoy townshipsu area since the beginning of 1996. hundred of thousands of local Mon villagers have been conscripted as forced labourers in the construction for at least 10 days each month. The family who could not provide the labour in the constuction had to provide payment to military authorities 2000-4000 Kyat for a defined work-duty in one month. Because of hardships, nearly 10 villagers including children died in construction sites. No compensation was provided by the military for those dead villagers. Besides the contribution of free labour, the villagers have to bring their own foods and medicines. Even the SLORC have used forced labour since October 1993, only some parts of railway construction were completed.

Besides the conscription of forced labour in the railway construction project, the military also conscripted the local villagers to construct the military bases in Yebyu, Tavoy and Kya-Inn-Seikyi townships' areas. To facilitate the security of gas pipeline project, there have been more military deployment in Tavoy and Yebyu areas. In construction of military bases, the local villagers not only provided manual labour but also other facilities such as woods, thetches, bamboos. Not only villagers were conscripted for such construction, the oxes and carts from the villages were also conscripted to carry the materials they needed in their bases.

The abuses such as killing, torturing and arresting committed by the SLORC local troops to the Mon population have been lessened since the ceasefire agreement. But the local Karen and Tavoyan local inhabitants became more sufferer than before. Because of unprogress ceasefire talks with KNU, theSLORChavegiven more pressure to the Karen local villagers. Because of the attack in gas pipeline area, the SLORC local arrested about 15 Karen villagers and killed 9 of them with accusation of rebel­supporters. One Karen young woman was repeatedly raped by Burmese soldiers since she was arrested together with those villgers.

The local military battalion have consistentl y collected several kinds of tax. The unchaged tax collection such as portering fees, area development fees, infrastructure construction fees, and other tax have been provided by the villagers for the whole year. One family in local areas under loose control of SLORC have to prOVide at least 500 Kyat per month.

Because of the above mentioned human rights abuses, the local villagers have lost work opportuni ty in their farming orother works, and income for surviving of the famil y have been lessened. Since then they have to flee to border areas, butmore numbers of refugees who suffered from the abuses fled into Thailand as illegal immigran~

THE REFUGEE POPULATION OF THE FOUR CAMP ARE AS FOLLOW (December, 1996)

Adult Children No Camp Family Total

M F M F

1 Bee Ree 415 486 543 688 772 2489

2 Tavoy 685 878 1087 989 1144 4098

3 Prachuab 491 452 558 702 771 2483

4 Halockhani 1011 1324 1376 1686 1733 6119

Total 2602 3140 3564 4065 4420 15189

THE MATERIALS RECEIVED BY THE MON NATIONAL RELIEF COMMITTEE, (December, 1996)

Rice FiSh Salt Bean Remark ­No Organization Paste

(sack) (kg) (kg) (kg)

1 COERR 100 1250

2 Consortium 1574 4800 3300

Total 1674 6050 3300

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