Jul 11, 2003

Displaced people beyond the border


Local farmers in the southern part of Mon State fled to Cheoh Dide village after their farms were confiscated by the Burmese Army
Over ten thousand displaced people live at the Thai border in the black areas of southern Burma. The villagers are fleeing due to shortage of food as a result of fighting between anti-government rebel groups and the Burmese Army, said the Coordinator of Relief Committee.

Local farmers in Ye township, the southern part of Mon State and local people in Ye Phyu Areas in Tenasserim Division fled to Cheoh Dide village during the earlier rainy season after their farms were confiscated by the Burmese Army.

According to Rot Rot, Coordinator of Mon National Relief and Development Committee, people in Ye Phyu, Ye and Kya Inn Sein Kyi areas escaped from their native villages because they can no longer endure the ongoing conflict and its related forms of human rights violations.

“The people are in a desperate situation, they flee from their villages, many are victims of the conflict going on there, being forced to porter and rounded up for slave labor projects, and many are suffering from extreme hardship.” Rot Rot said.

Local farmers have been imposed with an official “Pass” from the BA officials and must have it with them to visit their farms and gardens. If they stray from their village and gardens they risk being accused as “rebel supporters” and will be shot on sight if found without a pass, said a source from the Mon Relief Committee.

The Relief Committee is providing a month supply of rice to the newly displaced people arriving at Cheoh Dide camp. The displaced were able to endure the harsh journey through the dense jungle, but many others are unable to reach the border due to the lack of food for feeding their families, the very young and older members of the family and the disabled.

The relief workers said the displaced people leave their homes because they cannot go out freely to fish, or farm, during the day and night. Many local Mon farmers in Ye and Ye Phyu depend on their farms and fishing to sustain their basic survival needs. Searching for food leads some into the “black areas” (war zone) defined by the military government.

For the last three years the BA has confiscated over 8,000 acres of land in Mon State, forcing many thousands of farmers to become landless and unable to feed their families. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland has documented the full story in a land confiscation report recently.

The Mon National Liberation Army and its mother organization New Mon State Party agreed to a ceasefire with the Burmese military government in 1995. No benefit to the majority has been achieved, repression continues and the number of displaced people has increased in Halockhanee Camp, PaLaing Japan village and Choh Dide camp after the Burmese New Year in April.