Two articles from the March 1996 Bu

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Subject: Two articles from the March 1996 Burmese Relief Centre Newsletter

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Two Articles, on the Chin and on SLORC's Child Soldiers
>From the Burmese Relief Centre Newsletter
March 1996

COUNTING TO 17

Khumi, Laimi, Zomi, Mizo, Yaw, Asho, Mara ... all of these
are names for the people who most Burmese refer to as Chin.
Until recently little attention has been paid to this race who live
on the isolated western border of Burma.

Only now, as thousands of Chin refugees pour into India's
Mizorarn State, recounting tales of forced labour and religious
persecution, is international interest starting to focus on this
little - known ethnic group.

Unlike many of Burma's other ethnic peoples, the Chin did not
immediately revolt against the Burmese government after
Burma gained independence. Chin community leaders had
already signed the Panglong Agreement (which led to Burma's
independence) and were hoping this agreement would provide
the Chin people with basic human rights and lead the state to
prosperity.

Sadly, neither of these wishes has been fulfilled. Despite the
relative peace in Chin State, the Chin people have suffered
from similar human rights abuses, food shortages and poor
health as people in the other ethnic areas where armed
resistance has been more widespread.

This situation has obviously frustrated many Chins and may
explain the recent increase in the number of Chins taking up
arms against the regime. The largest rebel group in Chin state,
the Chin National Front (CNF), is now increasingly engaging
SLORC troops.

Currently the SLORC says it has made cease-fire agreements
with "15 of the 16 insurgent groups",
the 16th being the Karen National Union. The junta makes no
mention of the Rakhines, Rohingyas, Chins, Nagas, Tavoyans,
or even the thousands of Burmans who are still locked in bitter
combat with the SLORC. 

Like most ethnic areas of Burma, Chin State has an abundance
of resources and if left in peace and developed properly, the
land could easily provide for its native population. However
due to the endemic corruption, incompetence and abuses of
SLORC officials, many local Chins say the health and living
conditions in Chin State are worse today than 50 years ago.

Estimates of the Chin population, which include at least 44 sub
- groups, range from 400,000 to over two million. The Chins
are mostly farmers growing dry mountain rice in the hills and
wet rice in the few plains areas. In the northern districts of the
state, farmers also rely heavily on corn for their diet, some
grow apples and pears as cash crops.

The majority of Chins are Christians, having been converted
by American Baptist missionaries in the late 1800's. However
in the southernmost districts of Chin state, many are Animist or
Buddhist.

In all of Burma's ethnic areas, the local populations have been
subjected to "Burmanisation" campaigns, which entail their
forcible assimilation into Burman culture. In Chin State, this
has included restrictions on the use of the Chin language and
mandatory use of the Burmese language in education,
business, etc. More recently, it has also involved targeting the
Christian practices of the Chins.
Recently arrived Chin refugees in India report how the
SLORC has been destroying numerous Christian monuments
and buildings and replacing them with Buddhist structures. For
example, last year, SLORC troops knocked down the Johnson
Memorial Cross on the Rung Tlang hill near Haka, and re-
placed it with a pagoda, and after demolishing a church in
Konkailon village, they forced villagers to build a Buddhist
temple on the same site.

This religious persecution is not confined to Chin state, nor is
it solely directed against Christians. There are reports of
similar violations against religious minorities in many other
areas of Burma.

Recent reports also show an increased SLORC troop presence
in Chin State, possibly as a result of the increased activities of
the CNF. In 1990 there was only one battalion (500) of
soldiers, but since 1995 there have been 10 battalions based in
the state.

In addition there has been a massive increase in road and
railway construction. 

The junta is now building a railway from the town of
Kalaymyo to Gan Gaw, and most main roads are being
upgraded into all - weather roads. As throughout Burma, these
projects are being carried out by villagers who not only receive
no pay, but must provide their own food, medicine, tools and
even transportation to and from the work - site.

And as elsewhere in Burma's border areas, local people are
choosing to flee rather than suffer under these "development"
projects of the SLORC.

According to the South Asia Human Rights Documentation
Centre (SAHRDC) based in New Delhi, there are now
approximately 40,000  Chin refugees in India's Northeast state
of Mizorarn. Many of these refugees say that more of their
relatives and friends are also on their way out.

Unfortunately the reception recently provided by the Mizoram
authorities has been less than gracious. The SAHRDC reported
that in "October 1994 at least 1,000 refugees, with estimates
up to 10,000, were expelled from India ... these repatriated
refugees were received by Myanmar military personnel,
whereupon the deportees were jailed pending hearings before
military tribunals ... The Government of India temporarily
discontinued this repatriation program only to reinitiate the
deportation of Chin refugees as of 15 June 1995".

SAHRDC also stated that "The predicament of the 40,000
Chins in this regard is gravely complicated by the fact that the
Government of India also denies UNHCR access to the seven
states of the northeast, including Mizoram".

Persecuted in their own land and unable to obtain safe refuge
with their neighbours, the Chins are facing the same dilemmas
as many of Burma's other ethnic minorities.

But despite this adversity, the Chins are continuing their
struggle and remain an ethnic force to be reckoned with. 

SLORC'S CHILD SOLDIERS

For anyone who follows the endless accounts of crimes that the
Burmese military perpetrate against civilians, it is hard to
avoid stereotyping all soldiers in Burma as brutal killers. But a
recent report entitled "No Childhood at All", (Images Asia:
1996), reveals that there are also victims within the ranks of
the Burmese army. In fact, some of the saddest stories of dep-
rivation and human rights abuse from the border areas
recently, have come from the few young SLORC defectors
lucky enough to escape from their commanding officers.

It appears that a substantial proportion of the 120,000 new
soldiers recruited into the Burmese army since 1988, are
children under the age of 18, many of whom have been forced
to join against their will. These practices are in clear
contravention of a number of international conventions already
ratified by the SLORC.

Methods of conscription to the army correspond closely to
those used for the collection of porters and other forced
labourers. Recruitment is often done by a quota system: new
soldiers are demanded from each village or township per year.
If the quota is not filled, the local people will face punishment.
However, before major SLORC military offensives round - ups
are more common. A group of teenagers were rounded up with
about 50 other boys as they were leaving their school in 1992.
They reported that they were given no opportunity to tell their
families where they were going, and to this day have had no
contact with them.

Once enlisted, these children are used to perform duties
ranging from menial tasks and hard labour, to espionage and
front line combat. Almost all of those interviewed had already
taken part in killing or torturing others, often under threat of
punishment. One ex - soldier who was interviewed by BRC in
February 1996 told of being severely reprimanded by his
superior for not "shooting to kill", after he had fired at villagers
who were out after curfew.

Not only are no allowances made for their lack of physical
strength or experience, but in many cases the child recruits are
deliberately placed in danger. Defectors have confirmed the
concerns raised by a number of the ethnic opposition groups
that young SLORC troops have been used as cannon fodder by
being sent into battle under the influence of drugs.

"Often the officers would mix four tablets with a bottle of rum
for the soldiers or the porters to increase their strength and
courage, and dull their sensitivity and ability to feel pain." (IA: 
SLORC defector Sein Myint)

These drugs clearly have a very powerful effect. "There were a
lot of boys rushing into the field,
screaming like banshees ... It seemed at first that they were
immortal, because we shot at them and they just kept coming.
We had no choice: it was kill or be killed." (IA: Karen officer,
Captain Htay Gaw, 1995)

The accounts of the ex - child soldiers, whether conscripts or
volunteers, point to a pattern of abuse of younger recruits by
their superior officers. Most defectors reported being beaten
frequently, sometimes as punishment, but often merely as
entertainment for drunken commanders. Others reported
torture, and even execution.

A recent SLORC defector witnessed one such killing: "Three
young soldiers from my group were sleeping, all of them about
14 or 15. The leader was very drunk. He called for the three of
them to wake up.  But they still slept. So he shot them all."
(IA: Aung Tay, 1995)
The corruption that pervades almost all aspects of life in
Burma seems to be particularly rampant within the army itself.
Most of the young recruits reported being consistently
underpaid, and having their food and medical supplies "sold
off" by their officers. One interviewee complained that most of
the deaths in his unit resulted from curable diseases such as
malaria rather than injury. It also appears that at the front line
injured soldiers are routinely executed, or left to die by their
commanders. "All the soldiers who are seriously wounded they
kill. Sometimes they shoot them, sometimes they use a
bayonet" (Karen Human Rights Group: SLORC defector
Maung Hla, 1994)

Some child soldiers are so traumatized that they end up taking
their own lives. Even those who have escaped seem unable to
wake up from their nightmare. They complain of depression
and apathy as they look towards an indefinite future isolated
from their loved ones.


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