ILO: FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA-30

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

[ILO COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA, SLICE
30]

42

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             20, female
Family situation:    Married with one son and one
                     daughter
Occupation:          Owner of a cart  
                     Rakhine State

There were more than 1,000 families in the witness's village.
The entire village disappeared four years ago. The military
pushed the inhabitants out towards Maungdaw. The families were
scattered so as to prevent any communication between them. She
had gone back eleven months later to the region where her
village had originally been, until the military had again
forced them to leave. The witness suffered a great deal of
abuse from the military both in the region of Akyab and of
Maungdaw. All Rohingya men had to do forced labour. The work
consisted mainly in working for the camps: cleaning sanitary
installations, carrying equipment and goods, repairing houses.
Each family had to provide a member. The work was not paid.
Any refusal could lead to a beating.
_______________________

43

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             38, male
Family situation:    Married with three daughters and
                     one son
Occupation:          Small trader - commerce - livestock
                     Rakhine State


The witness left Myanmar at the end of 1997. He was fishing in
a river and some NaSaKa members asked him to take them
across. Once they had crossed the river, they took him to the
camp and beat him on the pretext that he did not have the
right to fish in that river. He was imprisoned but managed to
escape. His family joined him later. He had to act as a porter
for the army in a military operation against the Karenni one
year before he left for Bangladesh. He stayed six months with
the army on the Thai border. Around 3,500 porters had been
recruited for 7,000 soldiers. He was caught up in five to six
armed conflicts with the Karenni. In these cases, the soldiers
ordered the porters to lie on the ground. When a soldier was
killed, the porters recovered his weapon, which they then
handed back to the sold ers. He was not paid. He was not
always fed. There were no shelters to sleep in. Apart from
this, he had done other forced labour. The NaSaKa, the army,
the police and the customs authorities had camps near his
village. As a consequence, he was constantly requisitioned
throughout the year by one or other of them. For the NaSaKa,
the work involved was related to the camp: putting up
defensive spikes, cutting grass. He worked on average 15 days
a month for 10 to 12 years. Torture was frequent. Each camp
had its torture cell. Orders to provide labour were given by
the village head. He also had to pay taxes more times than he
could recall. On one occasion he had refused and was beaten.
                       ____________________

44

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             60, female
Family situation:    Married with two sons, two daughters-in-  
                     law and four grandchildren
Occupation:          Farmer -- 21 khani (7.9 acres)
                     State (the village had 500 families)

The witness left Myanmar at the beginning of 1998 because she
could no longer bear the torture performed by the military and
police authorities. She estimated that no less than 100
families had left Myanmar to come to Bangladesh. The military
had seized a large part of her land (14 out of 21 khani), not
leaving them enough land to provide for themselves. All adult
males had to do portering. They had to carry goods from one
camp to another for the military. Four days a month. Never
paid. With regard to camp work, they had to work for the
soldiers' families: washing their clothes, fetching water,
cutting the grass. Her son and grandson were killed by the
NaSaKa because they were suspected of being informers for
international bodies, particularly UNHCR. She never got her
son's body back. The orders were generally given by the
village head. The soldiers sometimes came directly to the
houses to requisition men. Torture was commonplace. These
practices commenced with the arrival of the military seven
years ago. Any refusal could be punished by a beating. The
military used a red-hot iron for torture (or burned the chin
with a cigarette-lighter). If a family did not provide what
the NaSaKa requested, then the women were threatened.
________________________

45

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             40, male
Family situation:    Married with one son and two daughters
Occupation:          Farmer
                     Rakhine State (village had around 1,200   
                     houses)

The witness left Myanmar in early 1997 because life had been
made intolerable there. Three years before, his village had
been relocated to Maungdaw. The Government had made
insufficient land available for the 1,200 families in his
village. It had become impossible to survive. He had to carry
out forced labour at Kawalaung and Maungdaw. In the former
case, there was no NaSaKa camp. Only the military and the
police were present. His lands were seized by the authorities
to redistribute them to the Rakhines. He had to help them
cultivate them. He also had to work on road-building for six
years. At Maungdaw, he had to work on road-building and in
military camps (cleaning, grass-cutting, installation of
drains). He did this work on average four times a week. The
orders came from soldiers, who sent them through the village
head according to their needs. There was no real schedule.
Beatings were frequent. Rest periods were not tolerated. He
had personally been beaten three or four times by the NaSaKa.
He saw several people being beaten. Some had died. He had to
pay taxes to NaSaKa. The amount varied. A typical sum was
1,000 kyat. He had to work as a daily labourer to obtain the
money to pay these taxes. Refusal to pay could lead to
torture. There was a torture cell in the NaSaKa camp. Stocks
were used. Victims' legs were chained up and their arms were
immobilized. The person could not move. 
                        __________________

46

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             40, female
Family situation:    Married with four sons and two daughters
Occupation:          Farmer with ten khani (3.8 acres;
                     vegetables and rice, so as to have two    
                     harvests)
                     (village had 200 families)

The Government had seized 50 per cent of their land. This
process began six years ago. The family had to leave Myanmar
at the end of 1997 as they were no longer capable of producing
sufficient rice to feed themselves or pay taxes to the
government on the remaining land. Forced labour was
commonplace. The Rohingyas had to build houses, carry baggage,
provide wood and help the Rakhines. They also had to do sentry
duty along the border. On average three days a week over the
last six years had been lost on this work. The number of days
could sometimes be as high as ten to twelve a month. Orders
were given by the village head. Any refusal could result in a
beating. Her husband had been beaten by the NaSaKa (hit with
sticks about the knees and elbows; he was subsequently unable
to work). The reason for this was that he was absent because
he had been requisitioned to work on another site. She saw
other men who had been beaten by the NaSaKa (blows to the
head, hair cut off). Young women who were attractive to the
military were taken to the camp. She had personally been taken
to the camp and spent four nights there. She had not been
sexually abused. She had nevertheless been beaten because,
being ill, she had refused to go and work in the fields. After
paying a bribe to the NaSaKa, she was able to return home.
Over the last six years (i.e. since the building of the new
camp), she had to pay a sum of around 50 kyat per month to the
NaSaKa. If the villagers were not able to pay, they were
arrested and held in the camp - this had happened on numerous
occasions in her village. 
                        __________________

47


Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             40, male
Family situation:    Married with three sons and one daughter
Occupation:          Farmer -- 8 khani (3 acres)
                     (a village of around 50 families)

The witness had to leave Myanmar at the end of 1997 with 50
other families as he was no longer able to provide for his
family's needs, the Government having seized his land a year
before. He then had to work as a day labourer. He was also
forced to work in military camps and cut wood. He might work
for a month without interruption. This assignment could be
repeated on average four times a year. He was not paid. The
orders were given by the village head. People who refused to
work were taken to a torture room in the military camp. They
were generally beaten. He was personally tortured 20 days
before his arrival in Bangladesh. His arms and legs had been
fixed to a piece of wood. He had been kept in this position
for two days. For the last six years he had to pay 200 kyat to
the NaSaKa on a regular basis. The amount might vary. Any
refusal could be punished by a beating or torture.
                        __________________

48

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             22, female
Family situation:    Married with one son and one daughter
Occupation:          Fishing
                     State (the village had a population of    
                     3,000)

The witness left Myanmar on account of the forced labour and
abuses perpetrated by the authorities. She was accompanied
by 20 other families, all from her village. Fifty to 60
families from his village arrived two months before. She had
to perform forced labour: building and repairs at a military
camp; building Rakhine houses; portering; and woodcutting. She
had to do this for the last six years, 15 days a month. She
was not paid. She did not receive any food. Orders were
transmitted by the village head. Any refusal could lead to a
beating by NaSaKa. Her husband had been beaten several times
by the NaSaKa for refusing to obey orders. He had been
seriously injured in the back. She knew several other people
who had been beaten. She had apparently also been threatened
by the NaSaKa when she refused to give them her chicken. She
had to pay taxes to the NaSaKa, 100 kyat a month for six
years. The sum had increased over the years (at the beginning,
it was around 50 kyat). She also had to hand over some of her
possessions (chickens or other things).
                        __________________

49

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             25, male
Family situation:    Married with two daughters
Occupation:          Trading
                     township, Rakhine State

The witness left Myanmar in 1997 with 100 other families from
his village. There were previously 1,200 families in his
village. All these families had left over recent years. He
said the Government had transferred them to Maungdaw. He had
been transferred back to his village eight months later with
around 275 other families to help in construction work for the
military. He then went to Buthidaung (the hills). He stayed
there for five days. He said he had performed forced labour
for the military after his transfer to Maungdaw. Among other
things, he had to carry water, make the necessary repairs to
the camp, cut wooden poles for building and repairs, and act
as a porter from one camp to another. He had to work for the
camp ten to 15 times a month. He had to do the same kind of
work the same number of times a month (ten to 15) when he went
back to his village.  The work was for the NaSaKa and the
police. At Buthidaung he had to perform work for the NaSaKa.
This was mainly woodcutting. He last had to do this kind of
work four days before his arrival in Bangladesh. He had a
small income in Maungdaw from selling wood. He was beaten on
two occasions when portering for not being able to carry the
load allotted to him (a table). He had pains in his back which
were a result of the loads he had to carry.
                        __________________

50

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             22, male
Family situation:    Mother, father, three older brothers (and
                     their wives and children)
Occupation:          Student (farmer)
                     State (village had 800 families)


The witness couldn't take the swearing and beating by the
NaSaKa any more, so he left Myanmar in 1992. He was taken for
portering by the NaSaKa once when he was about 13. He was
returning from school at about 4 p.m. and the NaSaKa took
him at gunpoint. He told them he was a student, but they
punched him and told him that they didn't believe him. He had
to carry weapons and food over a distance of 12 miles. The
NaSaKa beat the porters and did not give them enough food
(only one spoonful, and only rice or curry, never both). There
were 200 or 300 other porters. Other members of his family
also had to do forced labour (father and older brothers). Once
they had to dig bunkers at the NaSaKa camp. They were also
forced to do cultivation for the NaSaKa. One person from each
family had to do this, for one day at a time. They usually had
to do 12 days of forced labour per month. If villagers worked
slowly, when they were tired, the NaSaKa said "fucking
Indians" and beat them. They were beaten with bamboo sticks,
which caused cuts on the skin like a knife. Once his little
finger was broken when he was beaten. All the village had to
do the same kind of forced labour; villagers also had to give
provisions such as chickens, goats, coconuts and chillies to
the NaSaKa camp. After he came to Bangladesh other families
from his village also came; they are in the camps. Only one or
two went back.  
                        __________________



51
  
Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             25, Male
Family situation:    Twenty people, including mother, father,
                     brothers, sisters and their families (he  
                     is youngest of his brothers and sisters)
Occupation:          Cultivating land and fishing
                     State


The witness left Myanmar in 1992. The NaSaKa forced them to
work, including building roads and cleaning their camp. The
NaSaKa used to make work for them sometimes, by making the 
camp dirty just so they had to clean it. When the NaSaKa went
on patrol they took Rohingya students with them as porters
(but not Rakhine students). He had to go many times, sometimes
for one day, sometimes for up to 3-4 days. The NaSaKa used to
take students as porters, because when they went on patrol the
villagers were working in the fields and could not be found in
the village, so it was easier to find students. The NaSaKa
were usually in groups of 25-35, and they would take a similar
number of students. The students were given food, and if they
obeyed orders they were not mistreated, but if they argued or
were unable to do what they were ordered, the soldiers would
abuse them. He was never beaten, but he saw others beaten. If
the Rohingyas performed prayer or other religious duties, the
NaSaKa didn't like it and tried to prevent it. He also had to
go to the forest and cut trees for timber. He had to do this
many times when he was a student. His younger and older
brothers also had to do forced labour, but this was not talked
about in his household, as he came from an upper-class family.
He knew that other people from his village had to do other
kinds of forced labour, but he never witnessed it himself. The
NaSaKa didn't bother about written orders or informing the
village head, they just grabbed whoever they needed directly.
He knew of people who died while carrying out forced labour.
One person who was 16 or 17 could not carry the big log he was
ordered to, fell down and so was kicked to death by the
NaSaKa. He saw the body himself. Forced labour was a very
big burden for the people because it meant that they were
unable to earn a living. They also had to pay taxes to the
NaSaKa--25 tin (bushels) per acre of land (with only one rice
crop per year). They also received random orders from NaSaKa
camps to give cash or food. These taxes were only exacted from
Muslims, not Rakhines. After 8th Standard he moved to Maungdaw
(he was 18 or 19) and stayed with his brother there. He
managed to avoid forced labour while in Maungdaw, by running
away when troops came around rounding up people for
forced labour. When he was in Maungdaw, an allegation was made
against prominent Muslim students (including him) that they
were RSO, but he was not in fact an RSO member. This was the
reason he fled to Bangladesh.
                       ____________________


52

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             21, male
Occupation:          Shopkeeper
                     State

The witness left Myanmar in 1990. He was a shopkeeper with
quite a big shop and good trade. His shop was in the market,
and the NaSaKa used to come and buy goods at the market, then
forced him to carry these goods to their camp, so he lost
business because he had to close his shop when he did this. He
was targeted for this portering because as a shopkeeper he
had to remain in the market, whereas other people would run
away when the NaSaKa came to the market to avoid being taken
as porters; the NaSaKa did not allow him to try and find a
replacement that he could hire to go in his place. He would
usually have to carry the goods to the NaSaKa camp at about 4
pm, and if the camp was near he could return the same day.
Sometimes he was prevented from leaving after he had carried
the goods to the camp, and was forced to stay at the camp, for
up to 4 days. Once he tried to ask the NaSaKa to find someone
else to be a porter, because he had a shop, but one of them
threw a knife at him, which cut his knee. Other times he was
beaten, and was bruised, but received no permanent injuries.
He also had experience of being taken as a porter while
travelling on the road.
                       ___________________


53

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             20, male
Family situation:    Nine (including parents, younger sister,
                     younger brother, wife and children)
Occupation:          Casual labourer, collecting firewood/     
                     bamboo for sale, as well as cultivating   
                     his 8 khani (3 acres) of land
                     State (village had 8,000 families)


The witness left Myanmar at the end of 1997 with all nine 
members of his family and along with many others from his
village. Five hundred other families from his village have
come to Bangladesh in the last two years. In Chin Taung the
people were not able to do their own work, because of forced
labour. Sometimes they had to do 12 to 14 days forced labour
at a time, and they had to take their own food; sometimes they
did not have enough food for the whole period and went hungry.
Sometimes they only had five days break before being called
for forced labour again. He had to do an average of 15 to 18
days of forced labour per month, so he had no time left to
earn a living. Sometimes the NaSaKa would steal the food that
the villagers brought with them, sometimes in order to eat it,
but sometimes they would just throw it away to make problems
for the people. He was beaten many times, sometimes without
any particular reason; once he was punched several times in
the chest by a soldier wearing a ring. They also had to pay a
tax of 50 kyat and 20 chickens per fortnight, but they were
usually unable to pay the cash. When this happened, they were
punished by having their head, arms and legs put in stocks.
This never happened to him, but it happened twice to his
brother, for about eight hours at a time. Only Rohingyas had
to pay tax and do forced labour. He wanted to move to Olafe
village (because of excessive taxation and forced labour in
Chin Taung), but this needed permission from the Village-tract
LORC Chairman, which required 500 kyat. He did not have this
money, so he moved without obtaining permission. After eight
nights at Olafe he was arrested and then beaten by the
Village-tract LORC Chairman for not obtaining the required
permission, and forced to pay 1,000 kyat. Five days before he
fled to Bangladesh, he had to stay 17 nights for forced labour
carrying rice bags for the military. When he returned to his
house he had no food, so he sold his cow for 6,000 kyat (1,000
kyat of which was taken by the NaSaKa in tax) and left.
                       ___________________

54

Ethnicity:           Rohingya
Age/sex:             27, female
Family situation:    Seven (husband and five children)
Occupation:          Family cultivated their own land
                     State (village had 900 families)

The witness left Myanmar at the beginning of 1997 with her
family (she had left before in 1992 but went back). Fifteen
days before she fled, a SLORC minister arrived in the village
by helicopter and announced that a pagoda was to be built in
the village. After this other SLORC officials arrived and
announced that 60 families were to be forcibly relocated to
make way for this pagoda, and that they had to move within 15
days. Another, larger area (300 families) also had to relocate
within three months. This larger area was for Rakhine people
to settle - since there was a pagoda, the officials wanted it
to be a Buddhist village. The people in her village had to do
forced labour. Groups of 20 to 40 people were taken away for
periods ranging from seven days to three months. They had to
construct roads, clear jungle, level ground. There was forced
labour every month; her 12 year old son also had to do it.
This had been going on since before the first time she fled to
Bangladesh. The only thing that had changed after she returned
to Myanmar was that there was then also portering for the
patrolling NaSaKa, as well as the other kinds of forced
labour. They had to do seven days of forced labour at a time,
with seven days' rest in between, but the forced labour period
was often more than seven days, and could be up to one month.
Only Rohingyas had to do forced labour. When she returned to
Myanmar in 1995, there was similar taxation and forced labour,
but the duration of forced labour had increased from about
three days at a time to up to 14 days at a time. The tax which
had to be paid was a proportion of the rice crop; tax also had
to be paid for renovating a house and for the birth of
livestock or sale of livestock (700 to 1,000 kyat); one time
her brother-in-law's house burned down and he had to pay tax
to the NaSaKa to rebuild. She knew one person who was killed
while doing forced labour. The person went for seven days of
forced labour, and was killed because he was working slowly.
The person was asked to clean the yard, and was slow to comply
and tried to refuse, so he was beaten with a stick above the
ear, and died. He was 30. The body was not returned. She also
knew of another villager whose hip was fractured. She also
heard that eight people were killed in another village, but
since Muslims were not permitted to travel (particularly
women), people in her village did not see this, but they did
find one body in a canal. She criticised the UNHCR for saying
that the situation had improved; when they went back they
could not stay even 15 days before they had to do forced
labour again. They found that the situation had not improved.
                       ___________________


[END OF SLICE 30]