Two men were forcibly recruited by the Burma Army in Yangon when they went to look for work on 17 February, but fortunately they managed to escape according to U Tun Reh, one of the men.
U Tun Reh, age 30, is from Ru-Fel-Khu ward, Demawso Township in Kayah (Karenni) State and his companion, Byar Reh, age 17, is from Phukra-Khu Village in Do-Pral Village-Tract, Demawso Township.
U Tun Reh explained that the two of them had been working in Yangon for the Ruby Light Company and had been threatened by other workers there. Since they could not speak Burmese very well they were scared and did not report the threats to their superiors. Instead they ran away from the company hostel.
After running away from the hostel the two men met a man on a Yangon street at 2am on the morning of 8 January. The man said he would take them to the bus terminal so that they could catch a bus back home.
He took them in his car and then put them on two motorcycles that, instead of taking them to the bus station, took them to government army battalion No. 533 based in North Dagon Township, where U Tun Reh managed to escape.
U Tun Reh is confused about what happened next as he became concussed. It appears that he managed to escape and climbed a tree.
He said: “I jumped down from a tree branch. I do not know how I got to hospital. I was anxious at the time and did not realise what I had done. When I regained consciousness I was in hospital.
Byar Reh, at 17, is too young to legally serve in the army, so his parents reported his disappearance to the township police and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP). So far there has been no contact with him or news of him.
The KNPP has requested that the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) investigate it as a case of forced recruitment of a child into the army.
Khu Baw Reh from the Demawso office of the KNPP said that the organisation has also asked the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for help in the case.
He said: “To help us we submitted details of the events [that occurred] and documents such as Byar Reh’s ID and family member list.”
When they arrived at the army camp soldiers gave Byar Reh and U Tun Reh false names and forced them to use those names to sign military papers saying they wanted to become soldiers. They did not want to become soldiers, but they signed the papers because they were scared. The army needed their signatures on the forms, otherwise they would not have been permitted to attend military training.
Police have been looking for a broker called Athaylay who bought the men from Kayah State to Yangon for work. The Ruby Light Company is also investigating the disappearance of Byar Reh.
Translated by Aung Myat Soe English version written by Mark Inkey for BNI
