Villagers in the Bu Tho Township of Papun district in northern Karen state say Burma Army forced recruitment of villagers as unpaid labor has seen at least 30 villagers abandon their farms.
The Karen National Union also confirmed the incidents in a recent statement that said the villagers Bur were forced by the Burma Army to carry supplies.
The Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 214 operating in the area had forced local villagers to porter leaving villagers with no time to work on their farms.
Padoh Saw Tender, a KNU official based in Papun district talked to Karen News at the time and said. “There are 26 farms abandoned in Toh Poe Hta Pa Deh and Kaw Poh villages and six farms were abandoned in Kay Hta village in Bu Tho Township. Local villagers in the area have to carry up to five sacks of rice. They can't refuse. The Burma Army had burnt many farms."
Saw Tender says it is difficult to estimate the total acres of farms lost, but local villagers said that each farm lost could produces between 100 to 150 baskets [equivalent to two tins] of paddy.
"Some villagers had to work hard to clear out part of their land and try to farm as much as they can. In some cases, two or three households worked together to farm, but some of them can't work their farms anymore."
Local villagers reported their case to KNU officials in Papun district and urged them to get the information out to the national and international communities that the destruction of their farms, means they are going to face severe food shortages.
Villagers claim Burma Army battalions 434 and 19 under Military Strategic Command 1, have forced local villagers in Bu Tho Township to carry supplies to the army outposts in Kaw Poh, Ka Hee Kyoe, Nat Taung (Le Toe), Kyauk Nyat, Wa Lu and Mae Tri Hta villages.
The Karen Human Rights Groups released a report that confirmed, “at least 8,885 villagers in 118 villages in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District have either exhausted their current food supplies or are expecting to do so prior to the October 2011 harvest.”
The KHRG report says tens of thousands of civilians in northern Karen State are displaced it has resulted in “over-population in hiding areas where civilians can more effectively avoid attacks has created shortages of arable land, depleted soil fertility and reduced potential crop yields.”
KHRG say that villagers who live near Burma Army camps, “have faced recent attacks, including indiscriminate shelling and attacks on food supplies, buildings and livelihoods.
