Forced Labor Widespread in Western Burma
12/12/2009
Maungdaw: The Burmese military regime announced that there has been no forced labor in Burma since 2000, but the army has been frequently using villagers for forced labor along the western Burmese border, said one villager from the area.
"I was from Mee Dike Village where there is an army station. The soldiers at the station have been posted on a rotating system. Whenever the soldiers rotate through their posts at the station, the army authority always forces us to transport the army rations, ammunition, and firewood from one place to another. But we had not received any support or pay," he said.
Sometimes, the villagers had to transport army materials to outposts near the border, which is ten miles from their village.
"Our village is located in Nasaka Area No. 3. We always transport the army-owned materials to Walar Daung outpost, which is located near the border line under Nasaka Area No. 1. It is typical work for villagers whenever the army makes a rotation," he said.
In Mee Dike village, there are three ethnic nationalities - Rakhine, Khami, and Marama Gyi. Many villagers believe such work for the army is their duty and is common for Burmese citizens.
"Whenever the army summons villagers for transporting goods, we villagers go to the army station willingly to transport army goods anywhere, despite that the army does not pay any amount for wages, because we believe that it is a duty for Burmese citizens to help the army," he added.
Most villagers living along the western border are tribal villagers like Mro, Khami, and Dynet, who have no involvement in political affairs. The army officials take advantage of their sense of duty to use them for free labor
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