Kler Lwee Htoo District Situation Update: Arbitrary taxation, education, health care, SAC activity and indiscriminate shelling, March to June 2022

This Situation Update describes events that occurred in Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District during the period between March and June 2022, including arbitrary taxation and indiscriminate shelling. Villagers also faced problems regarding access to education, COVID-19 vaccinations, and security while travelling. From March to June 2022, the State Administration Council (SAC) increased their operations and took up more positions in local villages in Moo Township. Under these operations, the SAC set up temporary checkpoints along vehicle roads to impose taxes, and in some cases physically abused villagers. The SAC also provided vaccinations to villagers but many were hesitant to accept COVID-19 vaccines offered by the SAC. Beginning June 2022, schools re-opened but villagers were concerned about children pursuing education at SAC-run schools.[1]

This situation update describes the conditions in Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District from March 1st 2022 to June 24th 2022, including problems villagers face regarding education, health care, and State Administration Council (SAC)[2] activity in Paw Pee Der village tract[3], Moo Township. Since the military coup, the SAC’s operations have increased in local villagers’ [civilian] areas [in Moo Township], which has led to arbitrary taxation and physical abuse. It has also impacted access to healthcare services and education.

Arbitrary taxation, beatings at checkpoints and other challenges

From March to June 2022, the military regime’s security forces from SAC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[4] #590 set up two checkpoints to collect taxes [from civilians] along a vehicle road [unpaved highway] between Htee Toh Loh village and Paw Pee Der village, Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. [One checkpoint was at the entrance of Paw Pee Der village and the other was between the two villages.]

On April 5th 2022, the SAC collaborated with some [local] village heads to set up the temporary checkpoints. The checkpoints were used to arbitrarily demand taxes from people who transported logs with trucks or by motorbike. In Myaung Oo village, Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District, there were some incidents where villagers were punched by the security forces [SAC soldiers] if they did not pay money to transport charcoal [the taxes being demanded were higher than usual thus some villagers refused to pay or did not have enough money to pay the checkpoint taxes]. The Burma Army’s actions towards villagers [arbitrary taxation and physical violence] created problems for the local villagers and led to fears.

Moreover, villagers in Paw Pee Der village tract [experienced livelihood challenges because they] had to make charcoal [for fuel] since the electricity [provided by the village tract] did not reach the villages [was unstable].

Education

There are seven villages in Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township. Three government schools [now run by the military junta] are situated among the seven villages, and include one high school, one middle school and one primary school. On June 2nd 2022, the government schools in Paw Pee Der village tract re-opened [after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic] but the children did not want to attend the SAC-run schools. Since the military coup, some villagers do not want to live under the control of the SAC so they do not allow their children to attend government [SAC-run] schools. [No information was provided by the researcher about whether villagers are sending their children to other schools, like community-based self-funded schools or Karen Education and Culture Department (KECD)[5] schools.]

While some villagers have to send their children to the SAC-run schools in order for their children to get an education, the curricula [supplies and types of classes] and teachers in these schools are often insufficient in Paw Pee Der village tract. Many of these children have chosen instead to attend high school [at the government school] in Moo Town [under mixed control], Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. Due to the armed conflict between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[6] and the SAC, some parents are concerned for the safety of their children when they attend this school [which is located far from the village, requiring students to travel long distances or to attend as boarding students]. They worry that landmines might be planted along the way to the school and that the SAC might come to capture them as porters. Additionally, some students’ parents have to struggle for a daily living. Thus, they do not have sufficient money to support their children and pay for expenses such as school and boarding fees.

Health care

Before the military coup, there were healthcare workers providing services and administering vaccines in Htee Toh Loh village and some other villages in Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. However, since the military coup, there are no more community health workers and a clinic had to be closed in Htee Toh Loh village. Some healthcare workers joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)[7] so there have been fewer health professionals in the villages [in Paw Pee Der village tract].

Due to the lack of health professionals in the villages [in Moo Township], some villagers have had to undergo treatment in private clinics [elsewhere]. Many villagers, however, have insufficient finances to seek care at private clinics. If villagers experience severe sickness at night, their security while travelling is a big challenge for them during the unstable political situation [fighting between the SAC and KNLA].

Htee Toh Loh village, Paw Pee Der village, and some other villages in Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township are under mixed-control [by both the Karen National Union (KNU)[8] and the SAC] but the operation is more from the SAC [the SAC has a greater presence than the KNU]. When the SAC came to offer COVID-19 vaccines [no date specified], villagers were hesitant because they wanted to get their vaccinations from the KNU. However, villagers had no option to refuse since they lived near SAC operational areas [they feared violent retaliation from the SAC if they refused]. Thus, it became difficult for some villagers to make the decision to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

SAC activity

The Burma armed forces [SAC military] also took up positions in several villages in Paw Pee Der village tract, Moo Township. SAC LIB #590 is situated nearby Htee Loh village, Yay Oh Shin [Si Pin Thah] village and some other villages in Paw Pee Der village tract. Even though some villagers grow rice crops, they [the SAC] did not consider villagers’ livelihoods and conducted indiscriminate shelling into their fields. If they [the SAC] saw the light [flashlights] when villagers hunted [for frogs or birds for food] at night, they would fire guns into the air [threatening the villagers].

Moreover, the SAC also conducted one or two rounds of indiscriminate shelling per week from March to June 2022. [The KHRG field researcher found that no damage was reported.] As the SAC [indiscriminately] fired guns almost every night after 9 pm, villagers lived in fear and concern [causing some villagers to displace]. In this case, they did not feel secure enough to sleep peacefully. Sometimes, SAC soldiers entered and took up positions in Htee Toh Loh village at night but some villagers had no idea of that [until the morning]. Only the village head knew of the arrival of the SAC in the village [the village head would typically be informed]. After other villagers realised that SAC soldiers arrived in the village, they slept in fear of being captured as porters. By engaging in this kind of persecution, it [the SAC] caused security challenges for villagers. Therefore, villagers faced hardships for their future survival.

Further background reading on the security and human rights situation in Kler Lwee Htoo District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:

Wed, 11 Jan 2023

Footnotes:

[1] The present document is based on information received in June 2022. It was provided by a community member in Moo District who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions on the ground. The names of the victims, their photos and the exact locations are censored for security reasons. The parts in square brackets are explanations added by KHRG.

[2]The State Administration Council (SAC) is the executive governing body created in the aftermath of the February 1st 2021 military coup. It was established by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 2nd 2021, and is composed of eight military officers and eight civilians. The chairperson serves as the de facto head of government of Burma/Myanmar and leads the Military Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the government. Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of SAC chairperson following the coup.

[3] A village tract is an administrative unit of between five and 20 villages in a local area, often centred on a large village.

[4] A Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) comprises 500 soldiers. However, most Light Infantry Battalions in the Tatmadaw are under-strength with less than 200 soldiers. Yet up to date information regarding the size of battalions is hard to come by, particularly following the signing of the NCA. LIBs are primarily used for offensive operations, but they are sometimes used for garrison duties.

[5] The Karen Education and Culture Department is the education department of the Karen National Union. Its main goals are to provide mother tongue education services to rural Karen populations in Southeast Burma/Myanmar, as well as to preserve the Karen language, culture and history. Despite being an important education provider in the region, it is not officially recognised by the Burma government.

[6] The Karen National Liberation Army is the armed wing of the Karen National Union.

[7] On February 2nd 2021, healthcare workers at state-run hospitals and medical facilities across Burma/Myanmar spearheaded what is being referred to as a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) consisting of labour strikes in protest against the February 1st 2021 military coup. The movement quickly spread to include civil servants from all sectors of the government who are walking off their jobs as a way of non-recognition and non-participation in the military regime. Because of the popularity of the movement, and its seminal role in wider protests across the country, some people have begun using it as a catch-all phrase to include other protest forms like boycotts and pot-banging.

[8] The Karen National Union (KNU) is the main Karen political organisation. It was established in 1947 and has been in conflict with the Burma/Myanmar government since 1949. The KNU wields power across large areas of Southeast Burma and has been calling for the creation of a democratic federal system since 1976. Although it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, relations with the government remain tense.

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