Forced Labor, Theft, and Porters in Chin State
In my interview with Simon earlier this year, he described how the Burmese military violated international law whenever they came to his village in Chin state by forcing the civilian population to carry their equipment, and stealing and eating any food they found. Since the coup, Simon has emerged as one of the top leaders in his region pushing for democracy and resisting the coup. In the following excerpt, he describes his eyewitness accounts of how the Burmese soldiers acted.
“It was like my own death that I have witnessed.”
“When I was in grade ten, I studied in Hakha, the capital city of Chin state. And then when I came back to my hometown, the military came to the village. And then, of course, whenever the military arrives at a village, the village council has to announce it and the villagers have to gather around. And then the soldiers count off the men that will carry all their stuff. They do not even carry their own water bottles! Everything has to be carried by the villagers. So, they gathered all of us, and because the manpower was not enough, they had to ask one old man, who was like 70 years old. I really could not even look at him, to carry that heavy thing. So I helped him.
There were no cars, no highways in Chin state, especially in the villages. The road was only as wide as just one foot or two feet. And then from the top of a mountain, you go down to the river, and you climb another mountain, and you can reach another village. It is slow and hard. And we had to carry all that stuff.
When we arrived at the half-way point, one guy was not feeling well; he was very weak. And then he fell down. And the soldiers didn’t even have sympathy! One of the army men came and he hit him on his neck, and then slapped his face and said, ‘Bullshit. You lie; you lie. Do not pretend. You are not supposed to be sleeping here.’ He was abusing him. But the guy was very sick, and he did not have any strength; so he could not work any longer. So, other villagers had carry the stuff he was carrying. It was like witnessing my own death.
Whenever the army came to the village, we were very afraid. There are no rules for them. They come to one village, and if they want to eat, say a pig, they kill it there, and they don't pay! They kill it and then they make the villagers cook it for them. If they want the chicken, they take it without even a ‘please,’ as if we villagers are their assets. As if it is we who are borrowing something off of them! That's how they deal with the people. And always, if even we look at them, they say, ‘Why you do look at me like that?’ So, people are very afraid. We were so afraid of this military.”