Forced labor

Last week a researcher from the Karen Human Rights Group witnessed villagers in the Palu area been used as forced labor by the Burma Army. The KHRG eye-witness account comes on the back of other reports of forced labor occurring in other areas of Karen State in recent months. In June as many as 400 villagers in Kyaukgyi Township were…

Threats from Burma army have forced more than 30 farmers in the Papun district of Karen state to abandon their farms and plantations. The villagers from Bu Tho Township sought help from the Karen National Union after the Burma army forced villagers to carry army supplies. A statement released by the KNU alleges the Burma army Light Infantry Brigade 214…

The Burma government has repeatedly denied the use of forced labor to international organisations, but villagers from Dweh Loe township in Papun district say the Burma army has forced men, women and including children, some as young as 11 to porter rations for their troops. In March 2010, in his report to the UN Human Rights Council, Tomas Ojea Quintana,…

A former convict porter speaks to reporter Cha Mu about his arrest and imprisonment for drug use, and his subsequent conscription by the military as a porter in Karen State. My name is Tin Hlaing. I am a 35-year-old ethnic Burman. I’m single and have six siblings. On July 15, 2008, I was arrested at the Than Lin bridge with…