September 16th, 2022
Military council forces have threatened and evicted residents of five villages – Kyunkone, Tamarkhaw, Taungsu, Naungkone and Yanmyoaung – in Mone Township in Nyaunglaybin District, Bago Region, which is administered by Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 3, according to a person in charge of a Karen social affairs group in the township.
“Kyunkone and Tamarkhaw villages are in Mone Township, and then there is Taungsu. Taungsu is like two villages – east and west, but it is collectively called just Taungsu. The junta soldiers ordered to leave Taungsu, Naungkone, Yanmyoaung, and Tamarkhaw villages on September 11th. All residents left the villages on September 12th. The junta troops have been evicting them since September 11th. We don’t know why they forced the villagers to leave. We heard that they [the junta soldiers] did it in a threatening way. They threatened to shoot at the villages with heavy weapons if they did not leave. Of course they said such things,” he said.
On September 13th, military council troops also forced the entire village of Naungkone, a neighboring village of Tamarkhaw and Taungsu, forcing a total of 945 people from 167 households to flee to safer places, said the person in charge of Karen social affairs group.
“The junta forces also entered Naungkone village yesterday and drove out all the residents. Some of the villagers fled to our side, which is the western part. Some were forced to move to Kyaukkyi. There, military council soldiers confiscated all their belongings, including cell phones, at Seikkyi gate at the entrance of Kyaukkyi,” he said.
According to KNU statement on September 13th, Captain Zeyar Lin of the terrorist junta army summoned the elders of Tamarkhaw and Taungsu villages in the KNU-administered area in Mone Township and threatened that their villages would be burned down if they did not leave.
After the junta army threatened them, a total of 334 people from 61 households in Tamarkhaw village fled in fear to Baw Naw Khee and other villages on the west bank of the Sittaung River.
However, the residents of Taungsu village remain in their village on the instructions of the KNU leadership in Mone Township, the KNU statement said.
In addition to the three villages, the junta army has also evicted the residents of Kyunkone and Yanmyoaung villages, according to the Karen social affairs group.
Currently, the residents have to supports themselves after being forced to leave their villages and seek safety in different places, the group added.
“Villagers have fled to different places. Some fled to villages on the west bank of the Sittaung River. Others sought safety in the villages on the east bank. Yesterday, the villagers of Naungkone were displaced towards Kyaukkyi Township. I heard that some of them are living in their relatives’ houses and some in monasteries,” said the group.
After the military coup, the number of residents displaced either by the fighting between the military council forces and the KNU or by the junta army displacement in Mone Township, Nyaunglaybin District, has reached 18,669, according to data released by the KNU.
According to the KNU data, these displaced people come from a total of 3,236 households from 61 villages in 17 village tracts.
Sent by NMG.