Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Paletwa town, Chin state, have expressed concern that military council soldiers have forced them to carry rice rations with some money.
Since January 8, regime soldiers have forcibly taken the IDPs by car to carry bags of rice piled up near Ahbaungthar village to their camp on the hill near Khawea and Supoke villages.
“They had to transport the rice bags from Ahbaungthar village to Khawea village by motorcycle. From Ahbaungthar, they had to carry the sacks on foot to the Supoke hill. This was very tiring for them because the hill is very steep. They have to work about three hours a day for the junta soldiers,” an IDP who did not want to be named for security reasons told DMG.
He went on to say that he had to do this because he was afraid of the military council soldiers.
“We are the innocent victims between the two sides. We are stuck in this situation. Now we are carrying the rice bags for fear of what they would do to us if we refuse their order,” he said.
Although the regime’s soldiers gave them MMK1000 per bag of rice as payment, the journey was too arduous for them and they had to walk it laboriously, the IDPs said.
“I heard that they gave them MMK 10,000 for carrying sacks of rice from Ahbaungthar village to Khawea village, and from there the same amount to Supoke hill. They took 5 to 10 people there today,” a resident of Paletwa town told DMG on January 10, on condition of annonimity.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun could not be reached for comment on the reports of forced labor.
After fierce fighting between military council troops and the Arakan Army (AA) in Paletwa town in Chin State and Arakan State that lasted more than five months, an informal cease-fire was signed between the two sides on Nov. 26 on humanitarian grounds.
Sent by DMG.