Village headmen ordered to tighten security after bombings

IMNA:
Village headmen from 4 locations in Mon State reported to IMNA that they have been ordered by the Burmese military to tighten security in their villages, following a series of bombings across Burma since April 15th of this year.

The orders were given on April 26th, just a day before a telecommunications center in Mon State’s Kyaikmayaw Township was bombed by unidentified perpetrators.

According to IMNA sources, 4 different Burmese military battalions in Mon State each called village headmen in their areas of control to their respective military bases on April 26th, for a discussion about bomb threats and village security. The meetings were held at Light Infantry Battalion’s (LIB) No. 62’s base in Thanphyuzayart town, Infantry Battalion’s (IB) No. 103’s base in Moulmein, Artillery Regiment No. 318’s (AR) base in Arbit village in Mudon Township, and AR No. 315’s base in Thanbuzayart Township’s Waekali village.

Reportedly, the battalions informed the meetings attendees that they had heard rumors of potential bombings around Mon state, and that headmen were to be vigilant about newcomers to their villages, and to report suspicious persons to the battalions.

“They said that they had gotten news, some bombers have arrived in our areas, the bombers [supposedly] are Mon, Karen and Rakhain. That’s why we need to monitor for that [monitor outsiders in villages],” said a village headman who joined the Arbit village meeting.

Village headmen were also informed that if their security measures failed, and a bomb attack occured in their respective villages, they would be held responsible for the explosion.

Sources informed IMNA that security has tightened dramatically in villages around Mon State since Tuesday’s meeting; many headmen have established nightly sentry stations and checkpoints at the entrances to their villages, manned by Burmese military-trained forces.

“In our village, at night-time some of the people’s militia members and fire brigade members are checking [movement into] the village,” said Modun Township resident, who asked that his village’s name be withheld.

An IMNA field reporter noted that since the April 26th meetings, particularly strict checkpoints have been established on the highways leading into Moulmein, Arbit village, and Thanphyuzayart town. These particular checkpoints are being manned by state-organized policemen, Burmese military soldiers, and traffic policemen, rather than local military forces.

“Especially, they checked at the gates [on the highways], from Myawaddy to Moulmein, Three Pagoda Pass to Arbit village, and Three Pagoda Pass to Thanphyuzayart. We never have seen them check at these places, but [now] on the highways they have checks like that,” he explained.

It is as of this date unclear how the Burmese government will respond to Tuedsay’s bombing in Kyaikmayaw Township, and if the New Mon State Party (NMSP) will be implicated in the attack.

“The State Peace and Development Council always suspects the opposition groups, when a bomb explodes, sometime they accused the cease-fire groups of doing it,” a political observer from Mudon Township speculated to IMNA.

The NMSP went on record in IMNA’s April 29th coverage of the Kyaikmayaw attack, denying responsibility for the attacks and stating that the party wished to “solve problems in peace”.

3 government workers injured in Kyaikmayaw Township bomb blast

By Loa Htaw:

A bomb exploded in a government telecommunication center in Kyaikmayaw town, the largest city in Mon state’s Kyiakmayaw Township, at 11pm on April 27th. According to a village chairman from the township, who asked to remain anonymous, 3 government workers at the center were wounded.

Kyaikmayaw town is roughly 100 miles southeast of Rangoon.

“The bomb exploded in Kalainkanaing quarter of the town on the 27th at 11 PM. The bombers arrived by motorbike,” he said.

This headman reported that the blast has elicited fear among Kyaikmayaw town residents, who fear that the large population of and central location of the city might lead to a repeat bombing.

“The people are also concerned, because the explosion occurred in the town [not in a rural area],” he explained.

Since April 15th of this year, four bomb blasts have occurred across the country of Burma. One in Rangoon during the city’s Songkran festivities, one at a mining site in northern Burma’s Kachin State, one in the capital of Karenni State in eastern Burma, and this last explosion in Mon state, located in the south of the country.

The government has accused the opposition groups of committing the first 3 explosions, but have yet to level accusations at any party regarding the Kyaikmayaw blast.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) has denied responsibility for the bombing.

“We have not heard about this yet, and our party is not related to the explosion, as we haven’t ordered to our members to commit such acts. We want to solve problems in peace,” NMSP Vice- Chairman Nai Rot Sa told IMNA.

SPDC balks as April 28th deadline passes

By Loa Htaw:

New Mon State Party (NMSP) leaders informed IMNA today that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has opted to forgo its original April 28th deadline, the date on which the SPDC was expected to break its ceasefire agreements with all ethnic minority cease-fire groups who have thus far refused to convert their armed wings into government-run “militia groups”.

“We still do not hear anything [from the SPDC]. It seems like they are prolonging the time [until breaking the ceasefires] and want the party [NMSP] to do as they want,” said NMSP Vice-Chairman Nai Rot Sa.

“They want to keep the cease-fire agreements no less than us, but they also want us to follow their demands according to their constitution,” reported a NMSP CEC leader, who asked not to be named.

This NMSP CEC member also reported to IMNA that all cease-fire groups, including the New Mon State Party (NMSP), The Shan State Army (SSA)- [North], the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and the Mongla-based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), had informed the Burmese government by April 22nd of their refusals of the SPDC’s “militia group” plans; NMSP communications with these groups has confirmed that all are still waiting for an official SPDC response, despite recent conflicts between SPDC battalions and the UWSA. Despite earlier government threats, each group’s ceasefire has remained preserved, and none have yet been declared “illegal” under the 2008 constitution.

“I do not think they will attack all the cease-fire groups at once. It is possible they will attack one party at a time” he said.

“The authorities replied to the confirmation of the NMSP’s report [regarding its militia group refusal] that our decision in the report was not clear enough, because we used diplomatic words in the report,” he continued. “Of course our decision is clearly understood but the government is just pretending about not getting our message as we mean [it to be understood]”.

“The government told us that we will talk again next time. We will keep the [present-ceasefire] relationship between the two sides and we can send back our members to stay at inside office as normal [away from NMSP-controlled territory],” he added

NMSP sources reported to IMNA that despite the SPDC’s claims of its desire to preserve the ceasefire relationship it signed with the NMSP in the 1995, the party remains highly suspicious of the government’s motives and will not cease its military preparations at party headquarters in Thaton, Tavoy, and Moulmein District; other ceasefire groups have allegedly adopted similar “wait and see” policies.

MNLA gears up for conflict

By IMNA:

IMNA has received reports that New Mon State Party (NMSP) leaders at headquarters in Moulmein District, Tavoy District, and Thaton District are ordering retired Mon National Liberation Army soldiers in each district out of retirement, with the aim of bolstering the force’s numbers in preparation for a potential conflict with the Burmese army.

MNLA preparations reportedly began immediately after NMSP leaders announced that the party had refused to turn the MNLA into a government-controlled “people’s militia group” or “Border Guard Force”, despite threats from the State Peace and Development Council) SPDC commanders that such a move would end the 15-year ceasefire agreement between the two parties.

NMSP leaders reportedly ordered retired MNLA members to return to their headquarters by April 28th, the date by which the SPDC’s Southeast Command was expected to release the Burmese government’s response to the NMSP’s refusal. Despite widespread speculation, however, the Southeast Command has yet to respond in any conclusively violent manner to the news.

A NMSP member in Moulmein told IMNA, “They [the NMSP] called their old army members to go back into their battalions and ordered their members to be prepared for fighting, if the SPDC enter their areas [in Moulmein, Tavoy or Thaton Districts]”.

According to IMNA’s field reporters, newly un-retired MNLA soldiers at all three districts’ offices have been seen performing military drills, donning official MNLA uniforms, and standing sentry duty around district offices.

A second Moulmein-based NMSP member told IMNA, “We had known that army members would be called back [to party headquarters], but we did not know that it would happen so fast.”

NMSP spokesman Nai Chay Mon reported IMNA during the party’s press conference on April 22nd that party members living with their families near NMSP offices in party-controlled territory have begun to move to safer locations, and that MNLA battalions are expected to “defend themselves” if provoked by the Burmese military.

When IMNA wrote on concerns over SPDC pressure on the `BGF issue on September 10th, 2009, the party’s website reported that the MNLA force comprised of roughly 350 members, down from 7860 at the time of the party’s ceasefire agreement in 1995. Current MNLA numbers are unavailable, but membership is expected to rise dramatically due to rise due to the recent recruitment of retired members.

IDP influx instigates Halochanee camp supply crisis

By Jaloon Htaw:

According to administrators at Halochanee resettlement camp on the Thailand-Burma border, a recent influx of Mon internally displaced persons (IDPs), fleeing from the threat of conflict in southern Mon State’s Tavoy District, has stretched camp resources to the limit.

Tavoy residents have been fleeing from their homes to the Thailand-Burma border since last week, after the New Mon State Party (NMSP) publicly refused to convert its armed wing into a Burmese government-run force. The relocation of Burmese military battalions to the border of NMSP-controlled territory in Tavoy district instigated widespread fears of an impending invasion, and prompted a mass migration to the already-crowded Holochanee camp.

Food, water, and other supplies for members of Holochanee camp are overseen by a variety of non-governmental organizations, including the Mon Relief and Development Committee (MRDC), and the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC); however, sources inside the camp claim that such supplies are insufficient for the needs of the numerous IDPs who arrived last week.

“The food supplies will only be enough for the next 2 days. We not sure beyond then. But The TBBC [Thailand-Burma Border Consortium] came yesterday. They said when they arrived at their office in Thailand they would arrange for food supplies. But we have not heard from them yet,” reported a member of the Mon Relief and Development Committee (MRDC) from Halochanee.

According to this MRDC member, the organization has been taking a count of the Mon IDPs who have arrived in the camp from Tavoy since last week; as of today, 250 new arrivals have taken shelter in Halochanee, while another 279 are being sheltered at nearby Balikedonbike camp.

He also explain that the new arrivals in both camps are mostly women and children; they have fled from villages throughout the Tavoy region, including the villages of Tapyuchoung, Palan, Hanee, Chairtike, and A nie. Both camps are reported to be currently housing the new IDP population in schools and Buddhist temples.

A long-time Halochanee resident told IMNA that many of the new arrivals have shared plans to return to their homes inside Mon State as soon as the current threat of violence lessens. Besides the impending food shortage, the new IDPs in Halochanee have reported that the camp lacks sufficient sanitation facilities and shelter to house them properly; Halochanee camp is also reportedly suffering from a water shortage.

A woman from Tapyuchaung village, who arrived at Halochanee camp with her children last week, informed IMNA, “We don’t have plans to stay in Thailand because we have a plantation in our village. Now my husband is still at my home, we came to the camp first, because if the Burmese army comes he can run away easily. He will wait and [monitor] the situation.”

Unofficial NMSP member censuses gathered across Mon State

By IMNA:

IMNA’s reporters have learned that following the New Mon State Party’s (NMSP) refusal of the State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) “people’s militia” offer last week, members of the state-run Special Police have been calling upon village headmen across Mon State, collecting an unofficial list of NMSP members’ names and villages of residence.

“They started it [gathering names] last week, it is happening in every township and also in the towns[villages as well as larger cities],they met with the village headmen and quarter headmen and they asked the number of NMSP members [in their village headmen and quarter headmen and they asked the number of NMSP members [in their villages and quarters]” reported a Moulmein resident connected with the city’s Myaingtaryar quarter headman.

IMNA’s field reporters across Mon State have gathered reports of similar NMSP census counts being collected by TPDC chairmen across the region, in the townships of Moulmein, Mudon, Thanphyuzayart, Ye, Poung, Kyaik-ma-yaw, and Chanung Zone.

“They [the TPDC and the Secret Police] asked like, ‘How many NMSP members are in the village?, What did they do [for a living]?, where are they now?’ Something like that. Some [NMSP] members they already know about, but some of they don’t know about yet,” said a village headman from Mudon Township, who asked that his village name be withheld.

According to a Poung town resident, “In our town, the Special Police came and took the NMSP’s list on Monday”.

Sources reported to IMNA that unofficial NMSP member counts have been taken in the past, usually during times of political tension between the NMSP and the SPDC.

“The authorities [the TPDC] hold the meeting every week, at the meeting they talk about the NMSP’s activities. [In earlier times of conflict] they asked that how many NMSP members were in a village, they did this at every meeting” a retired government worker, whom asked that his personal details not be released, reported to IMNA.

Many sources indicated that the collection of NMSP members’ personal information is a symptom of the breakdown of the NMSP’s 1995 ceasefire with the SPDC; Southeast Command Lt. Gen. Ye Myint informed NMSP members on April 7th that a refusal of the SPDC’s people’s militia offer could result in the return of the “pre-ceasefire relationship between the two parties.

“The SPDC wants to know, if the NMSP members are still at home or not, that’s why they do like that [retrieve member lists]. Now the situation between the NMSP and the SPDC is not the same as before, because the NMSP has rejected the [people’s militia] offer,” a political observer from Mudon Township explained to IMNA.

A spokesperson from the Human Rights Foundation of Monland explained that similar counts were frequently utilized in to aid in arrest and detainment of NMSP members before the 1995 ceasefire:

“In 1993 and 1994, they did this a lot…they collected not the names of the NMSP members, but the names of their families in the jungle. If they believed that the NMSP member had committed a bomb blast for example, they could call upon the family to bring this member forward…it’s a way of finding whom to blame.”

Mon politicians proclaim support for NMSP’s decision

Loa Htaw

Mon political groups informed IMNA today that they support the NMSP’s decision to reject the Burmese government’s demands that the party’s armed wing be transformed into a government-run “militia group”. The party announced its decision on April 22nd.

Members of some political groups informed IMNA that the NMSP’s decision is highly positive development, as it frees Mon State from the strictures imposed by the ceasefire agreement made between the NMSP and the Burmese government in 1995.

“The cease-fire agreement has solved nothing during fifteen years period and we believe they [the NMSP] have decided to do the right thing,” said Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) leader Min Kyi Win to IMNA today.

The newest Mon political party, the All Mon Region for Democracy Party (AMRDP), has also gone on record stating its support for the NMSP, despite the fact that the party had adopted an entirely different mode of action, and plans to run in this fall’s elections, under the terms provided by the Burmese government in its much-contested election laws.

“It is impossible to accept the [government’s] demand of transforming the Mon armed wing, which is meant to defend Mon state and the Mon people, into a militia group,” AMRDP party member Min Nwe Soe opined.

According to members of the Mon Affairs Union, an umbrella organization for a variety of Mon political groups on the Thai-Burma border, inside Burma, and in the wider international community, during 2009 the NMSP conducted a survey among Mon people in party-controlled areas inside Burma. Reportedly, most of the survey takers felt that the NMSP should not allow its armed wing to be transformed into a government-controlled force. Other groups reiterated this claim, informing IMNA that they feel that the NMSP’s decision accurately reflects the Mon public’s opinion on the issue.

Mon Unity League (MUL) President Nai Suthorn told IMNA “We welcome the NMSP’s decision, which considers and follows the [Mon] people’s views [on the subject]. “

“We [the Mon people and the NMSP] have made the right decision,” he added.

New War and Tantamount Danger in Monland

“We want to solve political problems by means of politics, therefore, we entered into a ceasefire and we will demand a political dialogue,” former New Mon State Party’s (NMSP) President Nai Shwe Kyin once said. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2003, and never saw a peaceful political dialogue within either Burma or Mon State; the situation has been worsening since the current military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) forcibly confirmed a military-dominated constitution in May 2008 through a people’s referendum, without international monitoring or thorough debates among Burma’s political parties or the nation’s people.

The Mon people lost the right to self-determination and self-rule after the fall of the Hongsawatoi kingdom in 1757, when it was annexed by the Burmese King Alungphaya. Since then, the Mon people have struggled to retain their rights through both armed struggle and legitimate political movements. The NMSP, which formed in 1958, waged war against the successions of Burmese military regimes based in Rangoon, until agreed to a ceasefire in 1995.

Just recently, after the SPDC declared that it was holding elections in 2010, and announced electoral laws, a political party formation law and a party registration law, the regime began pressuring ceasefire groups to abandon their arms and participate in the elections. Some non-politically motivated ceasefire groups agreed to participate in the elections, despite the fact that the Burmese military’s political representatives have special opportunities, in that they do not need to run in the elections, but will, under the 2008 constitution, automatically win 25% of the seats in both central level and local level parliaments.

Burma’s politically-motivated ceasefire groups do not want to enter into the elections without political warrantees for their people and their armed forces. But the regime has said that they must change their armed forces into “Border Guard Forces” (BGF) or “village militia forces”, and transform their political wings into political parties to run in the elections.

The NMSP has consistently stated that it refuses to participate in the 2010 elections prior to major changes to the 2008 constitution, as it favors the Burmese military’s possession of political power within the country. The NMSP has also argued that it did not want to transform its armed force, the New Mon Liberation Army (NMLA), into a Burmese government-controlled Border Guard Force (BFG) or paramilitary group, without a political dialogue that granted the right of self-determination to the Mon people.

The time of the ceasefire’s existence grows shorter and shorter, as the date of the elections comes closer and closer. The regime is not offering any alternative means of preserving the ceasefire. War could break out at any time during the regime-set 60 day period for political party registration. If registering groups are declared to be illegal political groups, a new war will begin.

Both the Burmese military and various ethnic minority armies have been involved in a decades-long civil war. No one group can win in this war, but the nation’s people continue to suffer. Mon refugees who returned to Burma from Thailand’s refugee camps in 1995, after the ceasefire, will have to flee into Thailand again. Thousands of Mon people will become internally displaced persons (IDPs). Many rural Mon people will lose their livelihoods and their lands after rebuilding their lives during the 15 year ceasefire period.

The UN Assembly, western governments, and ASEAN leaders have demanded that the regime solve political problems through a peaceful dialogue. But the regime has ignored these demands. It planted the seed for a new war with its 2008 constitution, and now the war will break out soon.

Now, Burma’s problem are becoming international problems, as the international community will have to take care of Burmese refugees, help Burmese people with socio-economic programs, etc. Therefore, the international community still has a role to play in stopping this new war within Burma.

Chaung-zone farmers left adrift

By Jaloon Htaw:

Rice farmers from Dayal village, in Mon State’s Chaung-zone Township, are seething after an abortive attempt to repair eroding paddy lands has left them deprived of both farmland and funds.

Residents of the area explained to IMNA that flooding has plagued Chaung-zone Township since the construction of the Salween (Thanlwin) Bridge over the Salween River in Moulmein, completed in 2005. Farmers complained that the bridge’s construction altered river flow, and the redirected water routinely washes silt onto Chaung-zone fields.

Dayal Farmers explained to IMNA that they have petitioned the Chaung-zone Township Peace and Development Council’s (TPDC) Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation for several year to send the village a bulldozer to push silt out of their farmland, and create gravel barriers to protect their lands from further flooding. This year, a small group of farmer took matters into their own hands, and paid for use of a Chaung-zone town bulldozer for a period of 20 days. The vehicle arrived on March 14th of this year, but left again after a mere 4 days of work on March 19th, after the State-level Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in Naypyidaw ordered that the Chaung-zone TPDC send the vehicle to the site of a similar project on Hinnter Island, south of Balue Kyunn Island, where Dayal village is located.

“We want to repair our farms because the farms are being eroded all the time. We, all the farmers who are working near the water, requested that the village chairman report [this erosion problem] to the Chaung-zone Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC). A lot of farms are falling down into to the water [destroyed by flooding]. Every year we have reported [the problem] and asked the TPDC to send a bulldozer to us. [We received one this year] but now the bulldozer has gone back [to Chaung-zone town]. They [the bulldozer and TPDC] were supposed to work at repairing [the erosion] for 20 day but they repaired it only for 4 day. Our farms are not finished yet,” said one farmer.

“The total [acreage] of farmland that [was to be] repaired is 100 acres. Almost 10 acres was finished. They only finished one owner’s farm. Also, we have lost money, and we also tired,” he added.

Dayal village contains over 3000 acres of farmland; 300 of those are located along the Salween river shoreline. According to sources in the village, a small party of 8 frustrated farmers took charge of hiring the bulldozer to repair their own farms. The group covered the expenses of the entire transaction, including engine oil and transportation costs for the bulldozer, themselves. Reportedly, each member of the group contributed 100,000 kyat to the project, hoping that they expense would result in cleared, protected, productive farmland; deprived sufficient funds to purchase the use of a second bulldozer, these individuals must now watch helplessly as the upcoming rainy season brings even more destruction to their fields.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation department from Chaung-zone town wants [more] money. We already reported the issue to the District-level Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation department. They will send [a bulldozer] again after rainy season they said. If it does not arrive [before rainy season], the farms will become like they were before,” said another farmer.

According to a retired Ministry of Agriculture worker, the Burmese government’s Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has wronged Dayal’s farmers in yet another respect; under Burmese law, the ministry is required to respond to farmers’ needs without demanding payment.

“The farmers are repairing their farms by themselves, the ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation Department does not give them a full amount of help, and also it send the bulldozer to Hinntar island. This is a very bad thing and not fair for the farmers,” he commented.

New Mon State Party announces final “government militia” decision

By IMNA:

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) announced that the party has decided against transforming its armed wing into a Burmese government-run militia, during a press conference held yesterday on the Thai-Burma border. The decision was made by party leaders on April 21st, at an emergency meeting held in southern Mon State.

The meeting was held in response to an April 7th convention with Southeast Command (SEC) Lt. General Ye Myint, where the General threatened that the NMSP’s refusal to acquiesce to the Burmese government’s demands, that the party transform its armed wing, the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) into a government-controlled “militia group”, would result in the re-establishment of a “pre-ceasefire relationship” between the Burmese military government and the party.

The NMSP reached a ceasefire agreement with the current military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), in 1995, in order to curb the massive human rights abuses Mon State citizens then suffered at the hands of the SPDC, and to open up political discourse between the 2 groups.

“We have already sent our Executive Committee (EC) members, including Nai Tin Hla, to confirm [our decision] with Southeast Command (SEC) Lt. Gen. Ye Myint, that we will not transform the MNLA into a government militia group,” NMSP spoke-person Nai Chay Mon explained. “Now we are still waiting to hear the government’s response from our representatives,” he added.

Twenty-seven EC members, including nine Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, along with five associated EC members, decided not to accept transforming the MNLA into a Burmese government-run militia, or Border-Guard Force (BGF) during the meeting, Nai Chay Mon explained

A source close to the party claimed that a few EC members, along with CEC member Nai Chan Toi, have decided to resign from the NMSP, although they allegedly are not making this move due to any opposition to the party’s decision to refuse the Burmese government’s militia group offer. However, the NMSP’s spoke-person refused to confirm this information.

He reported that many NMSP members have already moved from their homes in Mon State to other, more “reliable” locations, in anticipation of a violent reaction from the Burmese government. regarding the party’s decision.

“We will try our best to maintain the ceasefire, but if the government forces us to accept their demands, or if the government attacks, we will have to defend ourselves,” Nai Chay Mon explained to IMNA after yesterdays’ press conference.

Tavoy residents prepare for flight

By IMNA:

Residents of the Tavoy District villages of Joha Plrow and Suwanabumi, located in close proximity to New Mon State Party (NMSP) headquarters, informed IMNA today that they are packing up their belongings and fleeing their homes, in order to avoid being victimized by an impending invasion by Burmese military troops.

NMSP leaders have, for the past several days, been occupied by a secret emergency meeting, that was called to discuss an ultimatum issued by State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) officers during an April 7th meeting between the two groups; reportedly, if the NMSP does not acquiesce to the SPDC’s demands that the party become a government-run “people’s militia between April 22nd and April 28th, the party can consider its 1995 ceasefire agreement with the SPDC to be ended.

Reports of Burmese battalions gathering on the NMSP’s Tavoy District border have already prompted residents of the area to flee before the release of the decision; the NMSP’s meeting has been slated to end today. Now Tavoy residents living near the NMSP’s headquarters, further inside the region, report that they plane to follow suit, to avoid being caught in a potential SPDC attack upon the site.

“Now people in our village are packing up their property to avoid the SPDC soldiers, if they come to our place. This is because we heard that the SPDC’s troops will come to this area soon. Some people have gone already to safe places, where their relatives live. If the situation gets worse, we are ready to move from here [this village],” a Joha Plrow resident reported.

A bus driver who normally earns his living driving on the Tavoy District road stretching between the village of Panapone and Ye Town, informed IMNA that he has ceased working as a bus driver and has fled to the Thai Burma border, after reportedly viewing a contingent of SPDC troops in the village of Ye Chung Pyar, a Tavoy District village under NMSP control. This source explained to IMNA that the number of buses crossing Tavoy District has dropped dramatically over the past week; 50 buses are scheduled to traverse the area each day, but this driver claims that only 5 are currently in operation.

“Now I have stopped driving my truck in that area. I dare not drive any more. I am afraid of the SPDC troops. If they [SPDC troops] see me with the truck, they may seize my truck, or maybe they will force me to bring them where they want [forced portering]. Not only I stopped driving my truck here. Many truck owner have stopped, like me”, he explained.

A bus driver from the village of Suwanabumi pointed to an incident that occurred on January 10th of this year, when SPDC Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 282 entered the village, located less than 10 miles from the NMSP’s central headquarters. The sources who spoke to IMNA for its January coverage reported that the battalion, which entered the village on a purported search for bandits, left the area after merely 3 hours without harassing residents. However, this bus driver explained to IMNA that Suwanabumi’s residents were alarmed by the incident, and that many are preparing to flee the area in the event that a second visit from the battalion will this time result in violence.

All Mon Region Democracy Party announces official party roster, commences election registration process

By Akka:
According to a party spokesperson, the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP), formed by a 5 member break-off group from original 15 member “Working Committee” on March 30th, has added an additional 10 members to its ranks, and has already begun the process of registering itself to run under its new name in the 2010 elections.

“Two committee members left for Naypyitaw this morning to register the 15 committee members with the government. If the government approves all of the members, we can move on to the next step of the registration process, electing two leaders from among the fifteen committee member; but if not [if the government does not approve the roster] we will have to replace them and register again” he said.

The 15 committee members include Nai Nwe Soe, Nai Janu (Nai Ngwe Thein), Nai Seik, and Nai Baya Aung Moe, prominent members of Mon State’s political scene.

“We want to fight for ethnic minority rights under the law [through legal political processes], while other groups may want to approach [the issue] a different way. We will also try to have only one Mon party to represent the Mon region,” the AMRDP spokesperson explained.

According to this spokesperson, the AMRDP was officially named and founded during an April 7, 2010 meeting, and aims to represent Mon State and other ethnic minority groups living in Mon-controlled regions. The party hopes to increase the political and cultural rights accorded to ethnic minorities, and to aid in Burma’s transformation into a democratic state.

In IMNA’s April 20th interview with New Mon State Party (NSMP) spokesman Nai Chay Mon, the spokesman refused to comment on the party’s desire to run in the 2010 elections, claiming that the party wished to remain neutral on the subject; the NMSP has repeatedly refused to register for the 2010 elections, as registration involves supporting the 2008 constitution, which the NMSP has publicly criticized on multiple occasions.

Burmese battalions gather on NMSP territory border before April 22nd deadline

IMNA

April 21, 2010

Two Burmese battalions have moved to set up bases in Tenasserim Division, in close proximity to the border of the New Mon State Party’s territory in (NMSP) Tavoy District.

This section of Tavoy District makes up the southernmost region of the territory accorded to the NMSP in its 1995 ceasefire agreement with the currently Burmese military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

Sources in the area identified the 2 battalions as Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 282 and other battalion. The groups moved into the region on Saturday and Monday, respectively, and have set up their artillery forces near the Tavoy District village of Snee Dein.

A witness explained, “at least 25 soldiers arrived at Snee Dein village on Saturday, and on Monday more arrived.”

This witness also reported that villagers from Snee Dein and the surrounding area in Tavoy District, have begun packing up their belongings. Threats of a potential end to 1995 ceasefire treaty, following the release of the NMSP’s final decision regarding its acceptance or refusal of the SPDC’s Border Guard Force (BGF) or people’s militia offer, has many preparing to flee the region.

On April 19th, IMNA published news of an April 7th meeting between NMSP leaders and Southeast Command Lieutenant General Ye Myint, where the latter reportedly threatened that a refusal of the SPDC’s people’s militia or BGF offer would result in the return of a “pre-ceasefire” relationship between the two groups. The General reportedly gave the party a deadline of April 22nd to make its decision.

In an interview with IMNA published yesterday, NMSP spokesman Nai Chay Mon explained that party members are waiting for direction from their leaders, who are currently holding an emergency meeting in southern Mon State to discuss their response to Gen. Ye Myint’s ultimatum.

LIB No 282 is based in Yebyu Township, Tenasserim Division under the management of the Coastal Regional Command, in Tennasserim Division. LIB 675 is, according to the Human Right’s Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), has been documented as a “baseless” battalion.

Interview with New Mon State Party about emergency meeting of the party

According to New Mon State Party (NMSP) spokesperson Nai Chay Mon during an interview with IMNA reporter Loa Htaw, party leaders have gathered at their headquarters in southern Mon State for an emergency meeting.

NMSP leaders must decide whether they will accept the Burmese government’s demands that the party to transform the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) into a Burmese-government controlled militia group or Border Guard Force (BGF). According to Nai Chay Mon, the NMSP leaders met with Southeast Command Lt. Gen. Ye Myint on April 7, when he gave the party a deadline of April 22nd to confirm its decision.

Loa Htaw: Could you please tell the Mon people about the NMSP’s current situation?

Nai Chay Mon: Currently the New Mon State Party has been asked by Southeast Command Lt.Gen. Ye Myint to accept the transformation of the MNLA into a militia group. The NMSP leaders, led by Vice President Nai Rot Sa, Join Secretary Nai Chan Toi and CEC Nai Tala Nyi met with Lt. Gen Ye Myint on April 7th, and he asked the party’s leaders to confirm their decision by a deadline of April 22.

Loa Htaw: What is the emergency meeting about at the NMSP’s head-quarters?

Nai Chay Mon: The main agenda is to decide whether the NMSP should accept the government’s demands or not. Currently, all the Central Executive Committee party leaders are holding the meeting about this issue.

Loa Htaw: What will happen if NMSP decides not to form a militia group? Will the the relationship between the NMSP and the SPDC return to the way they were before the cease-fire agreement?

Nai Chay Mon: We cannot say anything yet about whether the political situation will become like it was before the cease-fire agreement or not. The NMSP and other ethnic groups signed cease-fire agreements to solve political problems, and both the Burmese government and the NMSP must take time to find a solution, step by step.

Loa Htaw: The NMSP has stated several times that it will not participate in the 2010 elections, or transform its armed wing into a militia group. Why does the Burmese government want confirmation of these decisions again?

Nai Chay Mon: Before, the government asked the NMSP to accept the Border-Guard Force agreement, but now they changed the word into militia group.

Loa Htaw: What is the difference between a Border-Guard Force and a militia group?

Nai Chay Mon: A Border-Guard Force means that the force will include SPDC soldiers, but a militia group may not involve the government’s soldiers, according to our experience.

Loa Htaw: How do plan to deal with other Mon parties, such as All Region Mon Democracy Party, who are planning to run in the 2010 elections?

Nai Chay Mon: We do not want to comment on other Mon parties, or if they want to form new Mon parties and run in the elections. We do not oppose or support them. But the 2010 election is based on the 2008 constitution, which we do not approve of.

Loa Htaw: Some have said that the Mon people and other ethnic groups should have their ethnic political parties join in the elections to represent their groups’ voices. What do you think?

Nai Chay Mon: We should not view the election at a surface level . We have to consider the 2008 constitution carefully, and how it will benefit the Mon people and all Burmese citizens. Otherwise, we will face the effects of the constitution, which does not give any ethnic rights to the Mon people or other ethnic people.

Loa Htaw: What do you want to tell the Mon people, regarding both the upcoming elections, and the pressure from the government to accept an agreement to transform the MNLA into a militia group?

Nai Chay Mon: We want to tell the Mon people that MNLA still exists, and we want the Mon people to support the MNLA and NMSP, whatever the decisions the party makes.

SEC gives NMSP a “pre-ceasefire relationship” ultimatum

Kon Hadae

According to reports, an April 7th meeting between New Mon State Party (NMSP) members and the Southeast Command (SEC) involved the latter placing substantial pressure on the NMSP to accept the Burmese government’s Border Guard Force (BGF) agreement, at the risk of the government’s 1995 ceasefire agreement with the NMSP.

According to an NMSP Central Committee member, who asked that his name be with held, SEC Lt. Gen. Ye Myint reportedly stated that a NMSP failure to convert its armed wing, the Mon New Liberation Army (MNLA) into a government-run Border Guard Force (BGF) or people’s militia, by April 22nd of this year, will result in the reinstatement of the “pre-ceasefire relationship” between the Burmese Government and the NMSP.

The NMSP issued a public refusal of the Burmese government’s BGF offer in August 2009, which resulted in the Burmese government’s withdrawal of the party’s taxation rights in September of that year.

The Central Committee member IMNA spoke with reported that the meeting, which was held in Moulmein’s SEC headquarters, was attended by 7 NMSP officers: Joint Secretary Nai Chan Toi, Vice Chairman Nai Rotsa, CEC Nai Htar Wara, CEC Nai Tala Nyi, Colonel Nai Layi Ka kao, CC Nai Kow Seik, and CC member Nai Chan Nai. The meeting was led by Gen. Ye Myint.

“He [Gen. Ye Myint] told us the NMSP could decide to do what it wants. But if we refuse to accept both the Border Guard Force and People’s Militia agreements, the SPDC will view us as they did before the ceasefire,” an NMSP insider claimed.

Gen Ye Myint gave the NMSP a deadline of April 22nd to submit their final answer regarding the MNLA’s fate, he added.

The NMSP agreed to a ceasefire with the current Burmese military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), in 1995 an attempt to extinguish the vast amounts of human rights abuses that were then being suffered by the Mon people. The SPDC’s “pre-ceasefire relationship” with Mon State resulted in, among other abuses, widespread forced labor, mass forced relocation of Mon communities, tens of thousands of Mon “internally displaced persons” (IDPs) living in squalid refugee camp conditions on the Thailand-Burma border, and the commencement of the construction of the infamous Yanada gas pipeline in 1991.

A NMSP spokesperson informed IMNA that the NMSP is currently in the process of gathering its members for an emergency meeting to discuss the ultimatum, at the party’s headquarters near the [Bee Ree river] in Ye Township; word of the exact nature of what the NMSP’s decision will has not yet been disclosed.

Mon State student hostel prices increase for coming academic year

IMNA

This year students who hope to increase their likelihood of passing the final year’s 10th grade exam will have to pay more then in years prior, as prices for all hostels has increased. Hostels’ are also allowing students to enrollee earlier then last year.

Last academic year, students who lived hostels in Mon State paid approximately 2 million kyat (1,953 USD) while students who attended more famous hostels, like Mudon’s Daw Than Myit hostel, paid around 2.7 million kyat (2,636 USD). Now each entering student will have to pay nearly 2.3 million kyat (2,246 USD) for a more basic hostel or 3 million kyat (2,929 USD) for a hostel like Daw Than Myit.

Student hostels are popular in Mudon township, Ye township and throughout Mon state as a means to ensure success during the crucial final exams. The hostels house and feeds students for one year, while providing them with additional study services via teachers or professor hired on after hours to tutor students in each subject they study in.

Hostels prices vary based on their facilities and the quality and number of tutors available. The best hostels are able to draw university professors who will travel and tutor for the evening before returning home.

“At a prestigious hostel the students have to pay about 3.0 million for a year, but other hostel will not charge as much like that because it is depends on the percentage [of attending students] who passed [their 10th grade exams],” a student’s mother who lives in Mudon explained. “The families who have more money can send their children to a prestigious hostel, but some [parents] can’t send them because of money problems –they just can send their child to a normal hostel.”

After students’ 9th grade exams, hostel owners begin accepting students who will want to live in hostel for the duration of the 10th grade 2010-2011 academic year.

“We finished the 10th grade exam on March 19th and the hostel owner started accepting students during that week,” said a 10th grade student. “So for students who have just taken the 9th grade exam, some are already registered [at out hostel].”

Last year at the Dar Than Myit hostel in Mudon town about 200 students registered for the year. According to a student this year its still not clear how the numbers of students will attend because they have not yet reached the deadline for registration. “If we register, the hostel owner will take half our money first and then we can give the other half at the end of year, but if we have [all of] it, we can just pay at one time,” a Mudon student explained.

According to a hostel owner increasing numbers of students and parents want to enroll in the more prestigious hostels. These schools often draw better tutors and have higher rates of students passing 10th grade exams. The hostel owner believes this is why hostel owners have been able to raise prices this year.

Last year hostel attendance was down as families struggled to pay the fees of millions of kyat due to the global economic crisis.

Free computer training offers opportunities for Ye Township youth

IMNA

In over to improve students computer stills in technology deprived Burma, an abbot in Ye Township has been working to provide funding so that area students will have access to computers and a summer training before returning to school.

Recently graduated 9th standard students in Tamort-kanin village will now have the opportunity to participate in an intensive computer training course. The abbot who orchestrated the course has insured that the course will be free to all of the village’s 50 9th standard graduates, according to a Tamort-kanin villager.

“To do the training, five villagers who are currently working in South Korea, donated money,” explained the abbot, who preferred to remain anonymous for his own safety. “However, at this time we cannot buy the new computers because we have not enough money yet. I have had to borrow [computers] from other villagers I. Right now we have ten computers total. We have plan to buy the new computers for the next years training.”

The training will take place over the public school summer holiday, starting on April 9th and go till the start of the state school in the 1st week in May. The trainer for the course will come from the Myanmar Computer Company (MCC) in Moulmein.

While the training itself will be free the certificate, issued by the MCC, will not be. “To get the training certificate from the MCC, each student has to pay 15,000 kyat. If students do have this certificate of computer training, it will support them when they apply for jobs,” the Abbot said.

The students who are able to pay will be entering their last year, 10th standard, equipped with an MCC certificate, which is often considered the gold standard of computer certification in Burma, and opens the possibility for numerous job opportunities.

Even without the MCC students will still benefit from the experience the course will bring. A youth from Tamort-kanin explained to IMNA that because students have never learned about computers and some have never even seen a computer before, the training will be particularly useful for the students. He continued saying that with this training they’ll be able to understand about computers functions and how they can use one.

Burma is reported to severely lack in modern computer technology. There have been efforts by military government to increase its computer tech capacity such as the development of the Yadanabon Cyber City near Mandalay, a technology park for computer and software development. However a student who attended the Moulmein University for a degree in computer science, recounted how for their program of 500 only 100 computers were available for the 3 year course, and most of the classes were spent repairing old an broken computers.

Government decries foreign radio broadcasts at local meeting

Jaloon Htaw, IMNA

At speeches intended to promote safety during the Water Festival period, village headmen spent time decrying the validity of broadcasts by international media. The order for the media targeted speeches came from senior members of the Burmese military, say local residents.

Early in April the village headman from Chaung Zone Township, Mon State, conducted a meeting with area residents, to promote safety during Water Festival, the Buddhist New Years, a period traditionally characterized by celebration, spraying of water, and drinking.

However the only reference to safety was made when the headman advised villagers that, according to an attending resident, “Villagers should not to be dangerous with motorbikes and should drive slowly.” Members of the local Military Intelligence (MI) added that villagers should notify the township police if they have an accident or are injured.

Attending residents reported that the village headman only spent a little time of safety messages, instead focusing on security and 2010 election related issues.

Specifically villagers were warned not to believe the foreign media radiobroadcasts in to Burma. One area resident who attended the meeting quoted him saying, “Don’t believe VOA, RFA, BBC, and DVB because they are not accurate.”

The speech also touched on issues promoting the military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). One villager recounted that the headman talked about how the SPDC would take reasonability for safety during the election and work to keep it a peaceful process. He went on to tell local residents that they must also take reasonability and make sure the election is a peaceful process without violent protest or armed resistance.

However the village headman, prior to giving the speech, admitted to a close source that the topics addressed in the speech had been ordered by Burmese officers from Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 6 and a nearby Burmese Navy battalion. The Chaung Zone Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC), then instructed every village headman had to give a speech to each of their communities.

A political analyst from Caung Zone Township, who requested his name be withheld for security purposes, commented, “They should not say like that because some people listen to the foreign media radio stations. They should not go telling people not to believe foreign radio stations.”

He added that other villages had held similar meetings, and other are planed for the area, on Burmese Army orders.

Mudon Township housing tax leads to legal battle

Thus, 2 April, 2010

Mi Layi Htaw & Mi Yin Mon


100 Villagers from Mudon Township’s Hneepadaw village have just concluded a two day-long legal clash with the Mudon Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC); homeowners from the village were ordered to court following their refusal to pay a tax on recently built homes, a fee that has been threatened by the Mudon TPDC since September 2009.

The housing tax in question is a new tax levied by the Mudon TPDC specifically on homes build between the years of 2007 and 2010. The tax, proposed in September 2009, originally mandated that new homeowners would be taxed according to their homes’ sizes and construction materials. Repeated attempts by the Mudon TPDC were largely ineffectual for the next six months. Unfortunately, dismayed Mudon Township villagers reported earlier this week that their TPDC chairmen had begun visiting villages all over the township, and actively demanding the fees in question.

IMNA’s March 29th story covered the debacle; tax collection attempts reportedly were met with widespread chaos, protest, and in the case of Hneepadaw village, intractable refusal.

A villager from Hneepadaw explained to IMNA that the Mudon TPDC has attempted to collect the tax from house owners 3 separate times since September 2009. When council members arrived in the village for the third time, on the 25th of March, and met with widespread refusal yet again, the 100 villagers were ordered to travel to the township’s Justice Department in Mudon town, in order to discuss the issue in court.

“They didn’t choose of kind of house [to be taxed more than others], one house is taxed 4 million kyat [regardless of building material], and they never taken the house tax [from us] this year, they have been trying to collect the house tax since September until now. This last time, ‘those that aren’t giving the house tax should go to the law courts’, that’s what someone from the TPDC said to me,” a second Hneepadaw resident explained.

According to reports, the villagers arrived at the Mudon town court on March 31st, after 2 days deliberations, the 100 villagers were sent home to Hneepadaw, without receiving fines or prison terms; the dissenters were however severely reprimanded, and informed that any failure to pay the housing taxes when the TPDC returns next month will result in harsher reprisals.

“Mon Working Committee” splits over 2010 election registration

IMNA

April 1, 2010

5 dissenters from 15 members “Mon Working Committee” formed in 2009 have split from the group, following a March 30th meeting where the majority of the committee’s members voted that the committee boycott the 2010 elections. The 5 rogue members have decided to register as a separate private political party.

The committee met earlier this month on March 15th, to discuss registering and running in the upcoming elections. IMNA’s March 18th coverage of the event shared how the meeting was inconclusive, as a large faction of the party refused to support Burma’s 2008 constitution, a mandate for registering as a political party. A second meeting was rescheduled for March 31st. IMNA’s reporter learned that the date for the second meeting was bumped ahead, after Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) announced its decision not to run in the 2010 elections.

IMNA’s reporter learned that the 5 individuals planning to register as a party in the 2010 Burmese elections are: Dr Min Nwe Soe, Nai Hla Aung from the Mon Literature Organization, university organizer Nai San Tin, former New Mon State Party (NMSP) colonel Nai Myint Swe, and Dr Banya Aung Moe.

“Our committee members have disagreed with the 2008 constitution since the beginning and they could not go ahead with the 2010 elections. In the March 30th meeting, we decided not to organize a political party, certainly” a member of the committee, who voted against political party registration.

IMNA’s reporter learned that the 5 members of the nascent political party are in the midst of the political registration process and are busily drafting their new organization’s political platform; however the group refused to release its platform’s details at the present time

According to one of the 5 dissenters, who asked to remain anonymous, the quintet has decided to join the elections in order to represent the Mon people; he claimed that without their party, voters in Mon state would be entirely devoid of any party from their ethnic group to vote for in October.

Unfortunately, the Mon politicians that IMNA spoke with are dubious that the party will gain any real interest from the Mon people it seeks to represent, as the 5 individuals involved are not particularly well known within Mon State.

The original 15 member working committee was founded in July 2009, after the 14th anniversary of the NMSP’s ceasefire agreement with the SPDC, with the publicly announced goal of working towards party membership, and Mon participation, in open elections.

Mudon town educators make a profit off of 10-standard exams

Yin Mon, Lai Mon

The going rate for passing 10-standard examinations for the 2009-2010 school year in Mudon town, Mon State, starts at 100,000 kyat, student in the city claim.

Parents and student from the town explained to IMNA that teachers and high school principle are offering 10-standard students a chance to access their exam scores early, before they are official announced, for the fee of 100,000 kyat. Changing a failing score to a passing one is also possible, for the price of an additional 100,000 kyat each of the 6 exams taken.

Burma’s annual 10-standard examinations are an extremely important test within the country. Passing the exams is required for all students seeking to graduate from high school, and exam scores are also used to determine the caliber of university a prospective student will attend.

“If you want to know your children’s results [pass or fail] before the educated department announces the results, I have a contact. You have to pay me 100,000 kyat, and I will try [to get the test results] for your son” a Mudon town’s mother quoted a local educator saying to her.
A second student’s mother explained that following the exams, educators from her son’s school checked the unreleased exam grade, and them visited the homes of students who had failed exams, like her son, to straightforwardly offer exam changes for 100,000 kyat


“Believe it, you have to pay, but you will know if your children can pass or not” this woman quoted the local principle saying.

Exam extortion is a long-tolerated practice in Mudon Town, and in Mon State in general, students and parents complained to IMNA. A student who took 10-standard examinations for a second time this year explained that following his examinations in Mudon town last year, a teacher visited his home and offered to change his exam grades. His mother refused to pay the fee required, and resultantly he failed his examinations.

Sources explained that parents often refuse to pay bribes to educators; a teacher frequently will accept funds but will later refuse to change failing exam grades.

A second Mudon town student who retook his exams this year told IMNA,

“The teacher said to me, if I paid about 300,000 kyat, she will help me [pass], I gave that money to my teacher, because I believed her, but when the results came out, I have failed, I lost my money.”