Wa dying on the southbound journey

Wa dying on the southbound journey 

Wa relocations

At least two old people died from a combination of car-sickness and lack of fresh air on the motor journey from the Chinese border in the north to the Thai border in the south recently, said sources from across the border. 

"Both were women, age 61 and 69," one said "The Chinese 6-wheelers were covered with tarpaulin and they must have died from suffocation as a result." 

It was a wonder children passengers as young as 3 months old were not among the dead, he added. 

He told S.H.A.N. it happened on 30 November when 4 Chinese trucks carrying 320 people unloaded between Poongpakhem and Namyoom, the latter village only 6 miles from BP-1, the border pass between Mongton and Chiangmai. 

Another source witnessed 8 six-wheelers unloading 640 resettlers at 4-different relocation sites south of Mongton, some 50 miles from the border. 

Site # 1. Hwe Monglay - Between Mongkhid and Maeken 
Site # 2. Between Nakawngmu and Hwe Aw 
Site # 3. Between Hwe Aw and Poongpakhem
Site # 4. Between Poongpakhem and Namkalang 

A total of 2,000 families is expected to arrive during the present dry season in Mongton township alone. According to figures complied by a Lahu source, more than 16,000 families (100,000 people) have arrived in the three townships along the Thai border during the last two years. The target number of households to be reached by next year is 50,000.