2008

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Youth arrested for singing political song

A Shan youth has been arrested by the Burmese authorities for singing a Shan song at the Shan New Year celebration in Mong Yai, northern Shan State, Burma, according to local sources.

Shan families flee from forced labor

According to SHAN's border stringer, over ten families from Mong Nai southern Shan State, fled to Thai-Burma border to avoid forced labour imposed by the SPDC soldiers and now they are working illegally in orange farms in Thai border as daily paid workers.

Junta increases communication fees

Since the September crackdown on peaceful protesters, Burma’s military regime has increased the communication fees.

Junta forces people to buy VCDs

Junta authorities have been forcing people to buy VCDs at a high price in Mong Yang (90 km north of Keng Tung) at Sino-Burma border, according to a local source.

Police force villagers to grow sunflower plants

Police authorities have been forcing villagers in Mong Ngaw Township, Kyaukme District, northern Shan State to grow sunflower plants for cooking oil after harvest of their monsoon paddy.

Customs official abuses power in Burma border town

The new customs officer, Lieutenant Myint Naing Htay at Myawaddy, the Burma border town opposite Maesod, is taking kickbacks on contraband goods from traders, according to one of the traders along the border who wishes to remain anonymous.

Junta forces people to buy motorbikes

Local authorities have been forcing people to buy motorcycles for their use in Mong Ngaw Township, Kyaukme District, Northern Shan State, according to a local source.

Junta collects illegal taxes and fees from local people

One of the public relation stunts for the junta is to eradicate drugs from the country but a reliable source from inside Burma reported that junta officials are hardly doing their job and collecting opium and other taxes from local people in some parts of Southern Shan State.

Locals punished as porters on false charges

According to a reliable source from the border, the SPDC soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 286 based in Mong Nawng, Southern Shan State accused villagers of having contact with the rebel groups and forced them to portering for them.

Asian gays call for acceptance

International Lesbians and Gays Association Asia (ILGA-ASIA) will march the first pride parade on 26 January 2008, the first time in history, a press release by ILGA-Asia stated. The parade is part of the 3rd International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) Asia Regional Conference where more than 150 gay rights activists will gather from 24-28 January at the BP Chiang Mai City Hotel.

Locals forced to donate

Tachilek Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) is forcing people to donate money to the city's Shwedagon pagoda replica on the Thai-Burma border, said a local source.

Ceasefire group defies junta over land grab

The Mongla ceasefire group in Shan State East has for 2 months been on a collision course with a Burma Army commander over the latter’s seizure of a 16-acre woodland belonging to local villagers, according to ceasefire sources.

Junta readies to open new border bridge

Burma is ready to open a new bridge on Nam Mao River, better known as Shweli, on the Sino- Burma border in northern Shan State, according to a local source.

Teenager raped by junta soldiers

A 16 year old teenage girl from Mong Liang village in Mong Pieng township (Eastern Shan State) was dragged into a farm and raped by a group of soldiers from Mong Pieng based Light Infantry Batallion 360, according to a local source.

Refugee mother lives with uncertain hope

I am holding the phone and I heard her calling me 'mother' very clearly. I was thrilled and my eyes were filled with tears.

Small school, big heart

“Our children, their hearts are filled with pain because their parents were killed and some were tortured by the military government. Some children have never seen their parents since they were born. If people suffer like them, they naturally want to take revenge. As for me, I am a teacher and I have responsibility to replace their vengeful hearts with education for their future” Kawn Wan who is a teacher in Loi Tai Leng, opposite Maehongson, said.

Junta collects taxes on home entertainment

Burma’s junta earn money from collecting taxes on home entertainment from villages in Pong Pa Khem sub-township, Mong Ton Township, in Eastern Shan State on the Thai-Burma border, according to our reporter based on the border.

Junta makes free use of villagers' tractors

Junta authorities conscript villagers’ tractors for their use and also force people to whitewash fences in Mong Ton Township, Eastern Shan State on the Thai-Burma border, according to SHAN reporter based on the border.

Burmese soldiers harassing villagers

Burma Army soldiers on patrol harass villagers after accusing them of contacting with SSA soldiers in the area of Mongkeung and Kehsi Townships, Southern Shan State.

More exploitation on villagers since crackdown

Burma Army soldiers in Southern Shan State are taking villagers’ livestock, money and luxury items and collected illegal taxes on poppy fields as well as forced villagers to buy motorbikes for them.

Local authority allows planting of taxed cucumber

During the first week of this month, Hpa Kant local authorities allowed planting of cucumber after collecting taxes from farmers at Hpa Kant in Kachin State, according to a S.H.A.N reporter:

Villagers persuaded to become soldiers

Burma junta is persuading people to recruit as soldiers or become members of Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) by promising high positions to the public in Nam Kham Township at the Sino-Burma border, reported a local source.

Teachers demand money for students to enter exam

Early this month, the students from No. 1 High School in Tachileik Town, Eastern Shan State were asked to pay money in order to pass an exam which will be held in the coming month.

Union Day Festival no fun for ethnic participants

Ethnic representatives who went to the new capital to join the Union Day festival were disillusioned by maximum security imposed by the authorities there, according to participants who recently returned to the border.

Authorities levy house tax in Southern Shan State

Local authorities from Excise Department have been illegally collecting taxes, amounting to millions of Kyat on houses from the villagers in Mong Pan Township Langkher District, Southern Shan State, according to a local source.

Junta army accuses civilians of killing its members

The Burma Army had accused civilians of killing its members, who were reportedly shot dead by members of Shan State Army (SSA) South in Mawk Mai Township, reported SHAN reporter Chaiya from southern Shan State.

Women call for workplace rights

On the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand, working women yesterday called for rights entitled to in their workplace, and to recognize all jobs held by women as proper jobs.

Junta forces villagers to plant teak

Villagers are being forced by military authorities of Burmese junta to plant teak in Mong Pieng Township, eastern Shan State according to local sources.

Forced donations for ID cards

Civilians are being forced by local immigration officers to make cash donations in order to receive ID cards that will enable holders to vote during constitutional referendum in May, according to residents of Namkham Township, Sino-Burma border.

Pro-junta militia forces people to relocate

Former Shan State Army (SSA) South's 758th Brigade commander Sao Mong Zeun who surrendered to the Burmese military in 2006 has forced people in Pa Hsang village tract to move to Na Poi village tract under his control in Nam Zang Township.

Daughter raped, mother beaten, villagers robbed

A Burma Army patrol had last week robbed villagers in Southern Shan State, where a girl was raped and her mother was beaten, according to local sources.

Villagers ordered to pay for the polling booths

People who are over 18 year were quickly issued temporary cards by the local authorities and money are collected from villagers to prepare for the voting places for the coming May referendum at Namkhum village, according to residents of Namkham Township, on the Sino-Burma border.

Villagers forced to call family members abroad back to support charter

Junta authorities in Mongpiang township, Eastern Shan State have been forcing villagers to call their family members from foreign countries back to support for the junta drafted charter in the upcoming May referendum, according to a reliable source.

Villagers forced to do repairs on the hydropower dam project

Junta authorities in Namkham township, Northern Shan State, have been forcing villagers to repair the collapsed bank of the Shweli Hydropower Dam Project which is established on the Shweli River, according to a reliable local source.

Civilian trucks forced to carry relief goods

Burmese military has been forcing 6 wheel and 10 wheel trucks to transport goods at Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, to Rangoon and Irrawaddy which were hit by Cyclone Nargis on 2-3 May, according to sources from Southern Shan State.

Authorities force people to work till death

3 villagers were drowned after local authorities forced them to make a raft and many other people were forced to clear the bushes beside the Nammao River, also known as Shweli in Namkham Township, according to reliable sources.

Market sellers forced to donate for Cyclone Nargis victims

Municipal officials in northern Shan State have been forcing traders to donate for survivors of Cyclone Nargis which on 2-3 May hit Rangoon, Irrawaddy, Mon State, Pegu division and Karen State, according to reliable sources.

Authorities force people to tick on referendum eve

Local authorities had forced people to tick in support of the draft constitution during night time, and threatened them not to leak out the news, resulting in 90% support in the Kunhing township, 141 mile west of Kengtung, capital of eastern Shan State.

Shan State assigned 500 cows, buffaloes to aid Nargis victims

Eastern region commander was ordered by the junta from Nyapyidaw to collect money from the people of Shan State to send 500 cows and buffaloes to Nargis victims in the Irrawaddy delta, according to Southern Shan State sources.

Rice transport banned in Shan State

In accordance with order from Naypyidaw, regional commanders have banned rice transportation between towns in Shan State and anyone breaking the rule will be imprisoned, according to reliable sources.

Villagers forced to buy Jatropha seeds at high price

Junta’s local authorities are forcing people in Shan State to buy Jatropha curcas seeds at higher prices for plantation during rainy season, according to reliable sources.

Shan migrant workers in Fang raided

Newly settled houses of Shan migrant workers in Chiangmai's Fang district were raided by the Thai authorities yesterday morning and 19 people have been detained at the Fang police station until now.

Villagers flee to border to escape abuses by Burma Army

Villagers from Kunhing township, southern Shan State have been fleeing to Tachilek, Thai-Burma border to escape arrests and abuses committed by Burma Army following clash with Shan State Army last week, a Shan Herald reporter, Long Mai reports from the border.

Sexual violence continues in Shan State

Sexual violence goes on in Shan State as the clashes between Burma Army and Shan State Army (SSA) increase, since the Burmese military beefed up its security forces, before the May 10 referendum and after the Cyclone Nargis devastated its delta areas, according to a Shan Herald reporte from the border.

Villagers tortured for "not seeing" the rebels

Three villagers from Kunhing, southern Shan State were beaten by the Burmese Army on 3 July and after they denied seeing and knowing the whereabouts of the Shan State Army (SSA) "South" fighters in the areas, reports Shan Herald correspondent from southern Shan State.

Villages deserted as residents flee to border to escape military persecution

Long Keng village in Mong Pan township, southern Shan State, became deserted when villagers fled to border after some of them were detained and tortured and some disappeared as the military accused them of killing their members one month ago, reported SHAN correspondent from southern Shan State.

Relief comes to Shan State

Free Burma Rangers (FBR) relief teams provided a small glimpse into the lives of the people during the mission to Shan State in June and July, according to FBR report on 23 July.

Caught in the crossfire

Burmese civilians are caught between a military dictatorship determined to drive them from their villages, and an unsympathetic Thai government more interested in trade than helping refugees.

More trafficking of women reported

In Kachin State, north of Burma, not only Kachin women were trafficked, but of many other ethnic women like Shan, Palaung, Chinese and Burmese women were being sold to Chinese men as wives and sex industries on the Sino-Burma border while looking for work, according to a report by a Kachin group which came out today.

Continued human rights violation in Shan State

Villagers from Kehsi township, Southern Shan State, were forced to porter and one had been killed by the Burma Army during portering, according to sources who fled to the border.

People in Shan State forced to join local militias

The Burma Army has been forcing villagers in Shan State to join pro-junta local militia forces, according to reliable sources.

Burma Army continues violating child rights

Despite international pressure on the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to stop recruiting and using child soldiers, the SPDC has been continuously violating child rights to recruit or use child soldiers in its army, according to a report from Sino-Burma border.

Villagers living and dying for the army

In order to escape several abuses and forced labor by the Burmese military, villagers in Southern Shan State have been fleeing to the Thai-Burma border, according to SHAN sources from the border.

Junta’s license to gamble destroying people’s lives

Even while people are facing difficulties to struggle for livelihood, the junta authorities in Kachin State have been allowing to open gambling dens resulting in the loss of property with one committing suicide, according to sources from the Sino-Burma border.