Voices from the Jungle

Three Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Stories and Experiences

• When Treated like Wild Animals by the Burmese Troops....Karen Women in Terror
• “Then I never saw her again”
• “Why, Lord? Why do you allow this to happen to us? Why, Lord?”

When Treated like Wild Animals by the Burmese Troops....Karen Women in Terror

Name: Naw Hsa
Age: 30 years old
Village: (Origin) Ameh Hta village,
Htee Mu Gay tract, Kaw Ta Ka Area (Tenasserim River Side), Mergui-Tavoy District. (Recently) Hsgeh KIer Hkee IDPs site, in the jungle Htee Mu Gay tract.
Family status: Husband Saw Pe Kot, 33 yrs./ 3 children (one deceased)

My parents were natives of Ameh Hta village in Tenasserim Riverside. I grew up and got married in my village. We made our livelihood on plantation and farming. I never was away from my home village since I was a child and got four children. Now, we are forced to leave our village and forced to live in fear and worries. We have to abandon our native village that we inherited from our forefathers and flee to other country. Long ago before this, we lived quite peacefully in our village and never heard of or saw Burmese Army. They never arrived to our village. We had our own village elder that we chose and we had a school in our village. It was a free area and governed by our Karen elders and leaders. We were poor but we lived with happiness and peace, traveled and worked freely. In a sudden, our lives turned to a nightmare - full of dangers, worries, and we were terrified since the beginning of 1997.

February 1997, I heard the Burmese Army entered Myitta village in the north of Tenasserim River. And we heard that fighting broke out between the Burmese troops and the Karen soldiers. The Karen soldiers could not fight against the Burmese troops and retreated to the south. At the same time, the villagers along Tenasserim River were also forced to abandon their village, homes, and flee to Thailand as the Karen soldiers could no longer defend them. Some villagers did not flee to Thailand; instead, they fled to the jungle up against the stream. Villages from Ameh Hta fled to the border and some fled to Thailand. but 12 families of us were hiding by a stream behind our village. We also ways moved from one place to another and did our paddy plantation secretly throughout the years since the Burmese Army invaded our land in 1997. We have since then been living in fear and with difficulties throughout the years.

In February 2000, the Burmese troops started search to destroy and kill’ operation targeting villagers who were already displaced and hiding in the jungle. They patrolled closer to our hiding site, so we had to move to another place. This time we were going to cross to Thailand, but the Burmese troops were at the Thai border blocking our way and also the Thai army were stationed on the border so we could not cross the border. We had to turn back to Tenasserim River and cross the west of the bank and hide nearby another stream called Hsgeh Kler Hkee. We started preparing paddy plantation for the coming year to survive. We had been hiding in this site for a few months. On the morning of August 11, my husband was gone to paddy field and I reaped paddy in the farm. About mid-day, I returned to my hut and dried some paddy. I was carrying my baby sucking my breast while my other three children were in the huts.

Suddenly, I heard two gunshots. Then I heard a storm of gunfire and also heard the shouting and knew that this was the Burmese Army. They shot at my hut. I ran and picked up my children in the hut through the bullets and saw that my daughter was crying. I did not know she was hurt, I shout at her and she calmed down. I picked her up, carried her on my back with my little baby and another of my child, and I ran from the hut and my elder son ran after me. Several gunfire came to my direction but without hitting me. We ran to the stream and then ran up. I carried my three children, let the elder walk in from of me, and followed up the stream. After a while, we took a rest, I put down my daughter from my back, and then I knew she was wounded, she was thirsty and asked for water but I did not give her. I heard people said not to give water to a person wounded by gun. I thought that my daughter would be alive. Then I heard the burning, and I knew that the Burmese troops burnt down my hut.

I sat and listened for a while, and I was aware that I had to look for my husband and other people. I carried my children and followed down the stream. About in the evening, I still did not find anybody. My children were hungry. They asked from food and water, but I could not feed them. I walked and tried to find other people for the whole evening. At about 5 o’ clock in the evening, my daughter who was wounded that I carried on my back was still hanging on my back. When I put her down, I found that she was not alive. I laid her down beside the stream on the sand. I left her there.

I picked up my two younger children, let the elder one walk, and we started walking again. My children were crying, for they were hungry and exhausted and asked me to rest and sleep in the forest. But fearing that it would be dark soon without find any body, I did not rest. I kept walking and when it got dark, I finally found a group of villagers. They got some food. I got some rice from them and fed my children. I could not take any rice with me, because I was in hurried and also worrying. That night we slept with those villagers. I could not sleep for the whole night as I worried from my husband, and I was very sad for my daughter. Next morning, I decided to look for my husband. But, the Burmese troops arrived to our place found us again and we had to move further. After we moved and at about mid day I found my husband with a few other villages.

The Burmese troops discovered us in a sudden and attacked us so we could not carry any of our belongings including food. My family got only clothes that we were wearing. We only got some food when we met with other villagers who managed to take along their little food and shared with us. I did not know where we would get food from for the coming time. We do not know yet. Now our friends here share their little food with us, so we survive. Our lives are like wild animals for the Burmese troops. They hunt our place and shoot us. They killed my daughter Naw Say Lay. She was innocent and had nothing against them. Even though I do not want to revenge, I could not forget the whole thing that happened to my life. I do not want to experience this in my life again. I miss my daughter and I always remember that I had to leave her body with out a chance to bury her. My mother and mother’s mother faced the same fate like me. Many people from other places in this country also may face hardships. I only hope that other mothers do not experience and face the kind I have.

“Then I never saw her again”

Name: Naw Paw Aye
Parents: Saw Tha Da (Shot dead by Burma Army)
Age: 8 years old
Village: Hse Mei (now deserted)
Recent Residence: An IDP hiding, Kaw Ta Ka Area, Mergui-Tavoy District.

This happened in Ka Pier Hta. It is not a village; it is a place where my parents prepared a new plantation to grow rice. Before we fled to Ka Pier Hta, I was from the Hse Mei village, which is on the bank of the Tenasserim River. In 1997, the Burmese army came to our village and all the villagers fled. Some fled to Thailand and others are hiding in the tips of the streams behind our village. At first, we hid by a stream near our village in the Tenasserim riverside. Later my father told us that more Burmese soldiers were patrolling near the riverside and he feared that they would find us and capture us so he took us to Mel Pya Po at the border.

We had never seen the Burmese soldiers before, so we were very afraid. People had told us that whenever Burmese soldiers see any people they always beat them, so my parents and I were very scared. All the people living in Mel Pya Po were strangers because all of these people came from other villages to seek refuge from the Burmese Army. When we arrived in Mel Pya Po, our leaders arranged food for us.

Mel Pya Po is located in a valley of a stream, and has no flatland. Some people plant crops on the slopes of the mountain. My parents prepared a paddy field in Ka Pier Hta with more than ten other families. We had to walk two hours from Mai Pya Po to get to the field. My father could walk without a problem, but it was a long walk for me.

One Sunday, when we finished worshiping at the midday service, I was with my parents in our house cooking dinner. My little sister was playing beside my mother. We heard gunshots and people screaming, “Pa Yaw! Pa Yaw! (Burman! Burman!) I saw villagers fleeing. Suddenly, I saw many Burmese soldiers running down the road beside people’s houses and shooting their guns. My father jumped up and ran away and my mother followed him carrying my little sister. I ran out of the house only a short distance and hid under a big tee. I looked for my parents but I did not see them. I saw Burmese soldiers running around and shooting their guns. There were many various sounds of gunfire, some sounded like avalanches from the mountains. After a long while, I heard my mother crying out. I saw one of the Burmese soldiers dragging her. In her hands, she was holding my little sister. I did not dare go and help my mother even though I saw her. I was stayed hidden under that big tree. I saw my father go try to help my mother. The soldier shot him, and he fell down. I heard my mother cry out about two more times and then I never saw her again.

The shootings continued for a while and then everything became calm. Then I saw some Burmese soldiers driving a herd of buffalo. After this, I did not see any other people. I did not dare to get out from under the tree. I did not know where the other villagers had gone. I hid under that big tree until later in the evening. Although I was hungry, I did not dare to venture out. I stayed there until dark and went to where my father lay and stayed beside him. I did know that he was dead and I was afraid to go anywhere else. The night came and I laid my head on my father’s arm and slept next to him all night. The whole night I did not hear anything, except a dog that sniffed at us, so I drove it away.

The next morning my father’s chest was very could and smelled a little foul. I still stayed with him until the sun came out and then I went back to a big tree where I hid the day before. I did not know where to go because my father had died, my mother was dragged away by the Burmese soldiers, and I did not know where she had gone. I stayed under that big tree all day and became very hungry and thirsty. I hid under the tree and sometimes looked over at my father’s corpse. When the evening came I heard people speaking in Karen and saw a group of four or five people inspecting my father’s corpse. They spoke to each other for a while and they were, and they buried my father. I did not know whom they were, and because they also had guns I dared not go up to them. They searched around the area and later one of them saw me. By this time I knew that they were Karen soldiers. They told me to come out from under the tree and they gave me some nce. They asked me a bout what had happened and I told them what I had seen. Later they took me to Mai Pya Po.

My father was killed by Burmese soldiers and my mother and my little sister never returned after they were dragged away by the Burmese soldiers. Now I live with my aunt. My aunt lives in Mel Pya Pa Doh and there is no school for me to attend there. Before, I was in K.G.A class and now I am longing for my schooling.

This is the true story of a little girl named Naw Paw Aye who is only 8 years old. At a very young age, this child has experienced incredible brutality. This happened when a column of the Burmese Arm/s Infantry Battalion 379 came to her village’s hiding site called Ka Pier Hta in Mergui-Tavoy district on 7.3.99. These troops killed Naw Paw Aye’~s father, her grandmother, and three other male villagers. Naw Paw Aye~s mother and her little sister were kidnapped by the army and never returned. As usual, people believe they were killed.

The civil war in Burma has been raging for nearly a half of a century. As a result, many children have had experiences similar to those described above by Naw Paw Aye. This situation will only worsen is nothing is done.

“Why, Lord? Why do you allow this to happen to us? Why, Lord?”

Name: Naw Mu Pe
Age: 19 years
Number of siblings: Four sisters
Father’s Name: Saw Maung Thet
Mother’s Name: Naw Yor Koot
Husband’s Name: Saw Hsar Kwa, 29 years old.
Previous Village: Kyaut Pyu Kee, Pa Law Area Ler Mu Lah Township, Mergui- Tvoy district.
Present village: Tee Po Lay Tae (IDPs hiding site) Ler Mu Lah township, Mergui-Tavoy district

When I was a child my parents lived in Kyaut Pyu Kee, a small village in the area. Our village was far from the main village. When I was old enough, my parents sent me to school and I studied up till third grade. My parents earned their living by hillside rice cultivation using the slash and burn method. They went and lived in the rice fields and returned to the village to live with us when they finished their work. In our village we also had a betel plant garden where we lived.

When I was thirteen my farther died of disease. As we only had women in our family, my elder sister and I left school and worked with my mother in rice cultivation. Every year we cultivated enough rice for our family.

In 1996, at the time we were clearing a site for rice cultivation, the Burmese Army ordered everyone to move out from our village. They did not say where the villagers had to move to or live. They only ordered us to move out from the village and live elsewhere. Some villagers moved to other villages and others fled into the jungle or up the river near to our village. Some people, they did not know where to move to and continued to stay in our village.

For our family, we did not know where to move to. If we went to the main village we would not have any food and if we fled into the jungle we also would not have any food. So, as with some other villagers we remained in our village. After one month the Burmese soldiers arrived at our village and burned down thirty houses including ours. After that we fled to the tip of a stream in our area with other villagers and lived there. In that hiding site we earned our living with rice cultivation by slash and burn method: As there were only women in our family, we did not have any man to take care of our security. Whenever we had to go and find fish paste and salt in the village my elder sister and I fearfully went with other people. Sometimes only three of us, my mother, sister and I went to get food.

In 1999,when I was seventeen I married a villager, who was also an internally displaced person. After a year we had a daughter. We lived with my mother and we moved from place to place and lived in the jungle in constant fear. It was more difficult to get food from the village because of the Burmese troops’ frequent patrols. For four years we moved and lived with many difficulties.

One day, in November 2000, my husband went hunting at 4 p.m., while our families were preparing dinner. During this time we heard gunfire near our house. Many bullets hit our house and landed close to us. We realized that the Burmese troops were firing at us and we ran out from our house. Just after leaving the house I remembered that my daughter was sleeping in the hammock inside and I rushed back to the house and took my daughter. When I came down from the house I saw my younger sister lying dead under the ladder, she had been shot in the head. The Burmese troops were continuing to fire their guns and some bullets landed close to me so I had to keep running and could not care for my sister. After running for a while I heard my daughter moaning and when I looked at her I saw that her leg was bleeding. I realized that my daughter’s leg was hit but as the bullets were still coming very close to me, I had to keep on running. When I had been running for a while, I was shot in my shoulder. After some distance I could still hear the gunshots but as none of the bullets were landing close to me, I stopped to rest. After a while my mother arrived and when she saw my daughter was shot, she took off her sarong and tied it round my daughter’s wound. After this, as we feared that the Burmese troops would capture us, I took out my sarong and used it to carry my child. My mother and I continued running without any clothes on the lower part of our body.

We were running for the whole night in the jungle. Near dawn, we reached a group of our villagers’ hiding place and they shared with us some clothes and food. But I could not take any food because I had seen my sister dying from gunshot wound to her head, my daughter was shot and bleeding and I myself was also shot and bleeding. My whole body was covered in blood and I could not eat. I was worried that the Burmese troops would find us and I was very sad about the death of my younger sister, sorry for my daughter and also worried for my husband. All of our family were crying the whole night. I did not see my husband that night. I did not know when he would arrive.

The next day he was looking for us and we met him. When we fled from the Burmese troops gunfire, we could not carry anything. Our entire household’s property, paddies and rice were taken by Burmese soldiers who burned our house to the ground. Nothing left with us, except the clothes on our body. Other displaced people shared with us and fed us with what they had left. Later we move to another place and we met with Karen resistance fighters who looked after us and treated our gunshot wound.

One moth later my wound was healed. My daughter’s wound did not heal well and she could not walk. When my daughter was shot she was only ten months old.

I remember clearly in my mind what happened to me that time and the fear and sadness are always in my heart. At present we have to live in hiding at the tip of a stream, deep in the jungle, in fear and with many difficulties. We are trying hard to get enough food for our families but we never have enough. We do not know what will happen to us and what we have to face in the future. In my life I never made anybody hurt or sad, so I do not understand why I have to face this kind of trouble. Sometimes these problems cause me to ask God, “Why, Lord? Why do you allow this to happen to us? Why, Lord?”

 

Please also read the Voice from the Forced Relocation Site, three stories from Internally Displaced People.