From Grassroots To Global: Voices of Burma on Earth Rights Abuses All photos, including cover images, by the authors, unless otherwise stated. Foreword Since 1948 when the Burmese military annexed all the indigenous territories by force, until now, many ethnic people in Burma suffer torture, forced relocation and displacement, and arbitrary execution, and many women are raped by Burmese soldiers during military operations. Even though people in Burma have suffered these human rights violations by the military regime, called the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), they do not know about human rights, environment, and rule of law. I am a member of the Karenni ethnic group. In 1988, due to oppressive and restrictive rule by the military regime, a democracy uprising occurred in Burma. At that time, I had graduated from high school and was involved in the democracy movement as a leader in my region. As a result of this, and the brutal military response to the movement, I was forced to flee. Though I have been separated from my family and country for over twenty years, I am still part of the struggle for democracy in Burma. In 1999 I had an opportunity to attend the EarthRights School of Burma (ERSB), and I gained a lot of knowledge and skills regarding human rights, environment, and non-violent social change. Then I returned to work with my mother organization, Karenni News Agency for Human Rights. I was able to work more effectively and achieve more than before. By then, I knew well what democracy and human rights meant, and could truly say that there is a lack of democracy, human rights, and rule of law in Burma. For most people of Burma, there are limited opportunities for education and training. Both inside Burma and in refugee camps in Thailand, people have had no opportunity to learn about the environment, law, or human rights, and how to protect their rights and lands. I strongly believe that a community needs an awareness of human rights, the environment, and the rule of law in order to promote their living standards. I want to be a person who has a sense of responsibility for the people who need radiant light to get peaceful and comfortable lives. So I am willing to dedicate my time and life to our people who have been suffering human rights violations in Burma. In early 2002, together with other three Karenni ERSB alumni, I set up the Social Development Center (SDC) in order to educate our people. The SDC is located in a refugee camp and focuses on Human Rights, Environment and Law training. ERSB has already produced well over one hundred human rights and environment activists from 1999 to 2009. Many alumni have returned to and are involved in their community-based organizations, such as human rights and environment organizations. Some have taken up more risky work inside Burma to gather information related to earth rights abuses. We can see that the ERSB project is successful because many alumni have taken up responsibilities inside and on the Thai-Burma border areas to carry out the implementation of fair and balanced justice processes. The activists we have produced from these schools have been not only important for the ethnic communities, but I strongly believe that they will become leaders of change for the future democratic country of Burma. Aung Sun Myint Steven Co-Founder, Social Development Center Table of Contents Foreword Contents Introduction 5 Map of Burma & Research Areas 7 1. Land Confiscation 8 1.1 The Social Impact on Kayan People in Naypyidaw Division as a Result of the New Government-Established Capital 2007-08 by Lucia Lu Lu 9 1.2 Land Confiscation and Oil Drilling in Arakan State by Khaing Zaw Zaw 22 1.3 Confiscation of Farmland for Industry in Karenni State by Ko Ko 34 1.4 The Effects of Land Confiscation for Railway Construction on Villagers in Taninthayi Division by Nyi Thit 42 1.5 Local People Want Their Lands Back From the SPDC and Mining Company in Northern Shan State by Sai Zom Hseng 50 2. Economic Development 60 2.1 Logging and Deforestation on the China-Burma Border by Ah Pao 61 2.2 Negative Impacts of Winphanon Dam on Local People in Mudon Township, Mon State by Mi Chan Chan 74 2.3 The Impacts of Blocking the Thabet Stream for Mining Projects on the Livelihoods of Farmers in Sesai Township, Southern Shan State by Nang Chu Hao 86 2.4 Forced Labour by the SPDC and its Negative Impacts on Lahu People in Eastern Shan State by Kya Da 98 2.5 The Impacts of Kadaik Dam and Summer Rice Project on Livelihoods of the Kadaik Community in Paung Township, Mon State by Mi Mon 110 2.6 The Impact of Mining and Blocked Waterways by the SPDC and Tyzarhpromexport on Local People, Hsihseng Township, Southern Shan State by Nang Rak Kham 124 3. Human Development 134 3.1 Higher and Post-Ten Education in Karenni Refugee Camp 1 by Paul 135 3.2 The Education of Shan Migrant Children and Youth in Chiang Mai, Thailand by Jan Tip 148 3.3 The Effect of the Political Situations on the Social and Economic Lives of Karen People in Burma and Thailand by Kwar Poe 161 3.4 Food Insecurity Due to the SPDC Military Operation in Lu Thaw Township, Mudraw District, Northern Karen State by Saw Eh Kalu Moo 174 3.5 Trafficking of Palaung Women in Muse and Numkham Township, Northern Shan State by Pe Ya Dar 187 3.6 Impacts of Drug Addiction on Kachin Youth in Namkham Township, Northern Shan State by M. Lung Tsit Pan 199 Endnotes 210 Introduction This collection of research reports by the students of the Earth Rights School of Burma (ERSB) Class of 2009 documents the findings of their fieldwork research undertaken in and near Burma in the spring of that year. The researches focus on earth rights abuses: actions taken by individuals, corporations, and governments which have impact nega- tively, directly and indirectly, on the human rights of individuals and communities and on their environments. ERSB was founded by the NGO EarthRights International in 1998, to provide young community leaders from in and around Burma with skills and experience, to help them become strong human rights and environmental activists in and for their communities. The Class of 2009 contains seventeen students, nine women and eight men, from eleven minority ethnic groups of Burma. These reports are the first which they have ever compiled, but are unlikely to be their last. While the issues raised in these pieces of research vary and include forced labour; land confiscation; drugs; and the imposition of dams, mines, monoculture, and other such development on rural agrarian communities which are given no warning, choice, voice, or compensation in the process they all have several things in common. They also hold these things in common with all of the research undertaken by students in the previous eight sessions of ERSB. All of these findings show that the military regime governing Burma respects neither human rights nor the environment at all, and that it is willing to sell the well-being of Burmas treasures and peoples to the highest bidder for short-term profits. Some issues also show the challenges that are placed on neighbouring countries such as Thailand, within which migrants and refugees from Burma face further instability, poverty, dis- crimination, and lack of access to jobs and services. Despite all this, a great many of the people of Burma, whether still living inside or having fled in search of a better and safer life, are tenacious and brave. The people interviewed by these ERSB students face serious challenges to their livelihoods, cultures, family stability, rights, environments, health, and even to their lives, but they continue to find a way to live within these circumstances in the best way they can, and even retain a passion for and humour about life. They are willing to risk their safety to contribute to these researches in order that you might hear their voices and know that they exist, and persist. This is no less true of the ERSB students themselves, who risk their personal security both to attend the School and to collect these stories; which they raise to you from the grassroots to the global level, in the hopes that you will not only hear, but also listen. 5 The students could not have carried out this research, nor the Schools staff been able to adequately support them in the task, without the invaluable time and help of fantastic volunteers who offered advice and editing; of other EarthRights International staff who acted as advisors; of guest teachers and trainers who freely shared their knowledge throughout the School year; and of the Schools alumni, who never fail to give a hand to those following in their footsteps. This collection, and the School itself, could not exist without the faith and generosity of its funders. All those thanked cannot be named specifically, in order to protect them and their work. Each year it is hoped that the military regime governing Burma will change, and each year hopes are dashed. Each year more land in Burma is taken and ruined, while more businesses and governments from other countries choose to overlook the suffering of Burma and its people in favour of their own narrow interests, such as energy security or shareholder loyalty. With each new year in Burma, more heroes fall or are jailed, while villains feather their nests.