Damming at gunpoint(English Version)
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42<br />
DAMMING AT GUNPOINT<br />
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)<br />
Most villagers do not want to go to reloc<strong>at</strong>ion sites and do not want to escape<br />
to Thailand to face an uncertain future as refugees. They live in IDP hideouts,<br />
sometimes not very far from their villages so th<strong>at</strong> they are able to sneak<br />
back to their villages if the security situ<strong>at</strong>ion permits. These people are subsistence<br />
farmers who earn their livelihood by cultiv<strong>at</strong>ing rice whenever it is<br />
safe for them. They must live in perpetual fear of violent de<strong>at</strong>h if the SPDC<br />
discovers them. They cannot stay in big groups due to lack of food supplies<br />
and also for security reasons.<br />
“When we escaped, we killed all the cocks and dogs since we were afraid th<strong>at</strong><br />
they would make a noise.”<br />
Interview with an IDP in Pa Hai Village Tract, September 2003<br />
According to the figures of the local KNU District Administr<strong>at</strong>ion, there<br />
are currently about 35,000 16 IDPs in Papun District, out of the total estim<strong>at</strong>ed<br />
popul<strong>at</strong>ion of around 54,000, who live in 392 villages or settlements. 17<br />
Summary executions<br />
When troops come across IDPs, they shoot <strong>at</strong> them on sight and destroy the<br />
villagers’ dwellings, property, and food supplies. As described by an IDP<br />
villager in Luthaw Township of Papun District said:<br />
“One or two years ago the enemy 18 (Burmese army) came into our village.<br />
While they were in our village, they <strong>at</strong>e our fowl, killed livestock and destroyed<br />
rice, and more than th<strong>at</strong>, they injured two people (who they found there).”<br />
Villager from Hee Poe Der Village, Luthaw Township, September 2003<br />
In Luthaw Township of Papun District, where almost all of the villagers<br />
are in hiding from Burmese troops, many villagers have been killed and<br />
wounded by the SPDC troops. Between 1997 and 2003, local records show<br />
16<br />
Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) figure presented <strong>at</strong> “Symposium<br />
on the Salween Dams” June 27, 2003.<br />
17<br />
Estim<strong>at</strong>ed figure for 2003 provided by KNU’s Papun District Administr<strong>at</strong>ion.<br />
18<br />
In the northern KNU area, villagers refer to Burmese troops as their enemy and KNU<br />
authorities as their leaders; KNU soldiers are called “Karen soldiers”.
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