One bullet went through and broke Mya Lay’s right ankle, another hit her hip. Her husband was hit in the back, her seven year old daughter was shot dead. Mya Lay and the rest of her family escaped. The Burmese soldiers took their property, chickens and pigs. Then, the soldiers burned down their house.

Mya Lay is 30 years old, an ethnic Burman. She was born in Ta Nyat village in Tenasserim Township, Mergui-Tavoy District or Tenasserim Division in southern Burma. She finished primary school grade three. She got married when she was 18 years old and has five children, this period was the best time in her life. Her family is an ordinary one. Her husband is a farmer.

On June 14, 2005, everything changed. The State Peace and Development Council’s (SPDC) Light Infantry Battalion 407 attacked an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) hideout where Mya Lay and a few other IDPs were hiding. Two IDPs, including Mya Lay’s daughter, were shot dead by the troops.

For Mya Lay, this was the worst time in her life. For her everything changed that morning. Now, Mya Lay is left with only her left leg because her broken ankle had to be cut off. She said, “after my right leg was cut off, I feel that my life is like a person without life. I don’t dare to think about my life at all.”

After the attack, soldiers, from the Karen ethnic insurgent armed group -the Karen National Union (KNU)- went to look for wounded people. They carried Mya Lay and two others to a Karen jungle clinic. Mya Lay said, “After I was shot, I suffered from a very bad headache for one day and night.”

It took them three days to walk in the jungle from the attack area to the clinic. They walked through the rain. On the way, all of the patients and soldiers were starving because they did not have enough food.

The story of Mya Lay who with her family fled her village and became displaced in the jungle is common. The largest number of IDP’s are found among the Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan ethnic groups in eastern Burma. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) estimates that there are at least 526,000 IDPs in this area. Essentially many have become “refugees” inside Burma’s borders. They try to survive in the forest with little food and in constant fear. They face a chronic lack of access to healthcare, basic education and security. Their experiences have been of widespread human rights abuses by the Burmese Army, including forced relocation, extrajudicial killing, rape, arbitrary arrest, the use of civilians as human mine sweepers and forced labour.

These practices by the Burmese army on ethnic groups are summed up in one word “genocide” by Guy Horton, a human rights researcher on ethnic groups in eastern Burma, in his 600- page report, Dying Alive, which took five years to research.

Recently, attacks by Burmese troops have been ongoing. May Lay and her family, of course are only recent victims. When Mya Lay arrived at the Karen clinic on the border, there were inadequate medicines and surgical facilities, her ankle required intensive treatment.

Why did you shoot me and hurt my life like this?

Therefore, the Karen leaders there sent her to a hospital in Thailand. She said, “I do not know everyone who helped me. I thank Karen soldiers for helping and taking care of me and saving my life.”

After Mya Lay left for the hospital, she lost communication with her family. She said, “we have not heard news from each other. My husband doesn’t know how I am. I don’t know how he is either. I miss and am worried for my family. I have been thinking of my younger children who have to be far away from me which makes me sad.” Her husband is currently in another jungle clinic receiving treatment.

Mya Lay left hospital in Thailand in early August. However, because her surgical wound has not healed well enough yet, she is currently being put up in KNU’s health center on the border.

Mya Lay said that because of her handicap, the livelihood of her family may change. She said, “if I cannot use my right leg anymore, it will make my family worry. My life in the past and now are very different. In the past all of my hands and legs were perfect, but my right leg was destroyed, so I am not happy.”

However, she said, “the peace, happiness and love in my family will not be changed.” When she will be well healed and allowed

She said, “I planned to live with my family in peace and happiness as before. I will help my family as I can.”

“In my life, I still want peace, health and happiness. I don’t want to see this horrific life again.”

She added, “I can never forgive SPDC soldiers. I want to tell them that I am just an ordinary person doing ordinary things to survive. I don’t hold any weapon to fight you. Why did you shoot me and hurt my life like this?”

To go to the other articles published in the August 2005 BI Newsletter click on the links below:

People's Stories
People's Faith: A Tool of War