The Burmese junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is using hundreds of prisoners as porters to carry supplies and artillery to the frontline for their military operation against on the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), an armed opposition group, near Ngar Mu close to the Mae Hong Son on the Thai-Burma border.
Since January, the Burmese troops under Light Infantry Battalion 55 (LIB 55) took hundreds of prisoners to use as porters in eastern Karenni State. Most of the porters are prisoners from well-known prisons; Mandalay, Insein, Myin Chan and Lashio. It is believed that by taking prisoners from areas far away from where the offensive is taking place, the porters will be less likely to escape, because they do not know the language or the area. The prisoners that are used as porters include murders, bandits, drug users and others, anyone who cannot bribe their way out.
A group of five prison porters assigned to the LIB 55 serving in the frontline ran away from the military camp that they were assigned to and fled to the Thai-Burma border. One porter who deserted the Burmese army base in February said that he was a prisoner from Mandalay Prison and taken from the prison to be the porter in January. He said that there are total of 250 prisoners taken from Mandalay Prison. Some of the 250 were sent to the battalions under Burmese army LIB 55 and others were sent to troops in other part of Burma.
The porter said that when the prison official calls for porters, the prisoners who could pay a bribe to the officials were excused from being a porter. “I couldn’t pay the money, so they removed me and sent me to be porter in the frontline” he said.
...One of my porter friends was shot dead by a soldier because he was weak and couldn't walk after a long trip"
He continued that after he and other prisoners were taken from the Mandalay Prison, they were moved to a prison in Loikaw, Karenni State, and then to Shadaw, also in Karenni State. After that, they crossed the Salween River and arrived in a Burmese army camp on the other side of the river. The unhealthy prisoners were left in the camp and other prison porters had to go with the troops to another army camps which is near the KNPP’s base, Ngar Mu.
Along the trip, the prison porters are used to carry food supplies, ammunition, shells and equipment for the army. The loads that they had to carry were very heavy. Sometimes, they have to carry soldiers injured by landmines or battle. The land in Karenni area is mountainous, steep and also dangerous and there are very few roads, and none are sealed. The prison porters were forced to carry their loads along jungle tracks. When they arrive in army camp, after walking all day and carrying heavy loads, the prison porters are forced to perform other tasks for the soldiers including digging trenches or bunkers, building fences and carrying water from faraway sources. Porters are also forced to act as human mine detectors for the Burmese army.
Another prisoner who was taken from Mandalay prison, who was serving a seven year sentence for murder, said that “the porters were made to walk all day and night and the things that we carry are unfairly heavy. The way is very mountainous and rocky, and some of us don’t have shoes. If we stop walking, the troops kick us and hit us with their gun. One of my porter friends was shot dead by a troop because he was so weak and couldn’t walk after a long trip.”
Many porters risk their lives and run away from the army camp because they can’t endure the ruthless condition under the military troops as they have no rights, and are pretty much worked to death. One of the five prison porters that fled the army camp said that he decided to run away from the army camp because the Burmese troops treat them badly, and he could not endure it anymore. “We, porters, were beaten often, hit and punished by the commanding officers through we did nothing wrong. I saw one of my porter friends was shot, dead, in front of me.” He said the group of five managed to escape from the army camp during the day when they went to fetch water for the troops. He added “many porters are waiting for the chance to escape but if the troops discover them, the (the porters will be shot”.
A deserted porter who reached the Thai-Burma border said that he wants to join with KNPP’s army to fight back the Burmese government. “After my experience as a porter and when I learnt about the situation of the people in the refugee camp, I felt real hatred towards the Burmese army and how they oppress the people, so I wanted to join with the KNPP soldiers and fight back.”
Prison Porters
Due to the mountainous terrain
of Karenni State, it is difficult to trans port materials
and supplies to the frontline and Burmese army bases
deep in Karenni State. As there are few roads and animals
cannot effectively travel over the terrain, human labour
is needed to move the loads in the region. The SPDC
forces both civilians and prisoners to work as porters.
Villagers are often used as ‘porters
of opportunity’, which means they are usually picked
up arbitrarily if they cross paths with soldiers and
forced to carry out whatever labour is necessary at
that time and place. This includes guiding soldiers
to the next village. ‘Porters of Opportunity’ are kept
for both long and short term use. In the past there
have been reports of porters being paid, however, there
have been no accounts of this happening recently.
As explained in the above article
prisoners also serve as porters. They are randomly taken
from jails and used as porters until they die or escape.
Following criticism from the International Labor Organization
and labour rights groups, the junta has dramatically
increased its use of ‘prison porters’ over the past
few years because their legal rights are less clear
than other types of porters. The junta believes that
labour and rights activists are less likely to defend
the human rights of prisoners than civilians. Additionally,
the military needs a large labour force that can be
replenished easily. Villagers are an unpredictable labour
force, because they can glee into the jungle and avoid
being forced by the Burmese army to porter for them.
However, jails have a constant supply of prisoners who
can be taken and made to carry out portering duties.
To go to the other articles published in the April 2007 BI Newsletter click on the links below:
...One of my porter friends was shot dead by a soldier because he was weak and couldn't walk after a long trip"
