By Jinnah
The Mon people were the first ethnic group to arrive in what is present day Burma, and they have settled in some parts of Thailand and in Tenasserim and the Irrawaddy delta in Burma. The group migrated to Burma between 2500 and 1500 BC and has close ties to the Khmer ethnic group.
Political
The Mon people were among the first to begin an armed struggle against the Burmese government, when their peaceful requests and efforts to obtain greater autonomy from the Central government was refused. In addition to greater autonomy, the group, who later formed the Mon People's Front (MPF), also wanted the Rangoon government to establish a separate Mon State. This armed struggle continued until 1958, the Rangoon government extended an invitation to the MPF to exchange their arms for peace and democracy. The insurgent group accepted this invitation. However, when General Ne Win seized power most of the MPF leaders were imprisoned. They had betrayed the arms for peace and democracy agreement.
But not all members of the MPF were happy with the agreement, and in fact another armed insurgent group was established by an MPF member who refused to participate in the exchange. Instead in 1958 Nai Shwe Kyin formed in New Mon State Party (NMSP) aimed at continuing the struggle for the rights of the Mon people through arms.
Ne Win's government, in an effort to quell the armed struggle of the Mon people, created the current Mon State. However the state created by Ne Win, was only a fraction of the original one, which covered nearly all of lower Burma. Despite this "concession" on behalf of the Rangoon government, the NMSP continued their armed struggle until 1994 when a ceasefire agreement was reached with between the two parties.
People and livelihood
Mon State's population is mainly comprised of Mon people however it also includes other ethnic groups such as Karen, Pa-oh and Burman. Most Mon's are Buddhist, and in the past 95 per cent of people's livelihoods would involve agriculture.
Human right abuses
As in any conflict civilians become casualties, and in the armed struggle of the Mon insurgent groups and the Burmese military troops thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, displaced and injured. Human rights abuses have been also committed.
Since the 1994 ceasefire agreement the number of human rights violations have increased in Mon State, as has the number of Burmese troops. The military personnel indiscriminately violate the rights of local people. Civilians are subject to unfounded accusations of being rebel sympathizers, and are punished for such alleged crimes. Murders, rapes, forced labour and land confiscation perpetrated by the military is common.
Since 2000 thousands of acres of Mon farmland has been confiscated from farmers by the Burmese military without compensation. Additionally there is no opportunity to appeal or question the army's decision, nor was there any recourse to pursue legal action against the perpetrators.
IDPs and refugees
The fleeing of the Mon displaced persons and refugees started since 1948 after the Mon leaders rebelled. After an increase in the Burmese Army's persecution of the ethnic minorities in the 1970s many villagers fled to the jungle. The first refugees crossed into Thailand following fighting between the Burmese Army and the NMSP in 1990. In the beginning local Thai authorities allowed the Mon people to stay in refugee camps. Then, with the help of international aid agencies, the Mon refugees were able to establish their own camps near Sangkhlaburi.
The NMSP was undergoing ceasefire talks with the SPDC during the early 1990s. At this time Thailand was making arrangements to repatriate Mon refugees. Camps were moved into Burma, near military compounds, and others were closed and residents forced to resettle in larger camps. In March 1996 all remaining Mon refugees were forcibly repatriated back to Mon State. The Mon National Relief Committee (MNRC) continues to assist the repatriated refugees and have three settlement sites, Halockhani, Bee Ree, and Tavoy.
Less than five per cent of the repatriated refugees returned to their villages. The reasons are the large number of human rights violations still being committed in these areas, and that they have not land or homes to return too.
According to a 2004 Burmese Border Consortium report in 2004 refugees there are approximately 40,000 Mons still hiding or temporary settlement inside Burma.
Sources:
- 'Lesson from the Mon refugee (involuntary) Repatriation' The Mon Forum, http://www.rehmannya.org.
- BBC Annual Report 2003 and Midyear Report 2004.
- 'No Land to Farm'. Human Rights Foundation of Mainland, 2003
- 'The Mon: a people without a country'. Mon Unity League, 1997.
