20.decemb - Shelling and Fears of Portering Prolong Displacement, Disrupt The Harvest in Palu Village

Karen Human Rights Group | Displacement Monitoring: Regular updates …tection concerns for villagers in Dooplaya District and
Tak Province 20.12.10 16:01
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Reports » Information Update December 20th, 2010
Displacement Monitoring: Regular updates on protection concerns for

villagers in Dooplaya District and Tak Province
Civilians in Dooplaya District continue to be impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed Karen groups, who
have increased fighting since November 7th 2010. The situation remains highly unstable and civilians report a variety of
human rights and security concerns related to ongoing conflict and conflict-related abuse. In order to provide as current
information as possible on the fighting and related protection concerns, KHRG will post to this page immediate situation
updates that are not posted in the regular news bulletin, field report, map and photo gallery sections of the KHRG
website. All new updates and reports regarding the situation for civilians in Dooplaya will also be accessible through the
new 'Displacement Monitoring' section of the KHRG website.
Update No.33: December 20th 2010 - 5:30 pm

Shelling and fears of portering prolong displacement, disrupt the harvest in Palu village
On December 19th 2010 at around 7:00 am, there was more shelling near a Tatmadaw camp located between Palu Pa
Doh (Big Palu) and Min Let Bpaing villages in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, according to a local source that
spoke with a KHRG researcher. The source told KHRG that DKBA forces shelled the Tatmadaw camp between 7:00 am
and 9:00 am. Some villagers from Palu Pa Doh and Min Let Bpaing village fled across the Moei River when the shelling
began, seeking protection in Thailand's Phop Phra District.
When shelling stopped at around 9:00 am, some of the villagers who fled to Thailand waited for information about the
situation near their villages, and whether further fighting would occur, before returning; some residents began to return
at around 11:00 am. Farmers throughout eastern Dooplaya are currently hurrying to finish harvesting bean, corn and
paddy crops, the main agricultural products cultivated in the area. However, according to the local source, villagers who
went back during the day on December 19th had to seek protection Thailand again at around 5:30 pm, because DKBA
soldiers warned some villages that they planned to attack the Tatmadaw soldiers again during the night on December
19th.
Saw T---, a resident of Palu Pah Doh village, told KHRG that prolonged protection threats to, and frequent displacement
of civilians is disrupting the busy harvest season, contributing to a scarcity of labour, and ultimately undermining
livelihoods in area around Palu village.
"Many villagers didn't dare to return and finish harvesting in their corn and bean plantations and their
fields. Even if we'd like to hire villagers for 200 [baht] a day, nobody wants to [work in the plantations
and fields] because they're afraid that the fighting will happen or that the SPDC [Tatmadaw] will
arrest them and use them to porter [military supplies and equipment]. Some villagers, if they agree to
work in your plantation, you have to give them the money first and if you don't give the money first,
they don't want to accept that you're going to hire them to work in your plantation. If we give the
money [in advance], sometimes the shelling happens or the SPDC [Tatmadaw] is active and they flee
and take your money with them. So it's a big problem for our livelihoods."
- Saw T---, (Male, 48) Palu Pa Doh village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District (December 19th
2010)
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Karen Human Rights Group | Displacement Monitoring: Regular updates …tection concerns for villagers in Dooplaya District and Tak Province 20.12.10 16:01

Night time shelling and displacement in Maw Poe Gkloh village
On December 19th 2010 at around 12:00 pm, a KHRG researcher received a report from a local source in Maw Poe
Gkloh village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District that there had been shelling at a nearby Tatmadaw camp on
December 18th 2010. The source reported that the shelling began at 11:00 pm and lasted for approximately one hour.
The Tatmadaw camp that was shelled is located between the villages of Maw Poe Gkloh and Maw Kee villages,
approximately 30 minutes on foot from both villages and half a day on foot from Waw Lay village. When the shelling
started, some residents of both Maw Poe Gkloh and Maw Kee were afraid and fled their homes, away from the shelling,
seeking protection in forested areas outside the villages. According to the source, the villagers are unsure which armed
group was responsible for the shelling, but they believe it was likely the KNLA or the DKBA, because that part of
Kawkareik Township remains mostly under KNLA and DKBA control.

Shelling in Palu continues to displace villagers
On December 18th 2010 at approximately 7.45 am, a KHRG researcher reported that most villagers had returned to
Palu village, Kawkareik Township by 11:30 am on December 17th after fleeing shelling at around 11:30 pm on December
16th. The researcher reported, however, that many villagers fled Palu again at around 5:30 pm on December 17th when
DKBA soldiers entered the village and set up camp on the football pitch. A local source told KHRG that the villagers were
afraid that there would be more fighting and shelling between the DKBA soldiers and the Tatmadaw soldiers, so they fled
across the Moei River to seek protection in Thailand's Phop Phra District. The source added that the villagers who fled to
Thailand listened for sounds of fighting or shelling in Palu during the night of December 17th, but heard nothing, and
many residents had therefore returned to Palu by around 7:45 am on December 18th.
"Yesterday, we saw the DKBA soldiers enter the village and some of the villagers started to flee to
Thailand, because they were afraid that there would be fighting. More and more people followed each
other. I too didn't dare to stay in the village so I followed the others. At that time, my husband [had
already gone] to the Thailand side [of the Moei River] and I couldn't communicate with him. It was
difficult for me to manage [and know] what kind of things in my house I should take. So, I started
fleeing alone without carrying anything. During the night, my husband tried to search for me [in
Thailand] and, at around 7 pm, he found me with another friend in our friend's house. We didn't dare
to go back in the night time but, because there was no shelling, we came back to our village this
morning."
- Naw H---, (Female, 52), Palu village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District (December 18th 2010)

Updated map of affected areas of Dooplaya District
KHRG's field team has completed an updated map of Dooplaya District, with special attention to areas of eastern
Dooplaya along the Thailand – Burma border that have been impacted by conflict between the Tatmadaw and armed
Karen groups since November 7th. The map is available in the Map Room of the KHRG website and through the link
provided below.
Go to the KHRG Map Room
Go to the updated map of Dooplaya District

Forced portering in Min Let Bpaing village
On December 17th 2010 at approximately 9 am, a KHRG researcher reported that 40 residents of Min Let Bpaing village,
Kawkareik Township, had been seized by Tatmadaw soldiers on December 16th and forced to porter Tatmadaw rations
to Sweh Daw Gone artillery camp. Sweh Daw Gone is located near the Tatmadaw base at Ta Gkaw Gkyo, approximately

two to four hours on foot from Min Let Bpaing village. Local sources report that there are between 70 and 100 Tatmadaw
troops based at Sweh Daw Gone camp, along with at least three heavy artillery guns.

Shelling in Palu displaces villagers, disrupts agriculture
On December 16th 2010 at around 11:30 pm renewed shelling was reported in Palu village, Kawkareik Township,
Dooplaya District. According to a KHRG researcher in the area, the DKBA shelled positions held by Tatmadaw soldiers
based in Palu village between 11:30 pm on December 16th and 1:00 am on December 17th and that more than 20
shells landed in or around Palu. Most villagers fled the village when the shelling began, with some fleeing across the
Moei River to Thailand and some staying outside of the village on the Burma side of the river. Local sources told the
KHRG researcher that the village was still empty at about 8:30 am on the morning of December 17th but that most of
the villagers who fled Palu for the night had returned to their homes by 11:30 am.
"In the last two days, many villagers came back into the village because the fighting stopped for a few
days. But then last night the shelling happened again and, this morning, there were no villagers
walking on the road in the village. The villagers had to leave their bean plantations and fields. Even if
we'd like to hire people to work in our bean plantations and fields, nobody wants to [work in the
fields], because the situation isn't stable."
- Saw L---, (Male, 38), Palu village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District (December 17th 2010)

Providing education amidst conflict and displacement in Thay Baw Boh
The school in Thay Baw Boh village, Kawkareik Township, has been closed since 9 am on December 13th. Since the
closure, villagers and schoolteachers in the Thay Baw Boh area have made arrangements for their children to attend
classes at other schools in the community because the military situation remains too unstable to reopen the school in
Thay Baw Boh village. On December 14th 2010 a KHRG researcher spoke with Saw E---, a resident of Thay Baw Boh
village, about how families with children in Thay Baw Boh are responding to the continued school closure. Below is a
transcript of KHRG's entire interview with Saw E---.
Interview | Saw E---, (male) Thay Baw Boh village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District (December 14th 2010)
We heard that villagers from Thay Baw Boh were fleeing from their village – could you tell us why they had
to flee from their village?
Because this is the case: The DKBA got news that the Burmese Army [Tatmadaw] planned more [military] action, so
they [the DKBA] planned to move to positions close beside the village. The DKBA army worried that, if the Burmese
Army came up, they wouldn't be able to ensure the villagers' security. So they [the DKBA] told the villagers that they
had to move. Some villagers moved to Thailand and some remained in the village but the villagers that moved to
Thailand outnumber those who are still in the village.
How many people are there in Thay Baw Boh village and how many households are there?
There are many people in Thay Baw Boh village. We guess maybe we have 150 houses and each house maybe has 5
people, so the number of villagers is more than 500 people. The villagers who moved to Thailand are mostly women and
children.
Right now there is no fighting but what will happen with this situation in the future?
I asked a DKBA officer about the situation and he told me that the SPDC [Tatmadaw] troops that stay in Kyo G'Lee have
arrived in Maw Tuh. We have to make our villagers secure. Now our village location is in the middle – sometimes we
hear gunshots from Waw Lay village and sometimes we hear them from Palu. If we're ready then it's better for us. This
month is December so how will we have Christmas? It's not easy, that's also why the school had to close.
You said the school had to close. Do you have any plans for the students' examinations?

We thought we should stop school. If the school was still open, we know the students wouldn't be interested in their
studies because they're staying in a terrible situation. I already talked about this with Saw T--- [a villager in Thay Baw
Boh]. We decided that we'll talk with a local school teacher in M--- village and a local school teacher in N--- village and
arrange to take some of our students to M--- school and some to N--- school because they have the same curriculum as
our school. Saw T--- said we'll collect the two schools in the same place and our teachers will teach and work together.
I'll take my two sons there; the elder one is a level three student.
If the situation continues like this, how will it affect the villagers' lives in the long term?
Everything is up to the SPDC [Tatmadaw] Army. They came to live in a DKBA place and, if they start to be more active,
maybe the DKBA will fight them. When they're fighting we only think about running to Thailand. We can't guess the
situation now. If the SPDC starts to be more active in the future the villagers will have to run to Thailand. After that,
they'll need more supervision and care because they won't have their own land to work. But if the SPDC doesn't start to
be too active, then some villagers can go back to their land and work. If they can't go back, then they can't make a
living and will need protection.

Villagers at risk from landmines, shelling and portering in Gk'Neh Lay village
On December 16th 2010, Saw D---, a resident of Gk'Neh Lay village, Kawkareik Township, reported to a KHRG
researcher that there had been shelling in the vicinity of Gk'Neh Lay village on December 14th.
"People [DKBA soldiers] have planted landmines around the Tatmadaw soldiers' camp [in Gk'Neh Lay].
Some of the [Tatmadaw] soldiers travelled out of the camp and stepped on the landmines and got
injured, but I don't know how many were injured or died. I know that they [the Tatmadaw soldiers]
got angry about this and [on December 14th 2010] they shelled around the camp, and some shells
reached the village and some reached the villagers' [agricultural] work places."
- Saw D---, (30, male), Gk'Neh Lay village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District (December 16th
2010)
Saw D--- also reported that Saw H---, another Gk'Neh Lay villager, was injured in his leg when shells landed in the
bean plantation in which he was working. Most villagers in eastern Dooplaya are currently hurrying to finish harvesting
bean, corn and paddy crops, the main agricultural products cultivated in the area. Saw D--- told KHRG that Saw H---'s
injury is not serious and that other villagers are taking care of him. However, because of this incident, Saw D--- said
that the residents of Gk'Neh Lay do not dare to sleep in the village. Instead they're sleeping in the forest away from the
village and their fields, returning to check on their fields and houses only during the day. The KHRG researcher added
that the villagers are also avoiding the village because they are afraid that they will be forced to porter for the soldiers if
they return. The Tatmadaw camp in Gk'Neh Lay is located on elevated ground just outside the village. On December 6th,
KHRG reported that Tatmadaw troops in Gk'Neh Lay had been forcing villagers to carry water up the hill to their camp
for cooking and bathing every day since December 2nd.
Update No.25: December 16th 2010 - 9:40 am

Threats and displacement continue to disrupt the harvest in Waw Lay
On December 14th 2010 at 3:30 pm a group of approximately 30-40 Tatmadaw soldiers entered Waw Lay village. A
KHRG researcher later interviewed Waw Lay villagers who were in the village and witnessed the following incident.
According to the villagers, some Waw Lay residents had temporarily come back from hiding places in the forest to check
on their houses. The villagers that spoke with KHRG said that that, when the soldiers saw the villagers, they forced them
to lie on the ground at gunpoint. When one of the four people raised his head to see the soldiers, they kicked him. The
soldiers told them that if groups of two or more villagers were seen walking together when they returned the following
day, they would be shot on sight. They also blamed the villagers for the recent attacks on Tatmadaw soldiers in the
area. The villagers reported that the troops fired their guns around the village to scare the villagers and threatened to
burn down all the houses in Waw Lay village if they were attacked again. According to the villagers, they had chosen to
return to Waw Lay during the day because they did not expect to encounter any soldiers; Tatmadaw soldiers have
typically been visiting civilian areas in the evenings. The Tatmadaw soldiers that entered the village on December 14th
are part of a unit based in nearby Htee Nyah Lih. A KHRG researcher in the area also added that unseasonable rains last
week have complicated normal agricultural activities, pushing farmers to stay near their homes and fields. According to
the researcher, rain caused some newly harvested paddy to sprout, ruining the crop. Because of this, there are still at
least 30-40 villagers who continue to hide close to Waw Lay, just across the border in Thailand's Phop Phra District, so

that they can return during the day to check on their homes and fields. These villagers are sleeping under trees and
bushes and say they do not dare to come and stay in RTA-controlled areas. As of 3:30pm on December 15th, they were
not receiving support from any group.

More fighting reported in Waw Lay area
On December 14th 2010, at around 12:57 pm, a KHRG researcher reported shelling in Htee Ther Leh village, Kawkareik
Township, Dooplaya District, and that villagers were fleeing from Mae Klaw Kee and Waw Lay villages. Htee Ther Leh is
approximately 20 minutes by motorcycle from Waw Lay. According to a local source in Htee Ther Leh, many of the
villagers are hiding in the forest near their fields, instead of fleeing to Thailand, so that they can continue to work. The
source also reports that some villagers have said they will go to Thailand if they can finish their work; most villagers in
eastern Dooplaya are currently hurrying to finish harvesting bean, corn and paddy crops, the main agricultural products
cultivated in the area.

Fighting and displacement in the Waw Lay and Palu areas
Reports received by KHRG on December 13th 2010 indicate that villagers across a large geographic area of Kawkareik
Township, Dooplaya District continue to face risks from ongoing conflict between the Tatmadaw and Karen armed groups
in the area, and that temporary flight to more secure locations remains an important protection strategy for civilians.
Fighting or displacement related to fighting was reported in and around Palu, Waw Lay, and Kyo G'Lee villages today,
displacing an unknown number of civilians.
At 9 am on December 13th 2010, DKBA soldiers took positions between Palu and Min Let Bpaing villages in preparation
for staging attacks on Tatmadaw soldiers currently based around Palu, according to a KHRG researcher who spoke with
villagers in the area. Villagers told KHRG they were afraid that Tatmadaw forces would see the DKBA soldiers and fire
mortars, and therefore did not dare to go to work in their fields, bean and corn plantations.
Further south in Waw Lay Village, local villagers told KHRG that DKBA soldiers began shelling Tatmadaw soldiers based in
Waw Lay at approximately 1 pm on December 13th, and that by 1:20 pm more than 20 shells had landed in the area.
According to the villagers that spoke with KHRG, some civilians staying inside Waw Lay village fled the shelling; civilians
who were outside of Waw Lay, at agricultural projects and on the bank of the Moei River, were also reported to have
fled. Villagers fled to both official and unofficial sites in the Waw Lay area of Thailand's Phop Phra District. A local source
estimated that there were just 50 people in an official RTA temporary camp on the morning of December 13th; relief
workers indicated that by 3:45 pm there were 250 refugees in the same site, although it was estimated that only 50 of
those were new arrivals. As of 10:45 pm on December 13th 2010, villagers continued to report mortars landing in the
Waw Lay area.
"When the shelling happened, I fled to the Thailand side of Waw Lay village but I didn't want to go to
the place that is recognized by Thai soldiers. If I go to that place, it's not easy to go or get out, and I
can't manage to come back to look after my field. So, I stay on the Thailand side with a friend and if
there is no shelling, I can go back to my field secretly. Even when I finish all of my work, if the
fighting happens in the future, I don't think that I will go to stay in the place that is recognized by the
Thai soldiers, because it is easy for them to ask us [to go] back."
- Naw Mu Naw (female, 30), Waw Lay village (December 13th 2010)
In nearby Oo Hoo Htah, community members providing support estimated on the afternoon of December 13th that 304
residents of Waw Lay and Htee Theh Lay were temporarily seeking protection; a further 131 people were said to be
sleeping on the Thai side of Oo Hoo Htah but returning to work at their agricultural projects during the day. A source
present in the area reported that five shells were heard falling on the Burma side of Oo Hoo Htah on December 13th.
Elsewhere in the Waw Lay area, as of 6:30 pm on December 13th community members were providing support to 72
families, comprising 354 individuals plus 13 families with 82 individuals in Oo Kreh Htah village, and an additional 24
families, totaling 111 individuals in Nyah Peh Htah village. A local source indicated that Oo Kreh Htah was completely
empty of civilians on the night of December 12th, as was nearby Bpler Doh.
KHRG also received unconfirmed reports of fighting at approximately 12 pm on December 13th at Kyo G'Lee village,
Kawkareik Township, which lies south of Waw Lay along a vehicle road. KHRG reported earlier this month that villagers

have been fleeing the area around Kyo G'Lee in small groups since November 27th due to fears of renewed fighting
between the Tatmadaw and Karen armed groups in the area.

School closure in Thay Baw Boh continues
As of 9 am on December 13th 2010, the school in Thay Baw Boh village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District has not
re-opened; one week has passed since the school was closed on December 6th amid fears that fighting between the
Tatmadaw and Karen armed groups near Palu village would reach Thay Baw Boh [see update #16]. A villager who spoke
with KHRG said that residents of Thay Baw Boh remain afraid that fighting will happen near their village because DKBA
units active in the area have warned them to expect an increased Tatmadaw presence, as well as fighting. The local
source also reported that families in Thay Baw Boh are currently making arrangements for their children to attend
classes in other communities in the area, in case the military situation remains too unstable to reopen the school in Thay
Baw Boh.
Update No. 21: December 10th 2010 - 8:00 pm

Fears of portering prolong displacement, disrupt harvest in Palu village
Villagers from Palu say that they expect the threat of forced portering to increase in the near future, and report that
Tatmadaw soldiers have seized ten civilians in the last two days. On December 9th 2010 at 11 am, a KHRG researcher
interviewed Saw Pe---, a resident of Palu village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, about the current situation for
civilians in Palu. According to Saw Pe---, many villagers continue to avoid returning to Palu, particularly the area of Palu
Poe, due to fears that more Tatmadaw troops will arrive in the village and that villagers will be arrested and forced to
porter Tatmadaw rations and equipment.
"Why [do] some people dare [to come back] and some not dare to come back? One reason is that
now they hear [Tatmadaw Light Infantry] Division #44 and #22 will come [to the Palu area]. These
units, people have heard they are the units from '88 [1988], when the students protested. They [LID
#44] don't respect [people]; they follow[ed] orders. So the first reason villagers don't dare to come
back is because they hear Division #44 will come… The second reason is, now people are afraid about
portering. They're afraid about portering because the food [Tatmadaw rations] that's in Palu camp,
they [Tatmadaw forces] have to send it to Waw Lay. It's not easy to send [the rations] by car. They'll
increase their soldiers and maybe yeh beh [prisoners][1] will be included with them, and [maybe]
they'll carry food by people [porters]. For this reason, they [Palu villagers] don't dare to go back… No
one goes back and stays in Palu Poe. No one stays there. No people stay, but some people stay in
Thailand. They go and stay temporarily in Thailand and they come back and listen in the morning at
the river bank. If people can go and work, they go back and work; they finish the work that they need
to finish. People still stay in Palu Bpa Doh."
Information received by KHRG from Palu indicates that villagers' fears about forced portering are being reinforced by
regular reports of villagers being arrested and forced to porter for the Tatmadaw. Saw Pe--- described one such
incident:
"When I went and carried paddy, people told me that there are people who were arrested. They have
to send [porter] rations. This means the Burmese [the Tatmadaw] stay on the mountain and they
[porters] have to carry water [to the Tatmadaw camp]. They have to carry it up to the mountain.
There has been this. They're still in the Burmese army [camp]. They were not released after they
were arrested… I haven't heard exactly about how many civilians they arrested but I heard that
yesterday four people were arrested at a plantation. Until now, those four people have not been
allowed to come back... [They were arrested] at a plantation close to T'La Ee Thee Hta [an elevated
Tatmadaw camp near Palu], where people go and pick corn and harvest bpeh [beans]. People were
working and they were interested in doing their work. But they [Tatmadaw soldiers] saw people and
called people over when they arrived [at the plantation]. These are the people who haven't come back
yet until now."
When Saw Pe--- spoke with a KHRG researcher again on December 10th at approximately 2 pm, he clarified that only
three villagers had been arrested by Tatmadaw troops at a plantation near Palu Bpa Doh (Big Palu) – not T'La Ee Thee

Hta – on December 8th, and that he had spoken with these villagers when they returned to the village on the morning of
the 10th. They told Saw Pe--- that they'd been ordered to help to carry two wounded Tatmadaw soldiers to the camp at
T'La Ee Thee Hta, adding that they had seen several more wounded soldiers on the way, and therefore suspected that
more villagers would be arrested to carry Tatmadaw casualties.
A plantation owner in the Palu area, meanwhile, told KHRG that on December 9th at 2 pm, seven more villagers were
arrested by Tatmadaw soldiers at a bean plantation owned by Saw K---, where many villagers have in the past sought
employment as day labourers. The owner added that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find labourers on his bean
plantation, explaining that he would usually pay 90 to 100 Thai baht to hire a labourer for one day during the harvest
season, but that he cannot currently find sufficient labour even though he is offering wages of 200 Thai baht per day.
Another plantation owner told a KHRG researcher on December 10th that he is offering 500 Thai baht for two days of
labour, but cannot find enough people who are willing to work. The same owner said that he had heard that some Palu
residents were instead taking jobs at a significantly lower wage of 120 Thai baht per day just across the river from Palu
in Thailand.
Both plantation owners interviewed on December 10th attributed the scarcity of labour to the unwillingness of many
villagers to return to Palu while the risk of being arrested as porters remains high. The high wages offered for labour
also indicate the window of opportunity for villagers to harvest corn, bean and paddy crops is rapidly closing. This
concern was also voiced by Saw Pe--- when he spoke with KHRG on December 9th, who worried that he had already
lost half of his crop:
"It's time to harvest but people aren't harvesting, so the bpeh [beans] are falling down… I see that I
planted seven tins of [bean] seeds, and that should get [yield] 100 or over 100 tins [of beans], but we
can't harvest on time. How can I say it? They [the beans] fall down because the time [to harvest] has
passed. Many [beans] have fallen down when you come back to harvest. Only half are still left."
Footnotes
[1] Saw Pe--- is likely referring to the Tatmadaw practice of using convicts pressed from prisons to carry equipment
during military operations. For more on this practice, see Less than Human: Convict Porters in the 2005 - 2006 Northern
Karen State Offensive, KHRG, August 2006.

Repeated flight and obstacles to refuge in Waw Lay village
Over the last week, civilians have continued to flee Waw Lay village to seek safety in Thailand. As of the evening of
December 7th 2010 a temporary site in Thailand home to villagers from the Waw Lay village area held 362 people. At
approximately 11 am on December 8th 2010, Thai authorities announced over loudspeakers that it was safe for refugees
to return, and that they had to do so. While community members reported that refugees were told they could return
after they checked on their homes if the situation was not stable, relief workers also reported that language used by the
RTA was more aggressive than on previous occasions when refugees were encouraged to return, and that civilians in the
site made it clear that they did not wish to return to Burma. By lunchtime, the entire site was empty. During the night
of December 8th 2010, fighting was again audible in the Waw Lay area [See, Update #17]. Fighting continued during the
day on December 9th as well, prompting people to again flee to Thailand. According to relief workers, as of 5:45 pm a
temporary site in Thailand held 416 people with at least 1,200 people hiding in the area. [Go To Top] [Return To
Index]

Repeated flight and obstacles to refuge in Palu village
Download the appendix to the update as PDF [ 60 kb]
Over the last week, civilians have continued to flee Palu village to seek safety in Thailand. On the night of December 6th
2010 a temporary site in Thailand hosting villagers from the Palu village area held 1,200 people. Of this group, 400 left
during the morning of December 7th 2010. Later that day, RTA soldiers announced over loudspeakers that it was safe
for remaining refugees to leave. All but 100 left through the course of the day. Mortar fire resumed that afternoon,
prompting many civilians that had just departed to return to Thailand. By 6 pm relief workers reported that 310 of the
recently returned refugees had returned to Thailand. On the morning of December 8th 2010, the temporary site held
341 people. By lunchtime, however, all but a few families had been told over a loudspeaker that they had to return, and
had departed the site.

Interviews conducted by community members indicate that not all villagers returning to Burma on December 7th and
again on the 8th did so voluntarily. Villagers reported a mixture of motivations to leave the temporary site, including
feeling pressure to harvest fields and repay debts, cultural conflicts between Thai and Burmese regarding sanitation
practices, and varying levels of coercion from RTA soldiers. Full transcripts of five interviews with civilians from Palu
village are available as an appendix to this update.
"We dare not to go back. For the previous time, even though we dared not to go back, they pointed at
us with guns and asked us to go back. They asked us to go back and said nothing would happen to
us: 'Go back and stay there.'… They told us nothing would happen to us: 'Go back and stay.' They
scolded us and drove us to go back like dogs and pigs. Therefore, we had to go back. We went back
[to Burma] and came back [to Thailand] again when the fighting happened."
Naw---, (30, female), Palu village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya Distrist (Interviewed in Thailand on
December 8th 2010)
"They don't order us to go back. They said, 'You can go back. The other side is peaceful. Nothing is
happening.' I don't dare to go back. Fighting is happening there. We hear [the sounds of fighting]
every night… I don't feel anything but one thing: I am afraid. I want to go back to my village… I want
to go back if I can go back. The Thai army said, 'You can go back to other side.' [But they] take
[people as] porters if men go back to the other side. If they take porters, I just have one husband.
What am I going to eat with if they take [him as a] porter? How can I work and feed these six
children?"
Daw ---, (40, female), Palu village, Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya Distrist (Interviewed in Thailand
on December 8th 2010)

Tatmadaw soldiers obstruct returning refugees
At 10:30 am on December 9th 2010, Tatmadaw soldiers prevented at least five villagers attempting to return to Waw
Lay village from entering the village. According to one of the five men, the group had spent the night in Thailand after
fleeing because of fighting last night. When they attempted to return this morning, however, they encountered a group
of Tatmadaw soldiers on the Burma side of the Moei River, which forms the border separating Dooplaya District from
Thailand. The villager that spoke with KHRG said that the Tatmadaw soldiers appeared to be very angry, which he said
he believed to be because Tatmadaw soldiers were killed and wounded during fighting last night. Other villagers in Waw
Lay confirmed that they witnessed Tatmadaw soldiers carrying two dead and three wounded soldiers this morning. [Go
To Top] [Return To Index]

Night time shelling and displacement in Waw Lay
On December 8th 2010, a KHRG researcher in the Waw Lay village area reported that shelling resumed at 8:30 pm.
Reports indicate that this shelling went on until midnight. Shelling was in the vicinity of Htee Nyah Lih. Htee Nyah Lih is
currently a Tatmadaw camp, suggesting that the shells were fired by the DKBA. At least some shells also fell inside Waw
Lay village, near the home of Naw ---. As of 9 pm last night, this round of fighting had caused at least 100 people to
flee to Thailand, while others were trapped inside the village and unable to flee. Naw D---, from Waw Lay though not
counted in this group of 100, described the following situation when she spoke with KHRG this morning:
"I was in my field hut, and I fled to the Thai side and dared not to come back to my field hut again. I
slept the whole night in Thailand with a friend [in Thailand] and in the morning I managed to come
back to my field. Even though I am afraid to come back, I have to come back to finish my harvest."
By 9 am on December 9th 2010, relief workers also confirmed that at least 100 people that fled last night had returned
to Waw Lay. The conditions of their return have not been confirmed. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]

School Closures in Thay Baw Boh village

On December 8th 2010 at approximately Saw Lo---, a resident of Thay Baw Boh village, Kawkareik Township, told a
KHRG researcher:
"On December 6th 2010, the school [in Thay Baw Boh] had to close because the villagers are afraid
that the SPDC [Tatmadaw] soldiers in the Palu village area will reach the village. Some of the villagers
are staying on the Thailand side [of the Moei River] and some are staying in the village [in Burma].
We don't know when we'll re-open the school, because of the students' parents are afraid of the
attacks."
As of the afternoon of December 8th, the school in Thay Baw Boh has not re-opened; Saw Lo--- said that the villagers
would have to monitor the situation before deciding whether or not to start having classes again. Thay Baw Boh is
located on the Burma side of the Moei River, south of Palu village and directly opposite a village of the same name in
Phop Phra District, Thailand. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]

Shelling reported in Kyaw Keh village
On December 7th 2010, a KHRG field researcher reported that at approximately 2:00 pm that day villagers in Palu
village, Kawkareik Township heard shelling in Kyaw Keh village; Kyaw Keh is two hours on foot south of Palu on the
Burma side of the Moei River. After hearing two mortars exploding in Kyaw Keh, some residents of Palu began to move
to the riverbank, worried that there shelling would come closer to Palu and that they would have to flee across the river
into Thailand. Some villagers who were at work in their fields, however, did not flee and remained at work in their fields.
Farmers throughout eastern Dooplaya are currently harvesting bean, corn and paddy crops, the main agricultural
products cultivated in the area. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]
Update No.14: December 6th 2010

Daily forced labour in Gk'Neh Lay
A KHRG researcher that visited Gk'Neh Lay reports that Tatmadaw troops based in Gk'Neh lay have been forcing
villagers to carry water for them every day since December 2nd 2010. Tatmadaw soldiers are avoiding leaving their
camp, and making the villagers bring water for both bathing and cooking. Frustration with these demands have caused
at least some villagers to hide outside the village. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]

Fighting and threats in Waw Lay
Villagers report that the DKBA shelled Tatmadaw soldiers based near the Waw Lay monastery at 2:28 pm on December
6th 2010. This fighting prompted at least some residents to flee. Villagers that remained in Waw Lay say that shelling
ceased by 3 pm, after which Tatmadaw soldiers demanded residents who remained in the village to tell them where the
DKBA is based, and threatened them with their guns. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]

House burning in Waw Lay
At 5 pm on December 6th 2010 villagers hiding outside of Waw Lay reported that they could see fire and smoke coming
from a house burning near the market in Waw Lay. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]

Portering and landmine concerns in Waw Lay village
On December 5th 2010, KHRG interviewed Naw P---, 40, from X village. Naw P--- told KHRG that early that day she
saw a Tatmadaw unit pass by her house accompanied by a male villager who was being forced to porter equipment for
the soldiers. A larger unit had passed through earlier the same day, she told KHRG, and her neighbours had seen three
other civilians portering things for the soldiers. Naw P--- said she and others in her area assumed that the men had
been seized while working on their fields outside the village.

Naw P--- also told KHRG that DKBA soldiers had warned villagers that they should only travel along main roads.
Villagers should avoid small pathways, the DKBA informed the villagers, because they had placed landmines in areas
they suspected that Tatmadaw soldiers might travel. Naw P--- said this was making problems for villagers, who are
afraid to travel along main roads because they do not want to encounter Tatmadaw soldiers. [Go To Top] [Return
To Index]

Early morning displacement in Palu
On December 4th 2010 at 7:30 am villagers in Palu report fleeing to Thailand because of fears from audible shelling that
morning. [Go To Top] [Return To Index]
Update No.8: December 3rd 2010

Night time displacement in Waw Lay
On December 3rd 2010 from 11:15 pm to 11:50 pm, as villagers slept in their houses, DKBA forces resumed shelling
Tatmadaw positions near Waw Lay village. Tatmadaw soldiers responded with mortars of their own. At least some shells
fell in the village, causing villagers to flee to Thailand. Villagers told KHRG that they did not receive a warning from the
DKBA that shelling would resume that night, and had been unable to prepare for flight ahead of time. [Go To Top]
[Return To Index]
Related Resources
Maps:
Map 1: Dooplaya District
Map 2: Karen Districts
Map 3: Burma
Further reading:
Displacement Monitoring: Regular updates on protection concerns for villagers in Dooplaya District and Tak
Province (December 2010)
All images and reports © Karen Human Rights Group Top

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Karen Human Rights Group | Displacement Monitoring: Regular updates …tection concerns for villagers in Dooplaya District and

Tak Province 20.12.10 16:01

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Reports » Information Update December 20th, 2010

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Update No.33: December 20th 2010 - 5:30 pm

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Update No.32: December 19th 2010 - 5:15 pm

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Update No.31: December 19th 2010 - 8:30 pm

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Update No.30: December 17th 2010 - 5:15 pm

Go to the KHRG Map Room

Go to the updated map of Dooplaya District

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Update No.29: December 17th 2010 - 3:20 pm

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Update No.28: December 17th 2010 - 3:00 pm

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Update No.27: December 17th 2010 - 2:00 pm

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Update No.26: December 16th 2010 - 8:00 pm

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Update No.25: December 16th 2010 - 9:40 am

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Update No.24: December 14th 2010 - 7:30 pm

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Update No.23: December 14th 2010 - 8:40 am

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Update No.22: December 13th 2010 - 7:30 pm

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Update No. 21: December 10th 2010 - 8:00 pm

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Update No.20: December 9th 2010 - 7:00 pm

Update No.19: December 9th 2010 - 5:45 pm

Download the appendix to the update as PDF [ 60 kb]

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Update No.18: December 9th 2010 - 12:45 pm

Update No.17: December 9th 2010 - 9:00 am

Update No.16: December 8th 2010 - 4:45 pm

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Update No.15: December 8th 2010 - 4:44 pm

Update No.14: December 6th 2010

Update No.13: December 6th 2010

Update No.12: December 6th 2010

Update No.11: December 5th 2010

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Update No.10: December 4th 2010

Update No.8: December 3rd 2010

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