FORCED RELOCATION IN LAI KHA

Map of VILLAGES FORCIBLY RELOCATED IN LAI KHA TOWNSHIP (1996 - 1998)

In March, 1997, the SLORC began relocating the villagers staying in the relocation site of Tard Mork (north east of Lai Kha) down to relocation sites along the main Lai Kha-Murng Nawng road. On April 4, SLORC troops fired shells into Tard Mork relocation site, killing 3 people and injuring 3, and gave April 8 as the deadline to move. On April 10, large sections of Tard Mork relocation site were burned down; some people were burned alive.

Then, on June 27, SLORC began ordering villagers in the relocation sites along the Lai Kha-Murng Nawng road to move to the town of Lai Kha itself. By July 3, all the villagers from the relocation site of Wan Thi had been moved to a site east of Lai Kha, and on July 7, all the

villagers from Wan Sarng and Zalai Khum relocation sites were ordered to move to the same site.

By mid-July all of the approximately 180 villages in the area east and north east of the town, totalling about 40,000 people had been moved either into the town or into the site of Parng Phone, where there is a large military base.

SHRF has documented the following extrajudicial killings of villagers either found near their old villages or in the actual relocation sites in the Lai Kha area in 1997:

Those who were relocated to the town were also forced to work by the SLORC. They were made to guard at quarter-mile intervals along the Lai Kha-Murng Nawng road, to watch out for Shan soldiers. At each point, two people had to guard for a week at a time, day and night.

After being relocated to Lai Kha, villagers who had fields close to the main Lai Kha-Murng Nawng Road were charged 180 kyats for written permission to return and work on their fields.