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FORCED RELOCATION IN MURNG KERNG
FORCED RELOCATION IN MURNG KERNG
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Map of VILLAGES FORCIBLY RELOCATED IN MURNG KERNG TOWNSHIP (1996 - 1998) |
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| Background of the area Murng Kerng lies in the fertile plain of the Nam Teng river basin. Rice was grown in abundance, as well as sesame and peanuts, and fruits such as watermelons, pineapples and oranges. The oranges from Murng Kerng were well-known even in central Burma. |
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| Relocation In 1996, villages to the east of the Nam Teng river were relocated by the SLORC in April to sites along the main road north of Murng Kerng. Following the surrender of some SSNA troops in the area in September 1996, some villages were allowed to return home, but when resistance activity by the SURA continued, the SLORC once again ordered the villagers back to the relocation sites in mid-November. In 1997, starting in April, the SLORC began ordering all the villages east of Murng Kerng which had not been relocated in 1996 to move to sites to the north and south of the town. Several villages in Yang Loi tract several miles east of the town were burned to the ground. SLORC troops also spread straw over the fields of villagers close to the town and burned the rice seedlings. Village tracts to the very north of the township were also relocated in June to the town of Bang Kay Too on the main road. Following increased fighting between Shan troops and the SPDC troops in November 1997, and the defection of large numbers of local Shan militia to the Shan resistance, tracts to the west of Murng Kerng were also relocated to the town. |
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| Extrajudicial killings in Murng Kerng in 1997 SHRF has documented the following extrajudicial killings of villagers either found near their old villages or in the actual relocation sites in the Murng Kerng area in 1997:
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| Conditions in relocation sites In 1996, villagers relocated to sites along the main road north of Murng Kerng were forced to build the road. It was forbidden to transport rice along the road north of Murng Kerng. No one was allowed to purchase more than one "bye" (tin) of rice at a time, in case they might be supplying the Shan resistance. Since 1997, villagers relocated along the road north and south of Murng Kerng have been forbidden to go back and tend their fields farther than a radius of 5 miles from the town. |
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Wa: No exportation to Thailand