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FORCED RELOCATION IN NAM ZARNG
FORCED RELOCATION IN NAM ZARNG
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Map of VILLAGES FORCIBLY RELOCATED IN NAM ZARNG TOWNSHIP (1996 - 1998) |
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| Background of the area Nam Zarng is in the fertile Nam Teng river plain, and was well-known as a farming area. Ginger was one of the main crops. There is a small air-strip at Nam Zarng, said to have been built by the Chinese Nationalist KMT, and the Burmese Army now has one of its radar stations in the area.
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| Relocation In 1996, relocation began in mid-March in the tract of Nong Hee, carried out by troops from SLORC LIB #247 from Nam Zarng and Murng Nai. Most of the villages north of the Nam Zarng-Kun Hing road were forced down to sites along the road, or to sites near the army base at Ton Hoong Long. Then in April, 1996, SLORC IB #55 from Murng Ban ordered villagers in Loi Lat tract south-east of Nam Zarng to move to Wan Nong Koong Mong. Villagers were given between 3-5 days to move. In 1997, beginning in March, all the relocation sites north of the main Nam Zarng-Kun Hing road were moved down to the existing sites on the road, such as Kho Lam and Hai Neng. The relocation site of Wan Nong Koong Mong was also relocated to Nam Zarng itself. |
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| Extrajudicial killings in Nam Zarng township in
1997 The forced relocation program in Nam Zarng, as in Kun Hing, was conducted with extreme brutality. Throughout 1997, villagers, including children, were killed in and around the relocation site of Kho Lam. Some were killed in their houses, some were simply caught walking outside the site to collect vegetables or go fishing. SHRF has documented the following extrajudicial killings of villagers either found near their old villages or in the actual relocation sites in the Nam Zarng area in 1997:
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| Conditions in the relocation sites In 1996, nothing was provided by the SLORC in the relocation sites, and in the site of Kho Lam, it was reported that as many as 40 people died of illness in the first month of relocation. Most of the time, the villagers were forbidden to go back to their fields. Villagers in Ton Hoong relocation site were forced to work for the SLORC soldiers at the nearby army base, building barracks, and at Kho Lam they were forced to clear the forests and grow beans for the troops of LIB # 510 stationed nearby. In 1997, villagers relocated to Kho Lam continued to be forced to clear the sides of roads, dig ground, fetch water and gather firewood for the troops at the nearby army base. Although permission was granted to villagers from nearby villages to return to farm their fields, the fact that even those with permission were shot on sight, meant that few dared farm openly. |
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