Displaced Ta’ang relocate after Burma Army burns their village—twice
Over
170 civilians resettled to a nearby community on Tuesday after their own
village in northern Shan State was burned by the Burma Army twice in less than
30 days.
Bang
Gan village, in Nam Tu Township, was once home to 35 ethnic Ta’ang households. The
displaced have built makeshift shelters on nearby paddy fields and resettled in
a monastery in another village, Wan San, preferring to stay near their
ancestral land rather than relocate to a city.
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| Remnants of Bang Gan, the village burned by Burma Army troops (top left and right), and the makeshift shelters constructed by the area’s IDPs (bottom left and right) (Photo: Shan Youth Network) |
Villagers
told SHAN that in mid-November, about 300 government troops from Battalion 88
accused Bang Gan’s residents of supporting the Ta’ang National Liberation Army
(TNLA), with whom SHAN reported that the Burma Army has
been fighting in renewed clashes in the area.
One
37-year-old local man, Ai La, was detained by the Burma Army and forced to work
as a porter. The villagers allege that on November 13 he was killed in a clash
with the TNLA.
“The
battle happened at a distance from the village,” said one villager, Ai Yi.
“After that, the Burma Army burned our village on November 14 and 29.”
When
government forces set fire to Bang Gan village for the first time, locals said
that not all households were destroyed. However, after the second attack, the
entire community was made inhabitable. Between and after the incidents,
residents said they hid in the nearby forest.
Due
to ongoing active conflict, it was not until December 8 that SHAN was able to
obtain photos of the burned land and houses in Bang Gan.
“We
ran away and took nothing,” said the village head, who did not want to provide
his name.
Among
the displaced are Ai La’s wife and young children—a three-year-old son and
one-year-old daughter.
According
to The Border Consortium and Burma Link, in the last 20 years, more than 3,700 villages in Burma have been
destroyed and its residents forced to relocate. The United Nations Refugee
Agency (UNHCR) estimates that Burma’s population of internally displaced people
is well over 500,000.
By SIMMA
FRANCIS and ZAAI ZAAI LAO MURNG / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)
Tags: Human Rights, News, War
