Shan porters free of the KIA

Shan porters free of the KIA

By Khin Su Wai   |   Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Two Shan men say they were forced to act as front-line porters by the Kachin Independence Army.

The men, Mg Aung Win, 21, and Mg Myaw Htwe, 28, from Tar Law Gyi village, about 30 kilometres from Myitkyina in Kachin State, said they managed to escape from the KIA after meeting at Aww Yar Bon camp.

About a week after escaping they managed to get to Myitkyina and back to Tar Law Gyi in early June.

Mg Mya Htwe said he was abducted in 2011 by the KIA while farming in Kalanga village, just southeast of Tar Law Gyi, and forced to carry the equipment of the soldiers.

He then attended military training about one month and served in KIA division 5 at Largan Yan, from where the Kachin distribute weapons to their battalions. Because of the poor living conditions and his unhappiness at being abducted he tried to commit suicide by blowing himself up but survived and was taken to hospital.

"I arrived back at division 5 for a week and then they sent me to battalion 19 for seven months. When I arrived at Aww Yar Bon and met Mg Aung Win we managed to escape," Mg Mya Htwe said.

Mg Aung Win said he was caught in October 2012 while panning for gold on the Maykha River at Sha Naw Taw in Waingmaw township along with about 200 other gold miners. Of these, he was one of 50 aged between 21 and 25 that the KIA forcibly recruited.

Mg Aung Win that he walked with the Ngar Kyan battalion for about 11 days and then battalion 30 for three months. Finally he arrived at Aww Yar Bon and after about one month he escaped with Mg Mya Htwe.

They both said they met about 50 Shan people in the Schin Bo and Nyaung Thar Yar areas who were forcibly recruited to be porters or soldiers for the KIA, and also encountered child soldiers at Mai Tai camp and in KIA division 5 and battalion 30.

Both men are red Shan, or Shan Ni, who form a sizeable minority in Kachin State. About one quarter of the state's population of 1.2 million is thought to be Shan.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/07/11/shan-porters-free-of-the-kia/