Three Men Die in Forced Labor Incidents

By MIN LWIN

Three villagers died in two cases of forced labor in Kyauktada and Daik-U townships in Pegu Division in Burma, according to a social and labor rights group, Guiding Star.

The deaths occurred when village authorities forced villagers to excavate sand and gravel for schools and to construct government buildings, said the labor group, which monitors and documents human rights abuses in Burma.

“Local village authorities are still using forced labor in villages in Pegu Division,” Aye Myint, a Guiding Star activist, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

Saw Phar Luu, 54 years old, of Kyauk Talone village in Daik-U Township was forced to work in a rock quarry in the Yoma Mountain range in Pegua Division.

“Saw Phar Luu was killed when rocks fell on him on January 29,” Aye Myint said.

In a separate incident, two brothers, Min Oo and Myint Aung of Gway Chogone village in Kyauktada Township in Pegu Division, died on February 1 when sand buried them in Phayargyi, one mile from Gway Chongone village.

The village authorities and school construction committee asked Min Oo, 30, and Myint Aung, 22, to work on a government school in Gway Chogone village and to take charge of collecting sand for the project.

“They were killed while collecting the sand at a forced labor site. The sand pit collapsed and both of them died,” said Aye Myint.

Aye Myint said the local village authorities offered no compensation to family members.

Aye Myint complained about what he termed the response of the International Labor Organization (ILO) office in Rangoon, when it was informed about the death of the two brothers.

"The ILO doesn’t want us to inform the exile media,” said Aye Myint.

Meanwhile, Phoe Phyu, a labor lawyer, has been arrested by local authorities in Magwe Township. Phoe Phyu was an advocate for farmers in Natmauk Township in Magwe Division who were arrested by local authorities. The farmers had complained to the ILO office in Rangoon that their land had been confiscated.