Myanmar: Lack of Security in Counter-Insurgency Areas

...In February and March 2002 Amnesty International interviewed some 100 migrants from
Myanmar at seven different locations in Thailand. They were from a variety of ethnic groups,
including the Shan; Lahu; Palaung; Akha; Mon; Po and Sgaw Karen; Rakhine; and Tavoyan
ethnic minorities, and the majority Bamar (Burman) group. They originally came from the Mon,
Kayin, Shan, and Rakhine States, and Bago, Yangon and Tanintharyi Divisions.(1) What follows
below is a summary of human rights violations in some parts of eastern Myanmar during the last
18 months which migrants reported to Amnesty International. One section of the report also
examines several cases of abuses of civilians by armed opposition groups fighting against the
Myanmar military. Finally, this document describes various aspects of a Burmese migrant
worker's life in Thailand..." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced labour, refugees, land confiscation, forced
relocation, forced removal, forced resettlement, forced displacement, internal displacement, IDP, extortion, torture,
extrajudicial killings, forced conscription, child soldiers, porters, forced portering, house
destruction, eviction, Shan State, Wa, USWA, Wa resettlement, Tenasserim, abuses by armed opposition
groups.