Despite repeated denials by the SPDC, the Tatmadaw
continues to conscript local villagers in Karen areas, including children, to
work either as army porters or as unpaid laborers. Many villagers told Human
Rights Watch that they fled as a result of these practices, thus maintaining
the cycle of abuse and displacement. In addition, since January 2004, the SPDC
has also expanded forcible conscription into local militias, which must be
supported financially by villagers.60
A young man of nineteen described his abduction and forced
labor at the hands of the Tatmadaw:
clipped from: hrw.org