Impoverished fishing families in Mon State’s Ye Township have been told that their village will be burned down by junta troops if they do not pay compensation for three military-owned cars that were torched by resistance forces earlier this month.
“The village administrator told us that the military told him that we would have to compensate them for the loss of the vehicles because they were torched in our village,” a resident of Kutoseik village said, adding: “We have to pay them 28 million kyats.”
“Our village will be torched if we don’t pay the money this month,” the resident said, explaining that junta troops asked if the village’s residents were linked to People’s Defense Forces.
The order to pay compensation followed an attack on a naval base on Kalar Koke Island on May 3. On the same day as the attack, about 15 junta troops from Lamai Town arrived in Kutoseik village in three vehicles: two Honda Fit cars and one Toyota Probox. After they parked their vehicles in the village and departed for Kalar Koke Island, resistance forces set the cars on fire, residents of the village said.
The junta troops were from Infantry Battalion 106 and Light Infantry Battalion 588. Officers in both battalions ordered the villagers to pay 28 million kyats (about US$ 7,600) in total as compensation for the vehicles, residents said.
They said they had not yet discussed how much each family will contribute to the compensation. “We will meet to discuss how we will pay the compensation. Some families who can’t afford to pay have already fled because they fear they will be arrested,” one resident of the village explained.
Kutoseik is a fishing village with slightly more than 150 residents. It is located about 1.6 kilometers from Kalar Koke village. Both villages have been hit by a severe decline in revenue as four junta warships anchored offshore have disrupted fishing by firing shells daily.
“We haven’t been able to go fishing for nearly a week. We have to borrow money. We don’t have extra income, but we have been told to pay compensation. Fish wholesalers have money, but the majority of residents are fishermen. We can’t afford to pay,” said one villager.
People’s Defense Forces attacked the police station in Anin village, about 32 km from Kalar Koke Island, with drones on Wednesday morning. After junta ships responded with artillery attacks, residents of Kawduk Village Tract fled their homes.
The village tract has 2,164 households with a population of about 8,400 people, according to the 2014 census.
