‘They create problems between Lahu and other ethnicities’

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Burma Link | July 5, 2014 (updated July 30, 2015)

Lahu are a little known ethnic group scattered around four countries; Burma, China, Laos and Thailand. Lahu people typically live up on the mountains and make a living with farming. Most Lahu people in Burma are Christian and they live in bamboo thatch houses in the rural countryside. Farming is their life, and for development, all Lahu people need is a market for their products. While some Chinese tea markets have opened up, the road to central Burma and rice exports remains largely inaccessible. Lack of opportunity coupled with easily available drugs has led to widespread drug abuse especially among Lahu youth. Unlike with some other ethnics in Burma, Lahu issues are more related to drugs and lack of development than Burmese military abuse. Historically, the threat has not been the Burmese military but the Shan. Perhaps the government has ‘used Divide and Rule policy’, says Kyar Yin Shell, a young Lahu leader who works actively for his people. In this part 2 of his interview, read more about the situation and hopes of the Lahu people in the Shan State.

Haven’t read Part 1 yet? Click here.

There is no market

The way Lahu people live depends on their economic situation. If we are rich we can build a nice house, if we are poor we use thatch leaves to build the house. In the countryside most people use thatch to build the house because they are farmers. Although they are farmers they don’t have a market to sell their products. There is no market for them, so most Lahu people are poor. Also my parents grew potatoes, rice, vegetables, just only for family, not for selling. Because there is no market.

Last time I went to visit the Lahu area, I saw the Lahu young people, their skin color is changing. Like yellow or brown, because they use a lot of drugs. We have this kind of situation, especially around the border. We need to give training to the Lahu young people who are educated persons, to give training of those kind of issues, the drug issues. In the Lahu area, to the Lahu young people.

Kyar Yin Shell giving training to Lahu people inside Burma.

There are a lot of Lahu people in jail because of trading and using drugs

In the past a lot of Lahu people grew opium. Still in the countryside some people grow opium. I want the drug plantations to stop planting the drugs. It is also very important for Lahu young people. Drug abuse is a big problem for Lahu youth. In some areas they can find it very easily, they can use drugs very easily, opium.

I asked one of my friends from Moulmein. They have to pay 5,000 kyat to buy amphetamine but in my area in the Shan State if you pay 5,000 kyat you have three or four pills. So it is cheaper than in other parts of the country. Most young people they know where to go buy it and how to use it. They already know. I don’t know who teaches them.

If they use amphetamine they don’t want to sleep. They can work more. In the past some of the parents let their children use it to work in the farms. Right now church leaders give some awareness about it. They really understand that those drugs are illegal.

There is no Lahu person in jail who is working for Lahu interests and for the country. But there are a lot of Lahu people in jail because of trading and using drugs. Not only in Burma but also in Thailand. A lot of Lahu people in Chiang Mai jail. I have been there to see the situation. They are not there for Lahu people or Lahu interest, but for the drugs.

In some places local authorities are fine with people growing opium. But others are not. It’s because of the corruption. Even though the government has the policy to reduce drug plantations, they cannot access them. Before 2010 some people were growing drugs beside the road but not now, not anymore. At least not in Lahu areas.

They don’t know how to register their land

When I was in Naypyidaw I met the advisor of the President. The newspaper had just mentioned that in eastern Salween most people grow opium. I told that we Lahu people depend on farming. We work in the farm. Farm is our life. But the government issued land law, and Lahu people didn’t know about it. They don’t know how to register their land.

I told the advisor of the president, Saya please come and visit our area and get to know the life of Lahu people. They are not lazy, they work in their farms. But no market for them to sell. If you want to reduce the opium plantations, you need to create a market for selling their vegetables, the productions of their farm. If you can do that, Lahu people cannot grow opium. By cutting the plantation of the opium, you cannot reach your goal to reduce the opium plantation.

I told him, to grow opium we need three months. Just only three months. After three months you can sell it. Everybody wants that drug because it’s easy to grow and expensive. If you grow rice you have to take six months to harvest the rice. But opium is three months so it is very easy to get a lot of income for the family. They know how to sell it and it cannot be damaged if you can keep it very well. For rice after two or three years no good to use the rice anymore.

He buys the girl to be an entertainer for him

The main issues affecting Lahu now are the drugs and also for women, young women, becoming second wives of rich men. Even when they are 15 or 16 years old. I have seen those kinds of situations in the Lahu area. The man already has a wife but because he has a lot of money he buys the girl to be an entertainer for him. They pay the girl, sometimes the parents. There are a lot of these problems, especially on the Thai-Burma border.

When we young people see each other, and especially boys, we make a joke about that issue. For Lahu people, if I want to find a girl in another village the first thing we need to ask the girl is have you been with a rich man? If yes we don’t talk to that girl anymore. That’s how we joke with Lahu boys. Those are the two main problems, especially the drugs. The second one is the temptation of money.

For other Lahu people, some make money working on the border and in Thailand. If they have income they send money back to their parents. Then their parents can buy clothes and things like that. Sometimes they also sell rice around their village for some people who don’t grow rice. But since last year, Chinese people have come to buy tea in Lahu areas. Because most Lahu people drink tea and they grow tea. Now they grow not only to drink but also to sell because Chinese business men come to buy tea.

There are a lot of armed groups in Lahu areas

In my village most people are Lahu but we also have Kachin and Akha. Shan village is a little bit far away from my village. Burmans are only temporary workers. Authorities are Lahu people. Just only police men and Burmese soldiers are Burmans. Around my village the Burmese have a military camp. They are based around my village. But we have no problem with them. Not in the past either.

In my village we need electricity, especially in the church. In the military camp they have electricity, the government gives it to them, but not for the villagers. But after our leaders discussed with the leader of the military camp they gave electricity to the church. To use for church services, especially for Sundays. They gave this kind of chance to the Lahu people.

Lahu militia are not near my village but they are in other parts of Kengtung. There are a lot of armed groups in eastern Salween River. There’s Wa, Shan, Lahu militia, Lahu BGF

[Border Guard Force], also the SSA [Shan State Army]. There are a lot of armed groups in Lahu areas. The Lahu militia is also under the Burmese government. Just LDU [Lahu Democratic Union] is not under the Burmese government.

Even though there is peace in some other areas in Burma, not in Shan State. I am concerned about it. In eastern Shan State they have a lot of armed groups. They don’t have proper communication and they are separate. Sometimes they have misunderstandings. In the golden triangle there’s also very famous production of drugs. I am concerned about that also.

Maybe the government created the problem between the Shan and Lahu

In Lahu culture it is very easy to marry someone from another ethnicity. No problem. Just only not Muslims. Lahu people don’t accept marrying a Muslim. I don’t know why. No problem with Buddhist. No problem with Chinese. In my village there are seven Burmese soldiers who got married to a Lahu girl. But right now they are not soldiers, they became civilians. That’s no problem. Lahu people have no problem with the Burmese soldiers.

Also in Burma the army has done land confiscations, but not to Lahu. Just only Akha and Shan. They create problems between Lahu and other ethnicities. So the Lahu people have not been interested to go against the government. Even though they have land confiscation in the same area, they don’t take the land of Lahu. They take from Shan, they take from Akha. So, that’s why it is difficult for Lahu people to be against the government.

Lahu militia was formed because in the past the Shan army also abused the Lahu villagers and they burned down Lahu villages. The Burmese government gave arms to protect the villages and they started to become a militia, to defend themselves.

Still in 2005 the RCSS/SSA [Restoration Council of Shan State / SSA] shot and they burned down one Lahu village. They are fighting with the Lahu militia, I don’t know why. Maybe I think because of the history. It is very easy for Lahu people to be against the Shan Army.

Maybe the government created the problem between the Shan and Lahu, in the past. Maybe they use Divide and Rule policy. Lahu people are also fighting the Shan army and Shan fighting the Lahu. Lahu people want to live quietly, they don’t want to make problems with other people. They don’t know about the reforms in the country.

Without good transportation we cannot develop

The first thing the government should do is good transportation from Kengtung to Rangoon, Mandalay or Naypidaw. A railway to connect with central Burma. In central Burma they buy rice with a lot of money, because they want to sell that rice to foreigners, especially to Europe. Some countries in Europe buy rice directly from Burma, also some parts of Africa. But in eastern Salween, they don’t have that opportunity because there is no transportation.

It is too expensive to bring rice on a plane. The road is very narrow and on very high mountains. So, because the Salween River divides Burma and eastern Salween naturally, it’s difficult to communicate.

Now they are making the economic zone in Myawaddi, Hpa-an, Tavoy, and in other parts of the country. But in the Shan State, there is no economic zone. The government needs to give more electricity and good transportation to attract business men to invest in eastern Shan State. If I am a business man, I cannot go and invest in that area. It is very difficult for transportation. From my hometown to Rangoon it takes two nights and three days by bus.

Without good transportation we cannot develop. So firstly I would like to request the government for good transportation. Good connection between Rangoon and Kengtung. And also if they have good connections business men can come to buy rice, onion and garlic. But not now.

They don’t have any dreams for their future, so they start to use drugs

We have a few factories, which are owned by Chinese people. The government needs to encourage the local people, especially Lahu and Shan who live in Kengtung or other parts of eastern Salween, to set up factories.

For example, if I set up one factory in my hometown, the government needs to reduce the tax they collect, to give those kinds of opportunities. The government should attract businessmen to set up factories. Now most of the young people are unemployed so they started to use drugs for their entertainment. They don’t have any dreams for their future, so they start to use drugs. Some days they have to work in the fields, and some days not. They don’t have a regular salary. How can their family survive?

The first thing the government needs to do is good transportation in eastern Salween to connect with central Burma. And also after we get good communication and good transportation the business men will come to invest, automatically. I hope.

The Burmese government should give a special region to the Lahu

In 2010, one of the Lahu political parties competed in the elections. They got one seat in the state parliament in the Shan State. And there are also maybe three or four Lahu people who are members of the USDP [Union Solidarity and Development Party] and competed in the election, and also got a place in the parliament. Two persons are representatives in the lower house and one person is in the upper house. But they are members of the USDP.

LDU is a member of the UNFC [United Nationalities Federal Council]. LDU believe that Lahu people should have a special region. The Burmese government should give a special region to the Lahu, because in Burmese history Lahu militia also fought the communists with the Burmese. In China they had the revolution between the communists and the capitalists. At the time the Lahu militia were fighting the Chinese Kuomitong (KMT) with the Burmese government. Also during the Ne Win dictatorship, Lahu militia fought the Burmese Communist Party with the Ne Win government. And before 2010 the militia also fought the SSA with the Burmese government. Nevertheless, in the 2008 Constitution the Burmese government didn’t give any chance to the Lahu people. If the LDU meets with the Burmese government, they will request a special region.

A lot of Lahu people have died for the country, but according to the 2008 Constitution there is no special region for Lahu. Then we have groups like Danu, one of the ethnicities in the Shan State, most of whom live around the Inle Lake. They didn’t have any kind of armed struggle, any kind of political movement in the past, but according to the 2008 Constitution they have a Danu special region. So LDU will request in interest of the Lahu people in cooperation with the UNFC and other ethnic struggle groups.

Even though they are Lahu, in the ID card they are Burman

Some Lahu villages don’t have schools, no teachers. In my village children can go to school, but in other parts of Lahu areas they don’t have a chance to study. Especially in the Wa area near the China-Burma border. There are also a lot of Lahu people who stay there. They don’t have a chance to study Burmese language. There are no schools. The leader also invited me to go and see that area and request donors about building a school in that area. Government services cannot reach that area. That area is UWSA, United Wa State Army special region. There are a lot of Lahu people there. Just only the big cities in that area are developed, but the countryside is not.

At schools in Lahu areas, they don’t teach Lahu language, just only Burmese. They don’t have a chance to study Lahu. They are not allowed to teach it. Some teachers are Burmese and some are Lahu. They maintain the Lahu literature during the summer holidays. Every pastor in the village has the responsibility to teach the Lahu literature for one month or two months. The Burmese allow them to teach in the summer.

We estimate there are between 500,000 and 1 million Lahu people in Burma. Some people didn’t get an ID card. Other people, even though they are Lahu, in the ID card they are Burman. So there are a lot of problems like that. Maybe the Lahu party will be counting the Lahu population. They have the responsibility to count the Lahu population because they are an official party. Actually, in eastern Salween the education minister before 2010 was Lahu. Another minister was also Lahu. But they didn’t request that kind of special region for the Lahu people.

Other people don’t know Lahu

If we have a special region we can improve our culture, our language, especially the Lahu literature. Actually even though we are Lahu people from Thailand, from Burma, from China, or Laos, the common language is the same. Because of the different regions some languages are a little bit different, and sometimes we cannot understand each other. We want to organise Lahu to have a common language, and culture.

New Year and Christmas is the favourite celebration for Lahu people. But you can see in the New Year, in Burma some Lahu people have New Year in the first of January. In China, it’s different. Also in Thailand, some people use Chinese time some people use first of January. It could be one day for Lahu people for New Year. We want it to be like that.

Lahu New Year celebrations in Thailand.

A lot of Lahu people live in eastern Salween. Ideally we want the name of the Lahu to be in the country’s constitution. Because other people don’t know Lahu. For example, in the past I also didn’t know about Danu ethnicity in Burma. But I read in the 2008 Constitution and now I know Danu is one ethnicity. The name of the Lahu should be in the constitution. In the 2008 Constitution the Burmese government gave five ethnicities, I mean small ethnicities like Lahu, a special region; Wa, Danu, Pa’o, Palaung, and Naga. Lahu should also have it.

This story is based on Kyar Yin Shell’s voice as he tells Burma Link about the Lahu situation.

See PART 1 here!

UPDATE July 30, 2015: ‘I Hope that One Day the Leaders of Burma Can Pursue Full Freedom for the People’

In 2014 and 2015, Kyar Yin Shell had a chance to participate in the Liberty and Leadership Forum, which is supported and organised by George W. Bush and his George W. Bush Institute in the U.S. This is what Kyar Yin Shell wrote about the experience and how he plans to use what he learned to benefit of his country and his people.

Because I come from one of the remote Lahu villages in Keng Tong Township, eastern Shan State of Burma, I am so glad, joyful and happy to see and learn about America, which is a very rich country and practicing democracy. I would like to compare what I have seen in the USA, what I have learned in the forum and what freedom means to Americans, with that of my beloved country Burma.

I had a chance to learn from ninety young leaders of different backgrounds. They come from different ethnicities and locations of Burma and they are working on and trying for the democratisation and development of the country. Moreover, we had a great opportunity to learn about the political philosophy, leadership and democratisation, which we never had a chance to learn in Burma, from American professionals from different universities in the USA. In the political philosophy session, we learned about the idea of John Locke (the most influential political philosopher in the modern period) that humans are free and equal by nature, and in free market economy session, we learned [for example] about the political economy and the role of government and institutions for successful free market economy. Moreover, we learned about the American history, government functions, leadership and the case studies of democratisation around the world.

We had to visit and observe Washington D.C., which is the capital of the USA. We visited the capital, the National Archives, Lincoln Memorial and Mount Vernon which was the birthplace of George Washington. Moreover, I saw how the American people appreciate and respect freedom by participating in the 4th July [celebrations], the Independence Day of the USA. Because of the oppression of the military and civil war, people of Burma don’t care about the value of the Independence Day as the American people do. I hope that one day, the leaders of Burma can pursue full freedom for the people.

Because of civil war and mismanagement, Burma cannot overcome the poverty cycle. Because of the propaganda of the military regime, not many young people on border and in remote areas of Burma can participate in politics. Therefore, I have a responsibility to contribute or share my knowledge and education, which I had learned at Bush institute in the USA, for the development of Lahu people and democratisation of Burma. I have to set up a strong Lahu civil society organisation, which will represent the nationality of Lahu. Because of poor education, difficult communication and transportation, Lahu young people can hardly access to trainings of political awareness and human rights in their region. I have to raise the awareness of the problems of Lahu such as armed conflicts, poor living standard, drug problems, human rights and political situation not only among the people of Burma from other parts of Burma but also among the international community. Most of the Lahu people live in eastern Shan State, which is the notorious area called Golden triangle. Because Lahu young people are in lack of awareness trainings, drug is an entertainment for them. Lahu people have grown drugs for living for decades, and they haven’t overcome poverty. That’s why some local leaders asked me to connect NGOs or INGOs, which are working on reducing drug plantations by carrying out substitution plantation.