Daw Hla Shin is a 70-year-old Karen woman from Win Tar Pan village in Bilin, Mon State. She grew up amidst Burmese Army abuse that only worsened after she married a Karen soldier. The villagers lived in constant fear of the Burmese soldiers, enduring torture, killings, and burnt homes and belongings. For Daw Hla Shin, things were even worse; the villagers tried to protect her but they were so afraid of the Burmese military that even her own parents refused to live with her, knowing the Burmese soldiers thought she was a spy for the Karen. She couldn’t even live in the village anymore. She had to stay away in the jungle. The villagers knew about that and they tried to protect her but there was not much they could do. Daw Hla Shin had nowhere to go. Having never attended school or had any connection to the outside world, Daw Hla Shin, nor her younger sister, had any idea that there would be any escape or that Thailand even existed. Both sisters lost their first husbands in battle against the Burma Army. What happened to them and where are they now? Read Daw Hla Shin’s story to find out more.
Don’t even think about it, we never went to school
Daw Hla Shin (DHS) and her sister Dar Dar (DD)* grew up in Win Tar Pan, a small village in Mon State.
DHS: When we were children, we had to worry about Burmese soldiers coming to the village. No one dared to stay in their houses when Burmese soldiers came to village, we had to go to the jungle with our parents to hide from them. When we came back to the village they knew we will be back.
… They killed people who they suspected as Karen soldiers or related to Karen soldiers in some way. Even if they heard someone from the village joined Kawthoolei
[Karen army] to help as a porter, they killed them when the porters came back to the village. One of my uncles was killed by Burmese soldiers outside the village. I was very young at that time, I heard a shot somewhere outside the village. Nobody knew why but later we found him dead outside the village.
Before Four Cuts, we lived with our family, together with our parents. Then she [Daw Hla Shin’s sister Dar Dar (DD)] became a soldier.
DD: When the Four Cuts policy started, I joined KNU [Karen National Union] to become a soldier… Don’t even think about it, we never went to school. We grew up in the jungle, says Dar Dar when asked if they went to school.
If we didn’t have enough to give they would kill us
Daw Hla Shin explains that the Burmese military camp was just next to the village and the Burmese soldiers came to their village all the time.
DHS: They tortured the villagers in many cruel ways, one is to rip their body using a knife and put salt on the cut then they toasted the body or burnt on fire. When they were doing that they asked everyone to come and see… My father was the village chief of our village, he was chosen to be a village chief by Kawthoolei leaders. Kawthoolei had connection with our village and other villages around ours. The Burmese military knew about that, that’s why they oppressed the villagers and killed those who were suspected of helping the KNU.
When Burmese soldiers came to the village, they always asked the villagers if Kawthoolei soldiers came to the village or not. The villagers answered yes, they came and took the food, but no matter how you answered, yes or no, they would still beat you or hit you.
They never acknowledge Karen people, or they always look down on our Karen people. The only thing they do is oppress us [Karen people]. They never treat us as their friends. They never say ‘brothers, let’s go work together’. If they came they would ask for food, if we didn’t have enough to give they would kill us.
I couldn’t live in the village, I couldn’t sleep in the village. I had to live with fear
Daw Hla Shin faced immense difficulties after marrying a KNU soldier. She explains that her husband was constantly on the front line and she hiding in the jungle from Burmese soldiers.
DHS: I didn’t dare to stay in my house when they came to village. I had to go and hide in some other people’s houses or in the jungle. I took some clothes and left to the jungle with my children.
In the jungle, there were also some other people hiding. We made a temporary shelter, we cut some branches and leaves to make a place to sleep. When Burmese soldiers left, we went back to the village to our house. But before we went back we had to clean the place to make sure it didn’t look like people had lived there as Burmese soldiers sometimes go around the jungle. If we see a snake, we will beat them to dead. But many times, we heard the roar of tigers somewhere far away in the jungle. But we weren’t afraid of snakes or tigers, just Burmese soldiers.
Once they found us in the jungle, but fortunately they didn’t do anything to us. I still remember my daughter as a kid, when she saw Burmese soldiers came, said “mom, dad is coming back!” I had to tell her ‘that is not your father’. It was because she only saw her father came back sometimes, wearing a uniform like a soldier, and carrying a gun so she thought they were the same as her father. When we faced them we had to lie as if we were just villagers came to collect some vegetables in the jungle. They asked if we saw any Kawthoolei soldiers coming, we replied no. Every time they heard Kawthoolei soldiers came, they came to check, and we had to lie that they never came.
… Married to a soldier, I have faced a lot of difficulties; I couldn’t live in the village, I couldn’t sleep in the village. I had to live with fear. I had a house in the village which was built by the villagers. I could only live there for a few days. When the soldiers came, as I was hiding in the jungle, they burnt down my house. Since then, I never had my house in the village again. My parents didn’t want to live with me because they didn’t want trouble caused by me.
We had never even heard about Thailand
DHS: In the village I grew some vegetables, mostly cucumbers to make a living. I didn’t have a farm but I had to cut and clean bushes on the hillside to get a small area in the jungle to grow some rice. After the Burmese soldiers started coming to our village we were afraid to go to our land and we started not having enough rice.
They [the Burmese] found out from another village that I helped Karen soldiers to come to the village, and safely leave the village… They [the Burmese] called me a spy… All the villagers knew I married a Karen soldier, I know some people told Burmese soldiers about that. Since then I had to go to the jungle to hide whenever the Burmese soldiers came to the village. I lived in the jungle outside the village to avoid Burmese soldiers. When Burmese soldiers came all the villagers knew and went to the jungle to hide. They didn’t burn our village but there were some villages they burned, especially small villages.
Once some Burmese soldiers came to my farm outside the village and asked me to give a pig for them to eat. I didn’t have a pig that was big enough, all my pigs were young, just babies. So I asked them to wait and I went to the village to buy a pig. When I was gone the soldiers burned down my hut and my rice barn. All my belongings were burned down.
When they burnt down my rice barn, I had nothing to eat but the villagers helped me by giving me some rice. They didn’t burn down the whole village, but they burnt down many people houses.
DD: They went around the village and burnt down every rice barn they saw.
DHS: By the time this happened, we never had a thought of fleeing to Thailand, we had never even heard about Thailand. We didn’t know about the world and countries, we didn’t even know there is Thailand.
One month after the wedding my husband was killed by Burmese soldiers
DHS: Later, my father died of fever and my mother moved to Kyaikaw to live with my brother, and I moved to Manerplaw to live with my sister.
When my husband went to the front line I had to be in the house to look after my children. My husband died in the battle. My husband was one of the big commanders in KNU. He served for his Karen people. I was 29 when my first husband died in battle. I had one daughter at that time. I had another husband after that. He also died but he was not a soldier. He died of sickness and we moved to Manerplaw after that. That time I was something around 40 or 45. I lived in Manerplaw with my two daughters. My sister was also there in Manerplaw. She wanted me to stay close to her.
DD: I was still serving as a soldier in Manerplaw, says Dar Dar. I was married and had one child at that time. We lived in Manerplaw for about 3 years not sure, maybe even more… I didn’t always stay there because I had to go to front line sometime, to Wan Kah, Dar Dar adds. When DKBA separated from KNU, a lot of [Buddhist] people were asked to follow DKBA back inside Burma. My sister with her daughters also had to follow them.
DHS: We lived in Myai Gyi Ngue, DKBA base camp. The monk called all Buddhists to follow him to Myai Gyi Ngue. At that time people were very confused and scared, so they didn’t know which one to follow. On the way back with DKBA, we were still ambushed by one armed group, we don’t know who they were. When people left Manerplaw DKBA soldiers came to guard them on the way to Myai Gyi Ngue. Manerplaw was where KNU headquarter was based. A lot of people, not only soldiers, were living there. It was like a home for a lot of people. They also had schools and hospitals.
DD: It was conflict between Buddhist and Christian that became two groups. There was fighting in Thu Mwe Hta. We were not together at that time, I had to go to the front line, she was at home looking after her children and my son, says Dar Dar. When I married my husband I thought I will quit and live with my family but only one month after the wedding my husband was killed by Burmese soldiers. He was also a Karen soldier.
I went around for one year living on the street
DHS: Later I sold my land in Myai Gyi Ngue and all the money were stolen by them [Daw Hla Shin’s two daughters and their husbands]. I abandoned them. I left the house alone and went away from them. I had no money and I didn’t know where to go, just walking around villages. My sister heard about me, she sent someone to find me and take me where she lives.
… They all married. They are not my daughters anymore. They were not good to me.
DD: She was just going around and living in friends’ or relatives’ houses until I heard about her doing that and sent someone to find her. I spent 60,000 kyat for her to come here, Dar Dar says. Someone told me ‘Your sister left the village and nobody knows where she is’. As soon as I heard this I called my brother and asked him if he saw her. He hadn’t seen her either. So, I got someone to go looking for her. If the daughters don’t want to look after their mother, fine I will look after my sister, just bring her to me. When she got to Mae Tha Waw village, I went there and took her to this village to live with me.
DHS: Just before my sister sent someone to get me I was in Kyaikaw where my brother and my mother used to live. I didn’t live in the village; I went to cemetery and stayed next to my mother’s grave alone. I was really upset, I didn’t want to see my daughters’ faces anymore. That’s why I came here. It took me one day to get to Mae Tha Waw village on Thailand-Burma Border.
When I came here, I didn’t bring anything with me. My sister gave me her clothes to wear. I came to stay with my sister just a few months ago. Before that, I went around for one year living on the street. I used to have a lot of stress living around my daughters, only when I live with my sister I got this peaceful life. I don’t need them, my sister will look after me. When I die, I don’t want anyone to let them know or invite them to come to my funeral.
I will never go back to my daughters, I don’t want to see them. I will live here and die here in my sister’s house. I like living here with my sister, I have no stress. I feel happy and peaceful.
Read this story in Burmese
This story is based on Burma Link’s interview with Daw Hla Shin and her sister in their village on the Thailand-Burma border.
*The name Dar Dar is used by Burma Link to call Daw Hla Shin’s sister in this story.
Daw Hla Shin (DHS) and her sister Dar Dar (DD)* grew up in Win Tar Pan, a small village in Mon State.
DHS: When we were children, we had to worry about Burmese soldiers coming to the village. No one dared to stay in their houses when Burmese soldiers came to village, we had to go to the jungle with our parents to hide from them. When we came back to the village they knew we will be back.
… They killed people who they suspected as Karen soldiers or related to Karen soldiers in some way. Even if they heard someone from the village joined Kawthoolei
Before Four Cuts, we lived with our family, together with our parents. Then she [Daw Hla Shin’s sister Dar Dar (DD)] became a soldier.
DD: When the Four Cuts policy started, I joined KNU [Karen National Union] to become a soldier… Don’t even think about it, we never went to school. We grew up in the jungle, says Dar Dar when asked if they went to school.
If we didn’t have enough to give they would kill us
Daw Hla Shin explains that the Burmese military camp was just next to the village and the Burmese soldiers came to their village all the time.
DHS: They tortured the villagers in many cruel ways, one is to rip their body using a knife and put salt on the cut then they toasted the body or burnt on fire. When they were doing that they asked everyone to come and see… My father was the village chief of our village, he was chosen to be a village chief by Kawthoolei leaders. Kawthoolei had connection with our village and other villages around ours. The Burmese military knew about that, that’s why they oppressed the villagers and killed those who were suspected of helping the KNU.
When Burmese soldiers came to the village, they always asked the villagers if Kawthoolei soldiers came to the village or not. The villagers answered yes, they came and took the food, but no matter how you answered, yes or no, they would still beat you or hit you.
They never acknowledge Karen people, or they always look down on our Karen people. The only thing they do is oppress us [Karen people]. They never treat us as their friends. They never say ‘brothers, let’s go work together’. If they came they would ask for food, if we didn’t have enough to give they would kill us.
I couldn’t live in the village, I couldn’t sleep in the village. I had to live with fear
Daw Hla Shin faced immense difficulties after marrying a KNU soldier. She explains that her husband was constantly on the front line and she hiding in the jungle from Burmese soldiers.
DHS: I didn’t dare to stay in my house when they came to village. I had to go and hide in some other people’s houses or in the jungle. I took some clothes and left to the jungle with my children.
In the jungle, there were also some other people hiding. We made a temporary shelter, we cut some branches and leaves to make a place to sleep. When Burmese soldiers left, we went back to the village to our house. But before we went back we had to clean the place to make sure it didn’t look like people had lived there as Burmese soldiers sometimes go around the jungle. If we see a snake, we will beat them to dead. But many times, we heard the roar of tigers somewhere far away in the jungle. But we weren’t afraid of snakes or tigers, just Burmese soldiers.
Once they found us in the jungle, but fortunately they didn’t do anything to us. I still remember my daughter as a kid, when she saw Burmese soldiers came, said “mom, dad is coming back!” I had to tell her ‘that is not your father’. It was because she only saw her father came back sometimes, wearing a uniform like a soldier, and carrying a gun so she thought they were the same as her father. When we faced them we had to lie as if we were just villagers came to collect some vegetables in the jungle. They asked if we saw any Kawthoolei soldiers coming, we replied no. Every time they heard Kawthoolei soldiers came, they came to check, and we had to lie that they never came.
… Married to a soldier, I have faced a lot of difficulties; I couldn’t live in the village, I couldn’t sleep in the village. I had to live with fear. I had a house in the village which was built by the villagers. I could only live there for a few days. When the soldiers came, as I was hiding in the jungle, they burnt down my house. Since then, I never had my house in the village again. My parents didn’t want to live with me because they didn’t want trouble caused by me.
We had never even heard about Thailand
DHS: In the village I grew some vegetables, mostly cucumbers to make a living. I didn’t have a farm but I had to cut and clean bushes on the hillside to get a small area in the jungle to grow some rice. After the Burmese soldiers started coming to our village we were afraid to go to our land and we started not having enough rice.
They [the Burmese] found out from another village that I helped Karen soldiers to come to the village, and safely leave the village… They [the Burmese] called me a spy… All the villagers knew I married a Karen soldier, I know some people told Burmese soldiers about that. Since then I had to go to the jungle to hide whenever the Burmese soldiers came to the village. I lived in the jungle outside the village to avoid Burmese soldiers. When Burmese soldiers came all the villagers knew and went to the jungle to hide. They didn’t burn our village but there were some villages they burned, especially small villages.
Once some Burmese soldiers came to my farm outside the village and asked me to give a pig for them to eat. I didn’t have a pig that was big enough, all my pigs were young, just babies. So I asked them to wait and I went to the village to buy a pig. When I was gone the soldiers burned down my hut and my rice barn. All my belongings were burned down.
When they burnt down my rice barn, I had nothing to eat but the villagers helped me by giving me some rice. They didn’t burn down the whole village, but they burnt down many people houses.
DD: They went around the village and burnt down every rice barn they saw.
DHS: By the time this happened, we never had a thought of fleeing to Thailand, we had never even heard about Thailand. We didn’t know about the world and countries, we didn’t even know there is Thailand.
One month after the wedding my husband was killed by Burmese soldiers
DHS: Later, my father died of fever and my mother moved to Kyaikaw to live with my brother, and I moved to Manerplaw to live with my sister.
When my husband went to the front line I had to be in the house to look after my children. My husband died in the battle. My husband was one of the big commanders in KNU. He served for his Karen people. I was 29 when my first husband died in battle. I had one daughter at that time. I had another husband after that. He also died but he was not a soldier. He died of sickness and we moved to Manerplaw after that. That time I was something around 40 or 45. I lived in Manerplaw with my two daughters. My sister was also there in Manerplaw. She wanted me to stay close to her.
DD: I was still serving as a soldier in Manerplaw, says Dar Dar. I was married and had one child at that time. We lived in Manerplaw for about 3 years not sure, maybe even more… I didn’t always stay there because I had to go to front line sometime, to Wan Kah, Dar Dar adds. When DKBA separated from KNU, a lot of [Buddhist] people were asked to follow DKBA back inside Burma. My sister with her daughters also had to follow them.
DHS: We lived in Myai Gyi Ngue, DKBA base camp. The monk called all Buddhists to follow him to Myai Gyi Ngue. At that time people were very confused and scared, so they didn’t know which one to follow. On the way back with DKBA, we were still ambushed by one armed group, we don’t know who they were. When people left Manerplaw DKBA soldiers came to guard them on the way to Myai Gyi Ngue. Manerplaw was where KNU headquarter was based. A lot of people, not only soldiers, were living there. It was like a home for a lot of people. They also had schools and hospitals.
DD: It was conflict between Buddhist and Christian that became two groups. There was fighting in Thu Mwe Hta. We were not together at that time, I had to go to the front line, she was at home looking after her children and my son, says Dar Dar. When I married my husband I thought I will quit and live with my family but only one month after the wedding my husband was killed by Burmese soldiers. He was also a Karen soldier.
I went around for one year living on the street
DHS: Later I sold my land in Myai Gyi Ngue and all the money were stolen by them [Daw Hla Shin’s two daughters and their husbands]. I abandoned them. I left the house alone and went away from them. I had no money and I didn’t know where to go, just walking around villages. My sister heard about me, she sent someone to find me and take me where she lives.
… They all married. They are not my daughters anymore. They were not good to me.
DD: She was just going around and living in friends’ or relatives’ houses until I heard about her doing that and sent someone to find her. I spent 60,000 kyat for her to come here, Dar Dar says. Someone told me ‘Your sister left the village and nobody knows where she is’. As soon as I heard this I called my brother and asked him if he saw her. He hadn’t seen her either. So, I got someone to go looking for her. If the daughters don’t want to look after their mother, fine I will look after my sister, just bring her to me. When she got to Mae Tha Waw village, I went there and took her to this village to live with me.
DHS: Just before my sister sent someone to get me I was in Kyaikaw where my brother and my mother used to live. I didn’t live in the village; I went to cemetery and stayed next to my mother’s grave alone. I was really upset, I didn’t want to see my daughters’ faces anymore. That’s why I came here. It took me one day to get to Mae Tha Waw village on Thailand-Burma Border.
When I came here, I didn’t bring anything with me. My sister gave me her clothes to wear. I came to stay with my sister just a few months ago. Before that, I went around for one year living on the street. I used to have a lot of stress living around my daughters, only when I live with my sister I got this peaceful life. I don’t need them, my sister will look after me. When I die, I don’t want anyone to let them know or invite them to come to my funeral.
I will never go back to my daughters, I don’t want to see them. I will live here and die here in my sister’s house. I like living here with my sister, I have no stress. I feel happy and peaceful.
Read this story in Burmese
This story is based on Burma Link’s interview with Daw Hla Shin and her sister in their village on the Thailand-Burma border.
*The name Dar Dar is used by Burma Link to call Daw Hla Shin’s sister in this story.
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