The 40 local people who were forcibly taken to rebuild the BGF camp in Hpa-an Township in Karen State have not been released until almost a month later, the Karen’s Alliance Supervisory Committee told Than Lwin Times.

The BGF did not pay the local residents’ wages and forced them to cut wood and bamboo, and repair damaged camps.

Colonel Saw Kyaw Myint, chairman of the KNU’s Alliance Supervisory Committee (Thaton District), said that the BGF needs to stop human rights violations and acts of violence against local residents as soon as possible.

On November 29, the BGF camp in Beilin Township fired mortar shells into Minsaw and Tagaylong villages, damaging nine local homes and a church, the KNU reported.

The BGF forces Hpa-an and Belin in KNU-controlled Brigade 1 frequently force the locals to cut the wood and bamboo needed for their camp while arresting locals and extorting money.