MUL Role & Activities in Mon Community
(January 2008)

Participation in 61st Anniversary Mon National Day

In Thailand

Amid the security risks against the celebration of Mon National Day in Thailand by threats of Thai authorities to arrest Mon migrant workers those planned to attend MND ceremony, Thai Mon community especially under the collaboration of Thai-Mon (Thai-Raman Association), Mon communities in Samut Sakhon Province, and MUL, 61st Mon National Day was held in Wat Ban Rai Charoempol Temple on February 3, in a day which all groups agree to hold.

Since the celebration is held under the name of Thai-Mon community, the Thai police and authorities could not make much disturbance against MND. As the ceremony was held on Sunday, hundreds of Thai-Mon people from Bangkok, Samut Sakhon Province, Samut Prakan Province, Bangkunhtein District (outskirts of Bangkok) and some Mon migrant workers those have labour cards attended the ceremony.

In the MND ceremony, the speakers are not only informing about the prosperous history of Mon people and their kingdoms in the past to the audiences, but the current situation of Mon people in lower part of Burma and situation of Mon migrant workers are also expressed. At the same time, many Thai polices are closely watched the ceremony and planned to arrest if more illegal migrant workers poured in. But until the end of occasion, no arrests happened.

Note: The article on Mon National Day and the situation of Mon migrant workers are described in the article “The Culture of Tolerance” by Bangkok Post. This article is in MUL’s Website: www.monunityleague.org in Information Sheet.

In New Mon State Party (NMSP) Area

The General Headquarters of NMSP held its 61st Mon National Day ceremony with military parade, which included about 200 troops from Mon National Libration Army (MNLA), in Palaing-japan village about 8 Kilometers far from Three Pagoda Pass where the troops of Burmese Army takes base. Members of MUL networking organizations, Mon teachers, Mon human rights workers and journalists are attending the ceremony.

They also actively involved in distribution of NMSP’s MND Statement, MUL and overseas Mon organizations’ Statements, and entertainment after the ceremony. About 5000 people from various Mon villages in Three Pagoda Pass Township attended MND ceremony, while over 100 Thai Mon people including some Thai academics attended the ceremony.

MUL’s MND Statement

In collaboration with other overseas Mon organizations around the world, MUL released an ‘Political Statement” on MND on 22nd February by Internet. In the Statement, we reviewed glorious days of Mon history in the past and how the Mon kingdom was annexed by Burmese king in 1757. Since then Mon people lost their rights to self-determination. We also expressed that although Burma gained independence from British in 1948, the Mon people has no rights to exercise their rights to self-determination and so that Mon nationalists fought for greater racial rights of Mon people.

MND Statement also analyzed the situation after NMSP’s 1995 ceasefire and calls the Mon people as below:
In 1995, the New Mon State Party (NMSP), the largest Mon armed resistance party entered into a cease-fire agreement with the current Burmese military regime (SPDC) with the aim of solving political problems by peaceful means. The SPDC, however, has dishonored its promise and refused to hold political talks with the NMSP. Instead, the Burmese regime has expanded its military forces in the Mon areas and committed various kinds of human rights abuses including land confiscation, forced relocation, forced labor, rape, and killing. Furthermore, the SPDC abolished the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), which had been fighting for the right to self-determination for the Mons through peaceful and democratic means. Many of the MNDF leaders and supporters were arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and sentenced to long-term jails.

On this 61st Mon National Day, we reaffirm our commitment to continue our fight until our people win our fundamental rights, freedom, and peace. We strongly urge Mon people around the world:

To build solid unity among ourselves and to work together for our causes,
To promote our culture and literature wherever we are,
To launch effective international campaigns against the illegitimate rule of Burmese military regime, and

We appeal to the international community:

To increase pressure on Burmese military regime to initiate political dialogue with the NLD and the ethnic nationalities.
To stop all kinds of human rights abuses committed by the Burmese Army in the parts of Burma which are the homelands of the Mons and other ethnic nationalities.

This statement is jointly issued by:
1. Australia Mon Association (AMA)
2. Euro Mon Community
3. Mon Canadian Society
4. Monland Restoration Council (USA)
5. Mon Women's Association of America
6. Mon Women’s Organization of Canada
7. Mon National League for Consolidating and Aiding (Mae Sot, Thailand)
8. Mon Youth Association (Liberated Area)
9. Mon Refugee Association (Nopho Camp, Thailand)
10. Mon Refugee Organization (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
11. Mon Unity League (Thailand)

3. Application to UN Indigenous People Forum

In February, with the contact of Oversea Mon Coordinating Committee (OMCC) and US Mon – Monland Restoration Council (MRC), MUL is applying as membership to UN Forum for Indigenous People (UNIPF), which is based in New York.

In Application, MUL is described about the Mon people in the world as below:

There are about 4 Millions (in estimation, but only 2. 5 million of them can speak Mon at the moment) in Burma and 3 Millions (only less than 500000 can speak Mon) in Thailand.
Mon people live in Burma in the area of Pegu Division, Mon State, Karen State and Tenasserim Division. Mon people in Thailand live in Samut Prakan Province, Kanchanaburi Province, Ratchburi Province, Lopburi Province, Samut Sakhon Province and outskirts of Bangkok. Many Mon migrant workers from Burma also stay in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea. Due to human rights abuses and civil war in Burma, thousands of Mon people migrated and settled as refugees in United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand

The situation of Mon people in Burma is described as below:

Mon People (both inhabitants in lower Burma and central Thailand) are oldest indigenous people in Southeast Asia. Although the Mon people in Thailand are enjoyed for a socio-economic development and minority rights in Thailand, but the Mon people in southern Burma has been seriously suffered from various types of human rights violations along with they are not granted for the rights to self-determination.
The Mon people in southern part of Burma suffer from:

Land and properties confiscation
Conscription of forced labour
Exploitation of their national resource
Taxation and extortion
Extra-judicial and inhumane treatment
Other abuses

Burma is a country under the rule of military government called State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and this regime has adopted a continuous militarized plan in Mon areas southern part of Burma and other ethnic areas. Therefore, the Mon People never enjoyed any rights of Indigenous People described in International Human Rights Law.

4. Creation of Mon Language Curriculum for Thai Schools

In order to facilitate ‘Bi-Lingual Education System’ in ethnic people dominated Thai Schools, MUL has been intensively helping Thai academics in developing Mon language curriculum for kindergarten and Grade I levels. The Thai education experts has used Wengka Mon village (in Sangkhlaburi) Wat Wiweikaram School to test their project and so that they often travel to have regular training in order to develop curriculums for the kids. Mon Teachers are also trained how to develop curriculum with local knowledge in order to upgrade the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills of these children.

In serial workshop and training with Teachers, Mon language curriculum for Thai schools will be developed as below:

Mon short story telling and short story comic books for the children are developed for many copies. Children in the kindergarten level will select the best stories and those books are confirmed for printing.
Mon songs for the children are recorded and will test for the children to sing in class-rooms. The best songs will be selected to use for the next year teaching by increasing the listening skills of Mon children.
Mon teachers will be trained to have knowledge on playing Mon musical instrument. A group of children will be trained as Mon music group in order to preserve Mon music.

However, MUL founds that some Mon parents did not welcome on this ‘bi-lingual education system’, and it is a need to have awareness program among the parents. MUL with collaboration with teachers and community leaders also conducted ‘parents awareness meeting’ on February 24.