Villagers in Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State, are being forced to guard a section of the Kal Bauk to Myine Kalay gas pipeline in response to rumors that ethnic rebels will bomb the pipeline during the national referendum, scheduled for May 10th.

Recent rains have destroyed fences and removed soil, exposing previously protected sections of the pipeline. Burmese Army Infantry Battalion No. 6 has ordered shifts of three villagers to guard sections of the pipeline, day and night. The civilian guards are not paid, must provide their own food and water and have also been ordered to repair fences along the pipeline.

This is not the first time villagers have been ordered to guard the pipeline as the practice of using villagers as an unpaid security force is common throughout Mon State. Villagers must assume full responsibility for security, and have good reason to fear reprisals if the pipeline is successfully attacked under their watch; last year in Mudon Township, a village headman was arrested and tortured after a nearby pipeline was attacked.

“We have to wait because the army ordered us to. We do not know whether the rumor that rebel groups will bomb the pipeline is true,” said a man from Wai Kamai Village, through which the pipeline passes. In the past, the regime has accused the Karen National Union (KNU) of bombing the pipeline. KNU officials, however, counter that the allegations are not supported with evidence, and argue that past explosions have been caused by leaks at poorly crafted joints in the pipeline.

The Kal Bauk to Myine Kalay pipeline brings gas from the Yadana Gas fields off the shores of Tenasserim Division to a cement factory in Myaingkalay. The Yadana Gas Project has been condemned by international human rights groups and its owner, Chevron, has recently been sued in a United States court for ignoring a variety of serious human rights abuses, including rape, murder and forced labor.