The ill inmates were being denied admission to hospitals and Indian made 'Paracetamol' is the only medicine available in prison camps set up across Chin state. As a result, several ailing prisoners have died without medical aid, according to Ko Win Shei who escaped from a concentration camp in Falam.

Ko Win Shei added that the inmates were forced into labour for eight hours a day regardless of weather conditions. Sick inmates are known to be beaten up if they cannot work.

"It is terrible as there is no medicine when we are sick. Some have even died in the hands of prison officers," explained Ko Win Shei who witnessed the scenario in concentration camps.

The severe punishment meted out to prisoners not capable of forced labour sometime claim their lives. However, relatives of some prisoners forced into hard labour are favoured if they can bribe jail authorities.

The military government in Burma last year imposed restrictions on the activities of International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) which provided basic needs and health care to prisons across Burma . The regime controlled media stated that the Union Solidarity and Development Association are visiting prisons camps and jails in place of the ICRC.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisons (AAPP) in a statement claimed that Prison Department fails to provide the basic needs of prisoners which include medical treatment, food, hygiene and accommodation.

There are around 53 inmates in Len Tlang concentration camp, 32 in Rih and 30 in Hman Chaung. Most of inmates are Chins serving long term prison sentences with hard labour after being convicted in drug trafficking cases.

Khin Maung Thein, a supervisor or jail officer in the Len Tlang camp, allegedly engages prisoners in forced labour such as road and building construction, burning bricks among other jobs. – KNG