When I lived in my village, they forced me to join the army. I could not refuse, I had to join. There were many different people joining as soldiers and you did not know why they all joined. There were some who wanted to come, some whose parents told them to come and some whose parents asked them to come. As for me, I did not want to work with the Burmese SPDC. I deeply wanted to work for the Karen people, so I came here.
When I came to the front line, I met with my friends who were with me in military training. We came together to the front line. When I came I started thinking about my heritage. If I came to the front line, I’d have to fight Karen against Karen and I did not want to fight. I thought: if I have to fight, I will flee, I will escape.
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