Category: ASEAN

A reward program offered by Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) to junta soldiers who defect with jets, helicopters and other vehicles is likely to test the loyalty of the military’s lower ranks, according to former servicemen. Earlier this month, the NUG announced that it was offering cash rewards of up to U.S. $300,000 equivalent to any soldier who destroys an army, navy or air force assault vehicle or aircraft, or up to U.S. $500,000 to anyone who defects to the opposition along with one. Naing Htoo Aung, the permanent secretary of NUG’s Defense Ministry, said at the time that the rewards program is intended to provide “guarantees in life” for those soldiers who turn against the junta. “We have learned that there are many soldiers who want to defect from their units and join the people’s forces,” he said, adding that the military vehicles are being used to “attack the public.” “We hope this announcement will encourage them to defect more. We believe the rate of defection will increase every day.” Capt. Kaung Thu Win, a military officer who joined the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), agreed that rank and file soldiers are likely to jump at such an opportunity, although he acknowledged that it would be difficult for them to abscond with the vehicles intact. “It could be challenging to bring aircraft or fighter jets to another location. For example, fighter jets need a [special] landing strip. The helicopters are also limited in their range, depending on their capacity. Even tanks are difficult to take long distances,” he told RFA. “It is more realistic to expect them to destroy them. And they should only receive the rewards if they can show evidence that they have destroyed the vehicles and defected.” According to the NUG announcement, soldiers are eligible for cash rewards equal to U.S. $100,000 for destroying fighter jet fuel tanks, as well as weapon factories and storage facilities. Repeated calls to junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the rewards program went unanswered. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute of Strategic Studies, a group of former military officers from Myanmar, called the offer impractical and unrealistic. “There are several measures in place that make it difficult to steal military vehicles, let alone destroy them. There are hierarchies of command that monitor the members of each unit,” he told RFA. “To be frank, this announcement is just for propaganda purposes. When the opposition forces take up arms to fight, they will do anything to defeat the enemy, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. As for whether these tactics will work or not, it depends on their purpose and the impact they have.” Capt. Lin Htet Aung said that regardless of its impact on the outcome of the conflict, the NUG’s reward offer will cause soldiers from all levels of the military to question their loyalty to the junta. “This announcement could stir up the members of elite forces. Those who are operating the vehicles will have thoughts to consider. It will also stir up distrust among the members of the military,” he said. “The military is already facing a moral crisis and losing loyalty among its members. The top ranking officers will strictly punish any infraction that occurs after this announcement.” According to Pyithu Yinkwin (People’s Embrace), a group of CDM members made up of former military personnel, nearly 3,000 soldiers have joined the CDM since the Feb. 1, 2021, coup that saw the junta seize power from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) party.  Junta tanks take part in an Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2022. AFP Misuse of public property In a recent interview, NUG Defense Minister Yee Mon told RFA that the announcement of the rewards program was justified under Myanmar’s Public Property Act of 1947, which prevents against the “misuse of public property.” “The junta is currently misusing military facilities, which are public property, to wage violence against and kill the people,” he said, adding that the president of a new civilian government would put new laws into place to ensure such violations do not happen again. Yee Mon responded to critics who doubt the feasibility of NUG’s announcement by noting that “helicopters don’t need landing strips,” and suggesting “airports will be under PDF control sooner or later” to accommodate any stolen fighter jets. In the meantime, opposition forces — comprised largely of People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitaries — are being armed with “factory-made standard arms and IEDs that we made ourselves,” as well as weapons bought using a budget of U.S. $34 million, and others seized from junta troops. “We have enough weapons to meet the minimum requirements for the PDF forces,” he said, without providing further details. Yee Mon said that the armed opposition now numbers “between 50,000 and 100,000” soldiers from the PDF and other allied anti-junta groups formed into 259 military battalions, as well as fighting units based in 250 townships across the country. RFA was unable to independently verify the minister’s claims. “The majority of these groups are working with NUG … and we are ready to defeat the military junta,” he said. “Now we are working on the next step in terms of surrounding and controlling some towns.  The defense minister said that the NUG has no plans to negotiate with the junta, “as long as it upholds an authoritarian system and mindset.” “With regards to the future of the military, which is under its control, it is up to their soldiers to decide,” he said. “They can choose either to completely disband the military or reform it into forces that comply with the command of a civilian government. If the latter, the window for negotiations remains open.” Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Nearly 100 religious buildings have been destroyed in two regions and two states in Myanmar more than a year after the military seized control from the elected government and plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos and violence, according to data compiled by RFA. The 97 religious buildings that have been demolished since the Feb. 1 coup include 15 Buddhist monasteries in Sagaing region, five Buddhist monasteries and one Christian church in Magway region, 62 Christian churches in Chin state, and 13 Christian churches and a mosque in Kayah state. In some cases, soldiers raided the religious buildings and beat locals who had taken shelter there. Residents of Sagaing region in northwestern Myanmar said several Buddhist monasteries and Christian churches in Ye-U, Mingin, Yinmarbin and Khin-U had been burned down, while other monasteries had been destroyed in Ye-U, Tanze, Kalay, Myaung, Pale and Ayadaw townships. Zaw Zaw, a resident of Pale township, said Buddhist monks there are being fed by locals offering alms after military troops raided villages and robbed and torched their monasteries. “They were swearing at the Buddhist monasteries [and] fired several shots into the air,” he said. “They seized cell phones from the monks at the gunpoint. They also robbed civilians who took shelter in the monasteries of their money, gold and jewelry.” Whenever a military detachment entered Zaw Zaw’s village, residents remained behind closed doors and did not go to the monastery to offer alms to the monks, he said. “Even Buddhist monks are on the run,” Zaw Zaw added. Other civilians told RFA that they have been appalled to see bullet holes and other damage from bomb blasts on Buddhist pagodas that serve as landmarks in many small communities. Locals used to take shelter in monasteries when military units arrived in their villages, but now these places are no longer safe, they said. Soldiers no longer honor religious buildings in the Buddhist-majority nation because they only want to ensure they maintain power, said a member of the People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Yesagyo township in Magway region who wanted to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “They are a fascist, terrorist army,” he said. “They no longer venerate the religion. They don’t care about the well-being of the people. They don’t care anything else. All they care about is upholding their power and increasing their wealth.” “They also prosecute and assault the people,” said the PDF member. “They will do the same thing to the sacred buildings of any religion. They won’t be reluctant to destroy anytime.” Dawuku Catholic Church in Loikaw township, eastern Myanmar’s Kayah state, seen in January 2022, was damaged by artillery fire from a military junta aircraft. Credit: Citizen journalist ‘Horrible acts’ Largely Christian Chin state in western Myanmar has had 62 religious structures destroyed — the largest number of such of any single state or region since the military takeover — including 22 that were burned to ashes, and 20 more destroyed by artillery blasts, according to the Institute of Chin Affairs, a human rights organization. “We feel that this is result of lacking respects on the people with different religious beliefs,” the organization said in a March 22 statement. “Many of us have perceptions that they treated us this way because they disrespect to people with different religious beliefs. Losing the mutual respect to other religions is not acceptable, and assaulting the believers of different religions is violation of international laws.” The Rev. Dennis Ngun Thang Mang said some of the churches destroyed were on fire though there were no armed conflicts in their vicinity, and when he and other asked the military about the blazes, they claimed they didn’t know anything about it. Additionally, military forces arrested 20 Christian ministers. While a dozen of the captives were later released, four remain in detention and four were killed, the Institute of Chin Affairs said. In Loikaw, Demoso and Hpruso townships of Kayah state, three Baptist churches, 10 Catholic churches and a mosque have been destroyed. St. Joseph Catholic Church in Demoso township, Kayah state, was damaged by artillery and small arms fire on May 26, 2021, despite pleas a day earlier by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the archbishop of the Catholic Church in Myanmar, that troops refrain from attacking the country’s religious buildings. Credit: Karenni People’s Defense Force Military commanders are supposed to avoid hitting religious buildings during armed conflicts, said a Christian religious leader in Loikaw, who requested anonymity for safety reasons. “During the armed conflicts in Kayah state, most of the bombs from air raids and artillery blasts fell inside the compound of the churches,” he told RFA. “That’s why many churches were destroyed. “We don’t know why they did it,” he said. “We strongly condemn their actions. We want to appeal them to avoid targeting religious buildings.” The military regime’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, denied that army forces targeted religious buildings during armed conflicts. “The Tatmadaw never targeted any religious buildings,” he said, using the Burmese name for the Myanmar military. “There were incidents of raiding them when we received credible information that terrorists were hiding in the buildings.” In cases where monasteries and churches were accidentally hit by military fire, soldiers took the lead in helping to repair them, Zaw Min Tun said. Aung Myo Min, human rights minister of the shadow National Unity Government, said the U.N.’s Geneva Convention lays out guidelines to protect religious building amid armed conflict. “Religious buildings and sacred places are icons of religious freedom,” he told RFA. “They should not be assaulted or destroyed, even by society’s norms. But targeting religious buildings in armed conflicts and firing weapons at them are horrible acts.” Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.