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Category: ASEAN

Junta troops seize orphanage during battle in central Myanmar

Editor04 mins

Junta soldiers sheltered in an orphanage in central Myanmar to deter resistance groups from attacking, locals and People’s Defense Forces told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.  A junta military camp in Sagaing region’s Tamu township was abandoned by troops in November when it was captured by resistance groups, local People’s Defense Forces said. While attempting to recapture their lost base, junta troops positioned themselves in Kampat city’s orphanage on Sunday. Forty people were in the orphanage at the time, including 36 children and four teachers.  On Sunday, junta soldiers launched an attack on People’s Defense Forces from outside the building, according to a resistance group official, adding that the troops used heavy and small weapons, as well as airstrikes.  However, the resistance group removed the teachers and children from the orphanage on Monday, the official added.  “That orphanage is near the military camp on the hill. The junta troops regained control of that camp on the hill using the orphans as human shields,” he told RFA, asking to be kept anonymous for fear of reprisals.  “Both the children and the adults in that orphanage tried to escape, but they did not succeed. So they were evacuated by our People’s Defense Forces at around 12 yesterday. Now they are in a safe place.” The orphanage is owned by a Christian church in No. 1 neighborhood of Kampat city. Nearby are a police station and a temporary military camp on the hill, residents said, which troops regained control of after the battle.  Intense fighting on the India-Myanmar border near Kampat city has been constant since the end of October. People’s Defense Forces claim to have captured Kampat on Nov. 7. Almost a month later on Wednesday, junta troops launched an offensive to recapture the city, defense force officials told RFA. Since then, fighting has continued. On Sunday, the military junta carried out an aerial attack around the Kampat Police Station near the orphanage, he added.  Calls by RFA to Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Sai Naing Naing Kyaw seeking comment on the incident went unanswered Tuesday. Nearly 5,000 residents from four neighborhoods in Kampat city and surrounding villages have fled on Tuesday, some to the Indian border. Fighting has also intensified near Tamu city, making it difficult for locals to find a place to seek shelter, residents said. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Artillery hits children playing, killing girl in western Myanmar

Editor03 mins

Heavy shelling killed a child and injured five others in western Myanmar, locals told Radio Free Asia on Monday.  An artillery blast landed in a home in Rakhine state’s Minbya township on Sunday night where five children were playing together. A thirteen-year-old named Sabel died as a result. Four other children were injured, along with a woman who was in the house, Minbya residents said.  Sabel died instantly, and the injured victims were sent to the hospital, said a resident of Okkar Pyan neighborhood, where the attack occurred.  “A heavy weapon dropped on Soe Tint’s house. His daughter was hit in the head and died on the spot,” he told RFA, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “Children playing together were also injured, and were sent to the hospital as an emergency case.” Locals claimed the shelling was done by the junta’s Minbya-based battalion 380, but RFA has not been able to independently verify this.  Attacks in Minbya city and surrounding villages have resulted in a total of one death and eight injuries on Sunday, according to the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s statement.The alliance is composed of four ethnic armed resistance groups, including the Arakan Army.  In addition to one death and five injuries in Minbya, a drone attack by junta forces injured a 12-year-old child and damaged a house in Sittwe township’s War Bo village on Sunday, the statement said. Two heavy explosives dropped by the junta in Ponnagyun township’s Pa Day Thar village destroyed houses and injured residents the same day, it added. RFA called Rakhine state’s junta spokesperson Hla Thein to learn more about civilian casualties, but he did not respond by the time of publication.  Since fighting resumed in Rakhine state on Nov. 13, clashes and attacks have killed 19 civilians and injured 60 others, according to data compiled by RFA.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Philippines, China accuse each other of ship ramming

Editor08 mins

Beijing and Manila traded accusations on Sunday morning with each side claiming its ships were harassed and rammed by the other. A Philippine spokesman said Philippine civilian supply vessels on a routine resupply and rotation mission to the BRP Sierra Madre – the old landing ship that Manila deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal to serve as an outpost in 1999 – were “harassed, blocked, and executed dangerous maneuvers on” by the Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels. Jay Tarriela, the Philippine coast guard’s spokesperson, posted on the social media site X a statement by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea under Manila’s jurisdiction, saying that the resupply boat Unaizah Mae 1 (UM1) was rammed by the Chinese coast guard ship CCG 21556. The Chinese coast guard earlier issued a statement saying that at 06:39 a.m. the UM1 “ignored CCG repeated stern warnings, violated the COLREGs (Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea), swerved in an unprofessional and dangerous manner, and deliberately collided into the CCG boat 21556, resulting in scratches, for which the Philippines is fully responsible.” Ship ramming is generally considered an act of violence and could cause serious damage to vessels, as well as injuries to the crew on board. There have been instances of ship ramming in the South China Sea but no state has ever officially sanctioned this dangerous tactic. The previous time Manila accused Chinese vessels of ramming its ships was on Oct. 22, also in the waters off the Second Thomas Shoal, known by Filippinos as Ayungin Shoal and by the Chinese as Ren’ai Jiao. China denied it. The Philippines afterwards summoned the Chinese ambassador and filed a diplomatic protest against China’s action.  The United States also expressed concern, issuing a warning that Washington is obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under armed attack, including “those of its coast guard — anywhere in the South China Sea.” Cat and mouse Manila and Beijing have been playing cat and mouse around the Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippines is making regular resupply missions to the troops stationed on the Sierra Madre and the Chinese coast guard has been trying to prevent them. The statement from the Philippine National Task Force said that on Sunday morning “CCG vessel 5204 deployed a water cannon against the Philippine supply vessels causing severe damage to M/L [motor launch] Kalavaan’s engines, disabling the vessel and seriously endangering the lives of its crew.” It also showed photos of the Kalavaan being water cannoned and then towed to port. “We condemn, once again, China’s latest unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers against a legitimate and routine Philippine rotation and resupply mission,” the statement said. “The Philippines will not be deterred from exercising our legal rights,” it added. Caption: Philippine supply boat Kalavaan being towed to port after being fired on with water cannons, Dec. 10, 2023. (Philippine Coast Guard) On Saturday, Manila accused the Chinese coast guard of deploying water cannons, a floating barrier and painful sound blasts against boats ferrying supplies to Filipino fishermen in disputed waters near another shoal in the South China Sea. Vessels from Manila’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources were targeted by water cannon “at least eight times” as they attempted to deliver food and fuel to more than 30 Filipino fishing boats near Scarborough Shoal, said a statement by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea. The China Coast Guard responded by saying it had used “control measures in accordance with the law” against the Philippine boats as they “intruded” into the waters adjacent to the island. Analysts say that Manila has embarked on a tactic of “assertive transparency” in reporting incidents in disputed waters. “Although the term was coined this year, the practice of assertive transparency has been used ever since people dealt with gray zone tactics,” said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. Gray zone activities are not explicit acts of war but can be harmful to a nation’s security. “For example, during the 2014 oil rig crisis between China and Vietnam, Hanoi ferried international journalists to the site of the oil rig confrontation so they could shed maximum light on the ‘gray zone’.” “This was assertive transparency in practice, although nobody used that term to describe the practice in 2014,” the political analyst told RFA. “This practice has proven to be effective,” said Vuving, adding “The other key was perseverance.” Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this article. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Out of the hills: The war is coming to Myanmar’s cities

Editor013 mins

Operation 1027, launched on Oct. 27 by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, has led to coordinated attacks throughout Myanmar and seen the fall of 20 towns and over 300 military posts. But violence is now starting to spread to the cities, a strategic tipping point. Since that offensive against the military in northern Shan state by the alliance – the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – members and others are expanding the battle front against the military junta. In the east, Karenni forces launched Operation 1111 and now control nearly 80% of Kayah state. They are now fighting in the capital Loikaw.  In this Kokang online media provided photo, fighters of Three Brotherhood Alliance check an artillery gun, claimed to have been seized from Myanmar junta outpost on a hill in Hsenwi township, Shan state on Nov. 24, 2023. (The Kokang online media via AP) In western Myanmar, the Arakan Army ended its cease-fire in Rakhine state, and have taken major bases, while Chin forces have made significant inroads along the Indian border and claim to have established civil administration in 70% of the state.  The MNDAA has begun its assault on Laukkaing, the capital of the Kokang region.  Karen forces in Kayin State have taken over parts of the main road to the Thai border, greatly restricting border trade.  On Dec. 3, the opposition National Unity Government announced the establishment of civil administration in Kawlin town in the war-torn Sagaing region, the first township capital to fall to the opposition. The military that took power in a Feb. 2021 coup is increasingly constrained to a diminishing share of the Bamar heartland. But even that is starting to slip away. On Dec. 3, the KNLA and local PDFs took over Mone, the first town to fall in Bago state. Some 17 soldiers surrendered with their weapons. More importantly, the opposition is getting within striking distance of Highway 1 that connects Yangon and Naypyidaw. Military escalation The military has responded with an escalation in the number of long-range artillery and aerial bombing, both of which have resulted in increased civilian casualties. On Dec. 3, the NUG’s Ministry of Human Rights released details on SAC attacks on civilians, documenting 84 airstrikes, and 112 artillery strikes that resulted in the death of 244 civilians. Such attacks will continue as the military has neither sufficient number of troops to retake lost territory, nor sufficient means to move troops. One cannot control territory from the air.  In a brief moment of candor, Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged some battlefield setbacks, blaming foreign interference.  While there have been significant opposition gains in the countryside, within the cocoons of Mandalay and Yangon, the military regime has gone to great lengths to project a sense of normalcy, so that the population will acquiesce to military rule. Restaurants and bars are open, life goes on. A woman looks through debris in the aftermath of a junta strike on a camp for displaced people near Laiza, northern Myanmar on Oct. 11, 2023. Junta has escalated long range artillery and aerial bombing, both of which have resulted in the increased civilian casualties. (AFP photo) Reports from the ground suggest that the military is building up its defenses in Naypyidaw, Yangon, and Mandalay, with increasing shows of force and patrols of armored vehicles. Naypyidaw is already a fortress city that will be hard to attack. But the recent capture of heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems should give opposition forces the ability to now target the city.  Likewise, greater proximity will allow the small drones and quadcopters that the opposition has used to drop mortar shells the ability to strike targets. Even symbolic strikes in Naypyidaw would sew fear amongst regime loyalists, undermine morale, and sap the will to resist. More urban attacks That is now changing, with more attacks by opposition People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) in the cities in the past month.  The most notable recent attack was the Dec. 1 assassination of the chairman of the pro-military New National Democracy Party, Than Tun. He had been a National League for Democracy (NLD) member before defecting to a pro-military party that was established by a senior advisor to the State Administrative Council (SAC). the junta’s formal name. These assassinations are meant to convey good operational intelligence on the part of the PDFs, and at the same time, serve as a warning that if they can hit someone so close to the SAC, then the military is unable to protect anyone.  Myanmar’s military junta soldiers on a truck patrol in Yangon, Dec. 4, 2023. Reports from the ground suggest that the military is building up its defenses in Naypyidaw, Yangon, and Mandalay, with increasing shows of force and patrols of armed vehicles. (AFP photo) There have been many assassinations in the past, including the assassination of the chief financial officer of the military owned telecom firm MyTel, and an attack on the current governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar, which wounded her. But the military understands the importance of maintaining a sense of security in the cities. There’s always been violence in the borderlands, but once violence hit Yangon and Mandalay, people questioned the military’s hold on power.  To that end, they began deploying Chinese-made CCTV cameras with artificial intelligence. Urban guerrilla networks that were active in 2022, were systematically taken apart. The arrest and torture of one member, often led to the rest of entire cells. This means that the return of urban guerrillas is an important milestone that demonstrates both a decline in the military’s control over the cities, and the growing confidence of the PDFs to conduct operations. Yangon sees PDF attacks There has been a string of attacks in greater Yangon in the past few weeks. A PDF attacked soldiers guarding the state-owned Electric Power Cooperation Department in both North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa Townships on Nov. 23 and 24, respectively.  On Nov. 29, PDFs attacked a…

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Junta bombing kills 5, including a child, in northern Myanmar

Editor04 mins

A heavy aerial attack in northeastern Myanmar killed five civilians, an official from an anti-junta women’s organization told Radio Free Asia on Friday.  On Wednesday night, junta aircraft bombed a village in Namhkan township in northern Shan state.  The victims included 46-year-old Tar Ah Swe; 56-year-old Yar Ah Ba; 50-year-old Yar Kham Li; and a 35-year-old male teacher, Yai Lay. A five-year-old girl, Lway O Dae, also died in the attacks, according to Lway, an official from the Ta’ang Women’s Organization.  “The teacher, Yai Lay, is from Namhkan’s Man Pu village. He is sheltering in Ho Nar village because the [military] situation in Namhkan is bad. Tar Ah Swe and Yar Ah Ba are a couple from Pang Long village in Manton township,” she said. “Yar Kham Li and Lway O are mother and daughter. They were all sheltering in a tea trading house to flee the fighting.” Four others, including two six-year-old children, were injured and sent to Namhkan Hospital, she added. Half an hour later, the junta bombed nearby Pang Law village. Seven houses were destroyed in the attack, residents said. The junta’s air force dropped the bombs despite there being no fighting beforehand, a Ta’ang National Liberation Army information official said, confirming five civilians were killed. However, daily battles are erupting at Sa Kham Thit military camp outside of Namhkhan city, about 13 kilometers (eight miles) from the site of the bombing. “The junta bombing was far from the village. There was no fighting in these villages,” he said. “The junta used a 500-pound [226 kilogram] bomb. We can tell because of its intensity.” RFA reached out to Shan state’s junta spokesperson Khun Thein Maung to investigate the group’s claim that the junta dropped 500 pound bombs, but he did not return calls on Friday. During a resistance military offensive called Operation 1027, in which three allied groups won several Shan state cities, the group’s forces also took control of Namhkam, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army said. The group is fighting with junta forces daily to gain control of Sa Kham Thit Hill, more than 1.6 kilometers (one mile) from Namhkan city. Since Operation 1027 launched on Oct. 27, 103 civilians, including 20 children, have been killed according to data compiled by the Ta’ang Women’s Organization. Small weapon fire, heavy artillery and airstrikes, have injured nearly 170 people in northern Shan state.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Vietnam repatriates more than 1,000 of its citizens from Myanmar

Editor05 mins

Updated Dec. 7, 2023, 5:25 p.m. ET. Vietnam this week flew home just over 1,000 of its citizens who were stranded in wartorn Myanmar, Hanoi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, embassies and consulates in Myanmar organized nine flights to repatriate exactly 1,020 Vietnamese.  Most of the repatriates were stranded in the northern areas of Shan State, where fighting between the junta and ethnic armed groups has intensified, with anti-junta forces making significant gains there in recent months.  In the past, Vietnam has organized flights to evacuate its citizens from troubled areas in the world, including an effort during the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in a massive scandal as officials skimmed off the top of repatriation funds and accepted bribes.  The ministry stressed that expenses for all repatriation flights from Myanmar were paid by the Vietnamese government. RFA reported earlier this month that 166 Vietnamese citizens who had been trafficked to northern Myanmar but were rescued by authorities, remained stranded in a war zone. On Thursday, a mother of one of the 166 told RFA Vietnamese that her daughter had returned home that day to Phu Quoc Island City in Vietnam’s far southern Kien Giang province. “Everything was free of charge,” she said. “The government helped bring my daughter back to Moc Bai [the border gate between Vietnam and Cambodia], and my family paid for her travel from there to Phu Quoc. I am very, very happy.” She said the Vietnamese Embassy in Myanmar was very supportive, though the repatriation process was a bit complicated due to high volume. In August, RFA reported that 15-year-old Le Thi Tuong Vi was among a group of teenagers who were trafficked first to Laos, and were believed to be headed to either Myanmar or China. Vi was among those repatriated from Myanmar, her mother told RFA, but did not elaborate because her daughter is still recovering from her trip. But Trinh Khanh Hoang Anh, another teenager in the group, has yet to be repatriated, his father Trinh Huu Phuoc told RFA via text message. “There are 166 [Vietnamese] people who have been rescued and were living in a refugee camp of the military,” he said. “This morning, the kids were taken to Myanmar’s Border Gate 127 to verify information but there have been no results yet.” He said the Kien Giang provincial Department of Foreign Affairs advised the family that Anh’s paperwork has been completed but it has not yet arrived at the Vietnamese Embassy. According to the embassy, a number of Vietnamese still remain stranded in northern Myanmar due to ongoing fighting, state media reported. Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.  Update corrects the days that the flights were organized for.

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Myanmar junta recruiting former resistance fighters to bolster numbers

Editor03 mins

Resistance fighters who surrendered to the junta in southwestern Myanmar are now being enlisted by the regime’s military, anti-junta militia members told Radio Free Asia. Junta soldiers are bribing revolutionary groups with money and food, said one official from the Pathein Urban Guerrilla Group on Wednesday. In the last two weeks the pressure has grown to bolster troop numbers by recruiting resistance fighters from Kyonpyaw, Yegyi and Pathein townships in Ayeyarwady region, he said. Both regime soldiers and former resistance group leaders who have surrendered are reported to be stepping up their recruitment tactics.  “Especially [those in] various forms of leadership among the surrenderers. They are called to meet up and recruit others to serve in the [junta-led] militia,” the official said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. “The steps of organizing each other and asking people to organize to serve in the militia have escalated in the past two weeks.” This month, the junta also recalled retired military and police personnel from Thabaung township, he added. More than 100 people have surrendered to the junta in Ayeyarwady region in the past two years. Members of People’s Defense Forces surrendered by contacting junta forces to give up their positions.  Ayeywarwady residents also accused junta troops of recruiting teen soldiers and pressuring locals to fulfill quotas in October. Pro-military militia members, including those in the Swan Ar Shin militia, have been undergoing military training since September, said a Pathein resident close to the junta army. The training is being provided at several military bases in Ayeyarwady division, including the Kyonpyaw-based Infantry Battalion 36, according to the Pathein Urban Guerrilla Group. In October, a 20-year-old man from Kyonpyaw died during an interrogation by members of Battalion 36 after being accused of communicating with People’s Defense Forces in Mandalay region. RFA has not been able to independently verify the claims made by anti-junta militias. Calls by RFA to Ayeyarwady division’s junta spokesperson Aung Thein Win seeking comment went unanswered. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Indonesia faces criticism over plan to deport Rohingya to Myanmar

Editor012 mins

Human rights activists and observers on Wednesday criticized a plan by the Indonesian government to return nearly 1,500 Rohingya to their home country of Myanmar, where they have faced persecution and violence, according to a report from BenarNews, a news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia. The Indonesian government announced the plan a day earlier without giving a deportation date, saying Aceh province, where boats carrying Rohingya mostly land, was running out of space and money. In addition, residents were rejecting the foreigners’ presence. “We’ve been lending a helping hand, and now we’re overwhelmed,” said Mohammad Mahfud MD, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs. “We will discuss how to return them to their country through the U.N. I will lead the meeting.”  The ministry reported that 1,487 Rohingya were in Indonesia, according to media reports. President Joko “Jokwoi” Widodo had tasked the minister with leading government efforts to deal with the issue. Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, however, proposed a different solution: Relocate the Rohingya to an island near Singapore where the Indonesian government had sheltered Vietnamese refugees who escaped their country in the 1980s and 1990s. Nadine Sherani, an activist with KonstraS, a Jakarta-based human rights group, said that by sending the Rohingya to Myanmar they could be exposed to atrocities linked to the junta, which seized power in a military coup in February 2021. “That step will transfer them to the hell they have experienced before,” Nadine told BenarNews.  “Does the government think about the long-term impact of repatriation? The main actor of violence in Myanmar is the junta. That is the reason they left the country,” she said. Oppressed people The Rohingya are one of the world’s most oppressed stateless people, according to the United Nations. They have been denied citizenship and basic rights by the Myanmar government, which considers them illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.  Following a military offensive in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017 that the U.N. described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” about 740,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh. Seeking to escape difficult living conditions in Bangladesh refugee camps in and around Cox’s Bazar district, thousands of Rohingya have risked their lives on perilous sea journeys to reach Indonesia and other destinations. On Wednesday, police in Cox’s Bazar reported that four Rohingya had been killed within 24 hours during gunfights between members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and the Arakan Solidarity Organization gangs in the Ukhia refugee camp. Those killings brought the death toll to 10 in the sprawling Rohingya camps over the last 15 days and a total of 186 fatalities linked to violence in the camps since 2017. Meanwhile in Aceh province, the Rohingya presence has caused resentment and hostility from some locals who have accused them of being a burden and a nuisance.  On Nov. 16, a boat carrying 256 Rohingya was initially rejected by at least two groups of villagers in Aceh but was finally allowed to land after being stranded for three days. Another boat carrying more than 100 Rohingya landed on Sabang island on Dec. 2 after locals threatened to push it back to sea. ‘Urgent appeal’ Since then, UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, issued “an urgent appeal to all countries in the region, particularly those in the area surrounding the Andaman Sea, to swiftly deploy their full search and rescue capacities in response to reported vessels in distress with hundreds of Rohingya at risk of perishing.”  In its statement issued on Saturday, UNHCR said it was concerned that Rohingya on two boats would run out of food and water. “[T]here is a significant risk of fatalities in the coming days if people are not rescued and disembarked to safety.” Mahfud MD said Indonesia had shown compassion by taking in the Rohingya even though it was not a party to the U.N refugee convention, an international treaty that defines rights and obligations of refugees and host countries.  “We could have turned them down flat. But we also have a heart. They could die at sea if no one wants them,” he said. Vietnamese children sit aboard an Indonesian Navy ship at Galang island as they wait to be repatriated from the island’s refugee camp, June 26, 1996. [Reuters] Ma’ruf, the vice president, suggested the Rohingya be settled temporarily on the island near Singapore. “We used Galang island for Vietnamese refugees in the past. We will discuss it again. I think the government must take action,” Ma’ruf said on Tuesday. Galang housed about 250,000 Vietnamese refugees, known as “boat people,” from 1979 to 1996. The UNHCR built healthcare facilities, schools, places of worship and cemeteries. Ma’ruf said the government could not turn away the Rohingya, but also had to consider local people’s objections and the possibility of more refugees arriving. Angga Reynaldi Putra, of Suaka, a Jakarta-based NGO that advocates for the rights of refugees, said Indonesia was bound by the principle of non-refoulement – or the forced return of refugees to their home countries – because it had ratified the anti-torture convention through a law in 1998.  “The anti-torture convention ratified by Indonesia also states that there is an obligation to prevent a person from returning to a situation where he or she experiences torture,” Angga told BenarNews. He added that Indonesia issued a presidential regulation in 2016, which mandates providing assistance and protection for refugees in coordination with the regional government, the International Organization for Migration and the immigration office. Angga warned that putting Rohingya on Galang island could limit their access to basic rights, such as health and education. “If we consider human rights, there is a right to freedom of movement. Being placed on a certain island, their movement would be restricted,” he said. Women and children Mitra Salima Suryono, a UNHCR spokeswoman in Indonesia, said she hoped the issue could be resolved humanely. “We are optimistic and hope to see the same strong spirit of solidarity and humanity as before,” Mitra said. She said the Rohingya who arrived…

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Myanmar’s dead and wounded civilians trapped in battlezone

Editor04 mins

Fighting between the junta and three allied resistance groups in Myanmar’s north has trapped over 500 civilians, a rescue team told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.  A trade zone in Shan state’s Muse township is now at the epicenter of an escalating humanitarian crisis, where charity workers attempting rescues are being shot at, the group added. Violence has only escalated from Nov. 29 until Tuesday, a Muse-based social assistance worker told RFA. “A woman was injured when a heavy weapon dropped near her house at 105-mile [trade zone] yesterday. She died because she could not be rescued in time,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.  “There were some calls for help from those who were injured and trapped. We could not go. If a [rescue] van goes there, it gets shot at. So we can not do anything to help. There are people who died and their bodies could not be picked up either.” Workers and injured civilians are trapped on the road in the direction of Kyin San Kyawt border gate, he added, and some families were trapped in a village near 105-mile trade zone. There are three bodies and other injured people near Ton Kan village on Kyin San Kyawt road between 105-mile trade zone and Muse city, according to rescue workers. More than 10 civilians, including three children, were killed in fighting that lasted over a week. The actual number of the casualties could be higher, they added, and at least 2,000 people have fled Muse and are displaced due to fighting.  However, rescue workers said they could not confirm the exact number of casualties and trapped people because internet access and phone lines were disconnected in the area. If the fighting lasts longer, people remaining in 105-mile trade zone would face food shortages, since food can no longer be sent, said a Muse resident who wished to remain anonymous to protect their identity. Junta troops are stationed at the exit of Muse city because there is a military camp at 105-mile Hill, residents said, adding the three northern alliances currently occupy Kyin San Kyawt Road. Both military junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun and Li Kyarwen, a spokesperson from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, one of the three allied forces, said the battle was intense at Muse’s 105-mile trade zone. However, neither disclosed exact details regarding casualties or injuries.  Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Laos deports 462 Chinese nationals with alleged ties to Bokeo scam rings

Editor07 mins

Authorities in Laos have deported 462 Chinese nationals arrested for crimes, including human trafficking, from the lawless Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in the country’s north that has been described as a de-facto Chinese colony, according to officials. They were arrested on Nov. 28 during a raid on the gambling and tourism hub in Laos’ Bokeo province and deported to China the following day via the Boten-Bohan International Border Checkpoint, said a statement posted on the website of the Lao Public Security Bureau. The individuals appeared to be involved with call centers where scammers try to trick people into fake investments. Radio Free Asia has reported that these call centers often exploit their employees by holding them against their will and subjecting them to beatings and other forms of torture if they refuse to work or fail to make scam quotas. Attempts by RFA Lao to contact the Bokeo Provincial Police and authorities operating within the special economic zone, or SEZ, for comment went unanswered by the time of publication. The latest round of arrests and deportations of Chinese nationals follows one in mid-September, when Lao authorities sent 164 home, including 46 who were arrested in the Bokeo SEZ, another economic zone in the province operated by a Chinese tycoon who the U.S. government has sanctioned for running a human trafficking network. Ordinary Laotians welcomed the news, saying it would make the country safer.  “It’s good that the Lao and Chinese authorities are cooperating again in cracking down on the scamming gang in Laos,” said one person who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns. “I hope that the number of Chinese scammers continues to dwindle in the Golden Triangle SEZ and throughout the country.” Entrance to the Kings Romans casino, part of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone run by Chinese company Jin Mu Mian in Laos, Golden Triangle in 2012. (Sukree Sukplang/Reuters) But others expressed concern that the deportations won’t address the reasons such crimes persist in Laos. “My question is, ‘Is this all?’ My answer is, ‘No,’ said a resident of the capital Vientiane. “It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to nab all of them.” Regional cooperation needed The resident of Vientiane said that while the latest arrests may deal with the problem in the Golden Triangle SEZ, scam gangs may simply move to another place where they can operate without much oversight by authorities, such as Tachileik, a town in Myanmar’s Shan state along the Lao border. “Then [the deportees] will just come back to Laos again,” he said. Chinese suspects linked to telecom frauds are brought back to China from Laos at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Chongqing, China, in Sept. 2023. (Chen Chao/China News Service via Getty Images) A third Laotian suggested that the only way to effectively eradicate scamming networks is through the cooperation of domestic and foreign security forces across the region, rather than each country individually. “Here in Laos, [Lao and Chinese forces] are focusing only on the [SEZs],” he said. “The scam rings are everywhere and many of them are still operating. Laos alone doesn’t have the resources to do it all.” Criminal enterprises expanding Meanwhile, Yos Santasombat, a professor of social studies at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, warned that as criminal activity goes largely unchecked within the SEZs in Bokeo province, gangs are expanding their existing operations and adding new services. “I went to the Golden Triangle SEZ two months ago and I noticed that the place was huge and expanding,” he said. “[As it grows] it might attract other businesses besides gambling and tourism, such as money laundering.” Sources from the region have previously expressed concern that authorities only arrest “the small guys” who aren’t responsible for running the scam rings, and have failed to address unemployment and inflation in Laos, which allow ringleaders to lure workers with offers of good-paying jobs. In early September, Myanmar police repatriated 1,207 Chinese criminals arrested from a call center in Myanmar. Thailand, Myanmar, China and Laos have set up a special unit to crack down on human trafficking but the problem still persists. Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Joshua Lipes.

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