{"id":1498617,"date":"2024-02-13T21:59:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T21:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/myanmar\/militias-02132024154659.html"},"modified":"2024-02-13T21:59:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T21:59:34","slug":"emboldened-by-draft-law-pro-junta-militias-press-civilians-into-taking-up-arms-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/02\/13\/emboldened-by-draft-law-pro-junta-militias-press-civilians-into-taking-up-arms-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Emboldened by draft law, pro-junta militias press civilians into taking up arms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
Pro-junta militias in northern Myanmar\u2019s Kachin state are grabbing anyone they can find and forcing them to take up arms against resistance fighters after the military regime announced it would begin enforcing a conscription law over the weekend, residents said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing announced on Feb. 10 that the People\u2019s Military Service Law, enacted in 2010 by a previous military regime though it had never been enforced, would go into effect immediately.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The move comes as anti-junta forces and ethnic armies have scored significant victories against the military in Myanmar\u2019s three-year civil war. The conflict appeared to reach a turning point in late October when the groups jointly launched offensives that overran dozens of military camps and resulted in hundreds of soldiers surrendering.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Kachin state, the Lisu militia in Waingmaw township, the Khaunglanhpu militia in Puta-O township, and the Shanni Nationalities Army, or SNA, in Mohnyin township, began forcibly recruiting civilians as early as the end of last month, and have been emboldened by the new directive, sources in the region told RFA Burmese.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n SNA fighters have been rounding up pedestrians and gathering people through village administrators for recruitment, said a resident of Nam Mun village in Mohnyin\u2019s Indawgyi sub-township who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe administrators are being told to grab passers-by,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone who is seen on the roads is apprehended.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n People have fled the area and \u201cdare not live in Nam Mun village anymore,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another resident reported similar actions in Mohnyin\u2019s towns of Hopin and Nam Mar, adding that those who refused to join the militia were being made to pay hundreds of thousands of kyats (100,000 kyats = US$48).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAfter stopping all passers-by, they recruited the people they wanted,\u201d he said. \u201cAmong those who were released, some said that they had to pay about 1 million kyats (US$477). They said they were asking for 30 million kyats (US$14,000) [altogether].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Using family members as leverage<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Puta-O, the Khaunglanhpu militia led by Tang Gu Tan has been forcibly recruiting members of every household to serve for around two weeks, a resident told RFA.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c[But now], the militia is recruiting [people] more than ever,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, whenever they enter villages, they gather young people to join the militia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n