Thousands of people in Shan State face ‘grave threat’ of junta airstrikes

Many IDPs have started to build bunkers after the regime informed Thai authorities of imminent attacks against an armed group with bases at the border

A woman prepares an underground bunker in a Shan IDP camp (Shan State Refugee Committee-Thai Border)

Nearly 6,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in five camps along Shan State’s border with Thailand are facing the “grave threat” of military airstrikes, a committee representing the camps has said.

The military’s Tachileik Township Border Committee last week sent a letter to its Thai counterpart in Mae Sai warning of upcoming attacks in the area, the Shan State Refugee Committee-Thai Border (SSRC-TB) said in a statement.

The military was planning assaults on bases controlled by the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) along the Thai border, the March 30 letter said.

The attacks were “necessary”, the letter added, because of the ethnic armed group’s stance against the coup regime, the SSRC-TB said.

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The military’s border committee also reassured the Thai authorities that no Myanmar military ammunition would cross into Thai territory during the attacks, the SSRC-TB’s statement said.

The RCSS/SSA bases sit opposite three northern Thai provinces: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son.

Also located in these areas are the five IDP camps: Gawng Murng Murng, Loi Tai Leng, Loi Lam, Loi Sarm Sip, and Loi Kaw Wan. The SSRC-TB is made up of representatives of these five camps—as well as one refugee camp in Thailand—and is “gravely concerned” for the IDPs, who have been building makeshift bunkers in case of an attack.

“Most of the IDPs fled their homes around 20 years ago because of armed conflict,” SSRC-TB representative Sai Leng told Myanmar Now, referring to a scorched earth campaign by the Myanmar military in the late 1990s that displaced some 300,000 people in Shan State.

“They have no safe place to go if the military launches an attack,” he said.

Military aircraft have been seen flying over Loi Tai Leng in recent days, he added, raising concerns that the regime has been “collecting information for targets.”

Throughout 2020, military drones were seen flying over the Loi Lam and Loi Kaw Wan camps, local sources told Myanmar Now.

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A map of the border between Myanmar and Thailand depicting the locations of the five Shan IDP camps in Shan State and the one Shan refugee camp in Thailand (Shan State Refugee Committee-Thai Border)

The SSRC-TB has asked that the Thai authorities allow the IDPs to cross the border and seek refuge in case of a military strike against their communities.

“We want to request that in an emergency, the Thai government allow these people to come and stay in Thailand, at least in the short term, if there is a military attack,” Sai Leng said.

The RCSS/SSA is among the 10 armed groups who signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement before the coup but have now declared their support for the Civil Disobedience Movement that aims to topple the junta.

On Saturday they once again condemned the ongoing junta crackdown on anti-coup protesters, which has left more than 560 people dead including 47 children.

RCSS/SSA leader Yawd Serk said that the leaders of the coup council “must be held accountable” and that the 10 armed groups “firmly stand with the people,” The Bangkok Post reported.

Since March 27, the junta’s armed forces have also launched several airstrikes against ethnic Karen communities in areas of Bago Region and Karen State controlled by the Karen National Union. At the time of reporting, the Karen Peace Support Network estimated that around 10 people had been killed and at least 20,000 displaced throughout the region by the attacks.

“If we think about what has happened in Karen State, we are very worried about air attacks. It’s very serious,” the SSRC-TB’s Sai Leng said.

Some 2,000 people from Karen IDP camp Ei Htu Hta on the Karen-Thai border attempted to seek refuge in Thailand from the airstrikes, but the Thai authorities forced them back across the border on March 29.

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Junta arrests man fundraising for Mindat IDPs and confiscates donations

He had gathered more than $10,000 to buy emergency supplies when he was taken into regime custody in Kalay

Myanmar Now

Published on May 21, 2021

Locals from Mindat, which is under martial law, are seen fleeing into the jungles (Chin World)

A man who was collecting donations in Kalay, Sagaing Region to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Chin State was arrested by the military authorities on Wednesday and his funds seized, according to local sources.

Aung Thang Phay had gathered 17 million kyat (more than US$10,000) for IDPs in Mindat while he was in Kalay. He stayed in the home of another local, Thang Marn Kee, who was also reportedly arrested on Thursday.

“There were donors in Kalay so he went to meet the donors and accepted the donations. He was going to come back after buying all the supplies [for the IDPs], but he was arrested with all the cash. I assume he was taken after being questioned about the money,” an official from a local aid group helping the IDPs told Myanmar Now.

He described the arrest and the confiscation of the funds as “cruel.”

“They won’t care about displaced people. They’ve started the war. And after that, they sabotage the displaced people’s efforts to get the help and donations that they need? I’m at a loss for words,” he said.

The source expected that formal charges would follow the arrest.

“They’ll do whatever they want, as usual,” he said of the military council.

People in Mindat, Chin State fled their homes in mid-May when clashes broke out between the junta’s armed forces and the local resistance movement, the Chinland Defence Force.

More than 3,000 IDPs were staying in seven camps in the area at the time of reporting.

Although exact figures are not known, the total number of IDPs from Mindat could be more than 10,000, according to Salai Pat Gyaung, a local who has been helping them. He told Myanmar Now on Wednesday that the displaced people were in desperate need of emergency support.

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Diabetic man dies after two months in Insein Prison

Despite his deteriorating health, a request by the man’s family to have him transferred to a private hospital was rejected

Myanmar Now

Published on May 21, 2021

A 42-year-old man who was arrested while working as a volunteer night guard in Yangon two months ago died in prison on Wednesday night, according to relatives.

Thein Win was arrested on March 6 while on duty as a night guard on 10th Street in Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township. He was later charged with incitement under Section 505a of the Penal Code and held at Insein Prison.

His parents told Myanmar Now they learned about his death on Thursday, when they went to the prison to inquire about his situation. They took his body to the Yayway Cemetery to be cremated the same day.

Thein Win was sent to the prison hospital shortly after fainting during a hearing on Tuesday. He passed away the next day after suffering from elevated blood-sugar levels, according to his mother, Win Win, citing information from prison staff.

“They should have informed us about his death,” she said, noting that her visit on Thursday was unrelated to her son’s health.

“Prison officials only told us [about Thein Win’s death] after they accepted items we had brought to the prison for him,” she added.

Thein Win had been hospitalised with diabetes in early 2019. The family submitted the medical records through a lawyer to request bail, but there was no response during his detention.

He was in good condition when he was arrested, she said.

However, inmates who were released in early April informed her that his health was deteriorating in detention, prompting the family to request that he be transferred to a private hospital for medical care.

“Because it wasn’t a big ‘crime’, we requested that he be hospitalised at a private hospital because prison hospitals are so poorly equipped. They have nothing. They probably only have normal medicines for coughs and cold,” she said.

“The conditions in prison are so squalid. He was quite overweight, over 200lbs. He couldn’t use a squat toilet, which is all they have in prison. So I heard that he wasn’t eating much, to avoid having to go to the toilet,” she said.

Thein Win’s father said he did not see any evidence of torture, noting that prison officials showed them a photo of their son’s body taken shortly after his death and asked them if they could see any bruises.

A Japanese journalist who was recently released from custody has spoken of torture in interrogation centres and the poor conditions inside Insein Prison.

Overcrowding is a major problem at the prison, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group that monitors prison conditions in Myanmar.

Aung Myo Kyaw, an official for the group, told Myanmar Now in April 2020 that the prison was holding at least 10,000 inmates, or well over double its capacity, at the time.

Since seizing power on February 1, the military has arrested and detained thousands of civilians, including students, politicians, activists and journalists, as part of its effort to crush anti-coup protests.

More than 4,200 are still in detention, according to the AAPP’s latest tally.

The military council released more than 20,000 mostly non-political prisoners in a nationwide amnesty on February 12, but continues hold those deemed a threat to its hold on power.

The regime has also killed 810 civilians, including young children, in an effort to force the nation to submit to its rule.

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Soldiers torture local election official to death in Magway Region

Khin Maung Kyi was among six who were detained near Si Thar Gyi village on Wednesday morning

Myanmar Now

Published on May 21, 2021

Khin Maung Kyi was captured and tortured to death after he returned to his village to tend his crops

A local official of the Union Election Commission (UEC) in Magway Region was tortured to death by regime soldiers on Wednesday after returning from hiding to grow crops.

Khin Maung Kyi, 47, was among six who were detained in Taungdwingyi Township after informants reportedly told the military their whereabouts. The status of the five others is unknown.

He was the local UEC chair for the Pat Lal Gyi village tract, which was the site of regular anti-coup protests until last month, when soldiers arrived at three villages firing guns and forced residents to flee.

Khin Maung Kyi and around 3,000 others abandoned their homes during the raids. Many have fled into the surrounding forests where they have struggled to find food and have been sleeping rough.

“He was hiding somewhere far away,” said a resident of Si Thar Gyi, which is one of the three villages that was raided and also where Khin Maung Kyi lived.

“Now that the wind has come and it has started to rain, he came back because he depends on his crops. He wanted to see if he could grow crops again.”

He returned to the area last week and hid with the five others at his farm three miles from his village, but they were spotted by informants.

“They surrounded them at night, then arrested them in the morning when the light came,” the resident said.

Soldiers tied their hands behind their backs and brutally beat them before taking them to the Si Thar Gyi village monastery, locals said.

“He fell unconscious at the farm,” said another Si Thar Gyi villager. “U Khin Maung Kyi was carried as he was not able to walk. Soon after that he passed away.”

The military sent his body to the morgue at the township hospital at around 4pm and his family collected him on Thursday morning.

“When we looked at his body many areas were swollen from the beatings,” said someone who is close to Khin Maung Kyi’s family. “His ribs were broken. He had been punched in the eyes. It was very chilling to even look at his face. There was a wound where his stomach was stabbed with fire wood.”

He was cremated the same evening at the Si Thar Gyi cemetery. He was the father of three children.

The military’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Locals do not know where the other five people are being detained.

On April 9 the military raided the villages of Pat Lal Gyi, Pyit Chaung, and Si Thar Gyi. Soldiers fired guns, burned down 12 houses and ransacked other homes. They then set up bases at a school in Pat Lal Gyi, at the Si Thar Gyi monastery, and at the Pyin Chaung village high school.

Some residents returned after soldiers took loudspeakers to the edge of the forest to broadcast threats to those hiding there and ordered them to come back by 4pm on April 13.

Among those who came back, locals said 26 were arrested. Only elderly people, women and young children returned to the villages, said a resident of Pyin Chaung who is still in hiding. “The men do not dare to go back. All those who are above the age of 10 have fled,” the resident said.

Many of those still in hiding depend for food on the small plots of farmland they left behind.

“If we cannot grow crops in time, we will starve this year,” said another Si Thar Gyi resident. “Now we do not dare to go back into the village. We cannot sleep well day or night. We get soaked by the rain. Food is running out. We don’t have water and we’re thirsty.”

The military justified its February 1 power grab with unfounded claims of voter fraud in last year’s general election, which the National League for Democracy won in a massive landslide.

The UEC, which in the run up to the coup rejected the military’s calls for an investigation into vote rigging, quickly became a target once the regime took power.

The commission’s ousted president, Hla Thein, was detained during early morning raids on the day of the coup. The regime then rounded up lower level officials across the country and installed its own members on the commission. Many of those who have not been detained have gone into hiding.

Last month Tin Maung San, the UEC secretary for Pathein, was killed in regime custody. His family was told that he fell down a set of stairs. Local media reported that six of his ribs were broken and there were wounds and other injuries on his head.