Militia recruitments ordered in North Tenasserim Division

October 12, 2009

HURFOM, Yebyu: Residents of Yebyu Township in North Tenasserim Division fear that recent orders from the Burmese Army to the local militias, ordering renewed militia recruitments in various villages in the Township, will increase the fees that local militias routinely extort from civilian villagers.

An associate of the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC), from Yapu village in Yebyu Township, explained that increased militia recruitments in the area were the direct orders of the Southeast Command (SEC) and Coastline Command (CC), and that both the SEC and the CC plan to oversee militia training in Yebyu Township.

“In the last week of September, the command to recruit more militia troops was directly given to the VPDC office in Yapu village. My friend is working at the VPDC office in the village. Before, they just had 7 militia troops in our village. Now, they command that the militia grow to at least 20 troops, and more if possible. They commanded the village headman directly. The head commander in the Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 282, which is based under the Southeast Command, will directly monitor the militia training,” he said.

Yapu village contains over 600 households. Most of families survive through farming, but a small amount of the village’s residents are jobless. HURFOM’s sources indicate that the majority of Yapu village’s residents are uninterested in joining the area’s militia; however, jobless individuals in Yapu are likely to see the militia recruitments as a chance to gain income and notoriety in Yapu.

According to Mg Chan, a 28-year-old of Yapu villager, “I think most of villagers are not interested in joining the militia training. But they [the military] can persuade the residents who are jobless by giving them some opportunity to get some business using their power in the area. It’s probable that they will collect at least 20 people, and maybe more people, to serve in the militia in our village.”

HURFOM’s story published on October 7^th,”Military increasing in Ye Township”, detailed how increased numbers of militia troops places financial strains on village civilians. Burma’s military government provides militia troops with training and guns; the government does not provide militias with uniforms, stipends or food supplies. The funds for these necessities come from extortion money that is collected from village residents. Yapu villagers are justifiably concerned that increased numbers of militia troops will mean increased extortion fees.

U Pho Maung, a 69 year-old daily worker in Yapu village claims, “It’s around 3,000 Kyat a month to pay the government taxes. Last year we paid 2,000 Kyat to the village security guard. I don’t know how much they will collect because they’re increasing the militia troops. If we estimated all the taxes for each month, it will cost around 5,000 Kyat. Sometimes the LIB No. 282 and No. 273 has collected money for their food supplies, portering and VIP trips costs. It cost another 1,000 Kyat again. We paid around 6,000 Kyat for each month if we combine all the extortion taxes. The money that we earned, we just spend for extortion taxes in the area.”

A New Mon State Party (NMSP) Township Committee member in Yebyu Township reported to HURFOM that many villages located beside the Ye – Tavoy highway have been ordered to increase the numbers of their militia troops; Yapu, Aleasakhan, Kyauk-kadin, and Yay-ngan-gyi villages in Yebyu Township have all been subjected to militia recruitments.

This source informed HURFOM that, “Increasing the militia troops is not a big burden for the military government, they do not have to worry for their [the militias’] salaries, food supplies and uniforms. They just get the money to run the militia systems by extorting the money from the local residents. By using the militia system, they also can get the residents’ information easily. This is a good outcome for them [the authorities]. In addition, the militia will be useful to persuade and pressure the resident to support the government politically. So that is why the local authorities try recruit more militia as the higher ranking authorities officers have commanded.”

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News