When the people of Bagan Village, Waw Township, Bagon Region, were asked to draw lots to form militia force, the people over the age of 50 who picked the numbers were pressured and threatened to attend mandatory military training, according to locals.
According to a 40-year-old woman from the village, Aung Ngwe, the village administrator appointed by the military junta, had chosen the villagers by lot at the rate of one per household on March 2 – saying to protect the village.
“There are about 400 houses in my village, and now 40 numbers have been added to the lot list. Among the 40 that were chosen, there are no administrators, heads of houses, or families who support USDP. They are ordinary people who do manual labor. We think that they deliberately made to draw lots,” she explained.
A 50-year-old local man added that among the 40 people who were chosen by lot, there were adults over 50 years old, and that if the chosen people did not attend military training and ran away, Aung Ngwe threatened to arrest and imprison their families.
“Among the 40 who were chosen by lot now, there are about 8 who are over 50. Some of them are already 60. Their children are going to work far away, and they are married, so they cannot be replaced and asked to attend training. It said that if they run away without attending the training, it will arrest their families, so they must attend the mandatory training,” he said.
A 20-year-old woman living in the village said that the families who were not chosen to attend the military training were also asked for money to support the militiamen who will have to attend the training.
“They (the village administrative team appointed by the junta) told me that I have to pay MMK 20,000 per month, that I have to pay monthly, that it will be collected the next day, and that it is to support those who will go to the training. Then this morning, I heard again that those who do not want to attend the training will have to pay MMK 1,500,000 and the administrator called residents and said that he would replace other people. The chosen people will go to training the next day. He did not say the date exactly,” she said.
According to an official of the Waw Township PDF (Pa-Ka-Hpa under the NUG), people who forcefully threaten people and force them to attend military training will be severely taken actions.
“We will take action as soon as possible. They are bullying unarmed people and forcing them to take training because they (the military junta) are no longer enough forces. They are lying about protecting the community. Then, they will send them to the front line. The people who are taking the training, please contact us, and we will help them as much as possible,” he promised.
To form militias, people are forced to recruit in junta-dominated areas in Waw Township, including the villages of Thare Thamein, Myit Kyoe, Thankhun, Latpan, Winepat, and Sinywa. It is reported that military training will be given at Bayar Gyi Artillery in March.