The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has been accused of forcibly recruiting migrant workers to fight on the front line in Shan State and using deadly violence to punish those who refuse.
Around 1,000 migrant workers were reportedly sent to the front line after returning to Laukkai following the MNDAA’s successful battle for the Shan town.
The entire Kokang Self-Administered Zone including its capital of Laukkai fell to the MNDAA during Operation 1027, a three-month offensive against the regime in northern Shan that ended in mid-January with China’s intervention.
Migrant workers fled Laukkai during the fighting. After returning, they were forced to undergo four months of military training from December to April and then sent straight to the MNDAA front line near Lashio, an escapee told The Irrawaddy.
Lashio is home to the Myanmar military’s Northeastern Command.
“We non-Kokang people were sent to the front line as soon as the military training concluded. Most of us were sent to positions near Lashio. It is not far from junta positions,” he said, adding the conscripts had seen no military action yet.
Additionally, conscripts were sent to MNDAA-held territories in Hseni and near the 105th Mile trading zone in the border hub of Muse.
They were also deployed to Namtu and Hsipaw townships to serve alongside troops of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a member of the tripartite Brotherhood Alliance that launched Operation 1027. Namtu and Hsipaw border Lashio.
Most of the conscripts are reportedly ethnic Kachin while the rest are Shan, Ta’ang, Rakhine and Karenni people. Escapees and sources on the front line estimate there may be over 2,000 MNDAA migrant conscripts.
The MNDAA is not using the conscripts to form new battalions but replenishing existing units depleted by Operation 1027.
An ethnic Ta’ang escapee said their family members and TNLA officers tried to retrieve Ta’ang conscripts from the MNDAA during the military training but were rebuffed.
Another escapee said conscripts recently sent to the front line are fleeing along with northern Shan State natives.
“Many people who know the terrain are already fleeing. After being forcibly conscripted, they are waiting for the opportunity to escape,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Escapees said conscripts recaptured after escaping military training have been hanged from trees or thrown behind bars for three months, while those who fled the front line were shot dead.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify their reports and was unable to contact MNDAA spokesman Li Jiawen for comment.
In December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the MNDAA was abducting and forcibly recruiting civilians fleeing the fighting in northern Shan State.
“The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army is violating the laws of war by abducting and forcibly recruiting civilians, putting them at grave risk,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW.
