Myanmar junta officials are threatening charity groups aiding flood victims in Taungoo District, Bago Region, with arrest under the counterterrorism law. The threats stem from an assumption that the aid will reach villages under resistance control, according to the groups.
A volunteer group of Taungoo youths and their friends in Yangon said they were challenged by junta troops and a ward administrator as they collected clothes, food, and medicines for flood victims in a neighboring township early last week.
“When we explained that we were heading to four villages in Phyu Township, they told us that travel there was banned. They warned we could be arrested and charged under the counter-terrorism law if we breached the ban,” said a member of the group.
A military officer told them the areas in question were controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) of the National Unity Government (NUG). Delivering aid to these areas could result in arrest for contacting and supporting these armed groups, the officer said.
The junta has designated the NUG and PDF as terrorist groups, threatening anyone suspected of affiliating with them with charges under the counter-terrorism law, which carries a penalty of three to 10 years in jail for communicating with, aiding, or funding ‘terrorists.’
Large parts of Taungoo District lie in KNU Brigade 2 territory. According to a KNU statement issued on Sunday, the flood disaster killed seven people and inundated 75 villages in Taungoo District, affecting over 140,000 residents.
On Monday, the junta’s Information Ministry website denied aid volunteers’ reports of intimidation, claiming troops and officials were merely inspecting donations after recent incidents of food poisoning. Security forces oversaw the inspections but did not ban the donations, it added.
A 54-year-old volunteer in Taungoo, who reported being threatened by junta troops, said the groups did not know who controlled which areas.
“But one thing is certain: civilians are suffering after the natural disaster and they need a helping hand.”
On Saturday, he gathered with volunteers from Yangon at a temporary monastery camp to prepare food parcels for flood-affected Taungoo villages. However, their efforts were interrupted when a truck carrying dozens of junta troops and police arrived at the door, he said. Officials then asked them which villages the food would be donated to.
“We were planning to deliver the lunchboxes to villages in Yedashe and Swar townships. They allowed us to proceed but ordered us not to send dried food like rice, noodles, fried chili with shrimps, or tinned fish,” he explained.
The troops also seized dozens of the donated lunchboxes for themselves, he said.
They left after warning that donating non-perishable foods to ‘unstable’ areas could result in arrest under the counter-terrorism law for supporting the resistance.
The National Unity Government (NUG)’s Defense Ministry said its People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) across the country were doing their best to assist flood victims. PDFs are actively engaged in rescue and rehabilitation efforts in areas under their control or with overlapping administrations, an NUG official said.
In Taungoo, the worst-affected areas were Yedashe and Phyu townships, where residents were suffering shortages of food and medicines exacerbated by junta restrictions on donors and volunteer groups, he said.
