The northern Shan State capital of Lashio is in disarray because there has been no orderly administrative handover since the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) retreated just over a week ago.
Under pressure from China, MNDAA troops abruptly left the city on April 21 and the regime took over.
But junta troops that returned to the city have been unable to impose their own order and are currently holed up at Lashio University, which they have turned into a fortress. Police forces only arrived in the city on Wednesday, residents said.
They will have to deal with the lawlessness that has replaced the semblance of normality restored by the MNDAA.
“It’s not safe here, and we daren’t go out alone,” a Lashio resident said. “But it costs a lot of money to flee the town. I fled once [during fighting between the regime and the MNDAA last year]. But my house was burgled that time, so I can’t afford to flee again.”
“There’s so much robbery and theft,” he said. “Only people who live by the main roads feel safe, but here in the backstreets we’re scared all the time.”
At least five robberies have taken place since the handover, according to local media.
In an apparent two-finger salute to the regime, the MNDAA released all prisoners before retreating from the town. And since all its administrative mechanisms ground to a halt, chaos returned.
Health workers left along with the MNDAA, and the regime has not stepped into the breach, so there are no healthcare services at the public hospital and other facilities, according to locals.
Another resident said private clinics refuse to handle injuries sustained in crimes like robberies and muggings.
The MNDAA has reportedly told residents to send emergency patients to Hsenwi or Laukkai, which it still controls.
There are now both junta and MNDAA checkpoints at the entrances to the town, and both carry out tight checks.
Municipal operations have come to a complete halt since the return of the regime, which is leaving garbage uncollected throughout the city.
Some wards have lost access to electricity.
“No matter which armed group is in control, it’s only KTV parlors that have 24-hour electricity,” another resident said. “Some wards don’t have electricity more than once a week. We have to pay 1,000 kyats for a phone charge [from generators] and 5,000 kyats for a power bank.”
Once home to the Myanmar military’s Northeastern Command, Lashio fell to the MNDAA in August 2024. But no sooner had normality returned than China forced the armed group out again.
Chinese special envoy to Myanmar Deng Xijun personally supervised the handover, and a Chinese team reportedly remains in Lashio to monitor the ceasefire. But they seem to have little regard for ordinary residents.
Some residents have left the town since the regime troops returned.
