Eyeing dissidents in America
The military regime, which has expressed hope for good relations with the Trump administration, this week warned Myanmar nationals to leave the United States or face deportation under Washington’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
The Myanmar Embassy in Washington issued the warning on Wednesday, detailing how the embassy would facilitate the repatriation of Myanmar citizens in the US.
The junta criticized the preceding Biden administration for downgrading diplomatic relations, sanctioning top generals including Min Aung Hlaing, his deputy Soe Win, and their families, and passing the Burma Act to supply non-lethal aid to resistance groups.
Wednesday’s warning, while showing support for Trump’s deportation plan, potentially endangers Myanmar dissidents in the US. Many Myanmar nationals sought political asylum in the US following the 2021 coup. If deported from the US, they could end up in Myanmar military barracks. The regime has already forcibly enlisted numerous Myanmar nationals deported from Thailand.
Junta immigration minister Myint Kyaing told the BBC that the US government had yet to inform Myanmar about deportations.
Living in solar luxury
While Myanmar’s people have been left with no choice but to enjoy candlelit evenings over the past four years of power outages, the ruling generals in Naypyitaw have been basking in the glow of solar electricity at the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, as revealed by junta No2 Soe Win.
On Wednesday, the Vice Senior General urged owners of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to use solar power, during a meeting to organize the national MSME Products Exhibition and Competition.
Weighing the installation cost against average monthly electricity bills, he said a solar power system would break even within a few years.
He even flaunted the example of his own illustrious military office, which has been using solar energy for the past two years, and claimed the panels will have paid for themselves in the next 18 months.
However, the reality is that persistent electricity shortages and sky-high fuel prices have led to the collapse of numerous SMEs. The cost of a solar system is beyond the reach of many small businesses, which form the backbone of Myanmar’s economy. For the general population, access to solar remains a distant dream. Meanwhile, they will continue to suffer from rising commodity prices and frequent power outages.
While the generals discuss ruthless air campaigns in their brightly lit, air-conditioned rooms at the solar-powered Defence Services Office, Myanmar’s people are left in the dark, struggling with manual fans.
Another false poll alarm
At the National Defence and Security Council meeting on Jan 31, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that a free and fair election is impossible with ongoing armed conflict engulfing the country. At a cabinet meeting four days later, he called on political parties to prepare for the poll.
The junta boss has repeatedly promised a fresh poll since staging a coup in February 2021 that ousted the democratically elected NLD government and annulled the results of a previous general election regarded as free and fair by international observers.
Four years on from his coup, Min Aung Hlaing’s regime controls less than half of the country, yet he still refuses to give up on his poll plan.
Last year, the junta boss said the election would be held in 2025, without mentioning a date.
But political parties that have registered with the junta’s election body expect a poll in November, after the junta’s latest six-month extension of emergency rule expires. However, if the regime extends the emergency again on July 31, voting is unlikely this year, especially with conflicts raging across the country.
Myanmar boasted 90 political parties at the time of the coup. The junta dissolved 40 major pro-democracy parties, including the NLD, after they refused to re-register under new poll laws designed to cement military rule.
The military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party was among 68 parties to register, including 18 new political outfits. Of these, 53 have been registered with the junta’s election body.
Democratic institutions and countries across the globe have dismissed the poll plan as a sham aimed at entrenching military rule.
Defrauding China
Angered by the cross-border trafficking of Chinese celebrities into scam compounds on the Thai-Myanmar border in early January, China called for a joint crackdown on scam syndicates. The call triggered a flurry of visits – junta ministers to Thailand and Laos, Thai military officials to Naypyitaw, and finally Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to Beijing.
At a meeting of his Cabinet on Monday, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing condemned the telecom scams as a national blight. He urged officials to crack down on fraud operations in their regions and warned of harsh penalties for those involved.
But for anyone who has been following the border scam saga, his words rang hollow.
Min Aung Hlaing protected scam hubs on the Chinese border in northern Shan State until Beijing forced him to join the crackdown. Meanwhile, in Myawaddy on the Thai border he continues to shield Saw Chit Thu, chief of the junta-aligned Border Guard Force, now rebranded as the Karen National Army. The ethnic Karen commander-turned-tycoon runs Shwe Kokko, the new city project notorious for online fraud, human trafficking and other illegal activities.
This has not stopped Min Aung Hlaing from distancing himself from border fraud operations, claiming that Thailand was providing electricity, internet, and other essential supplies to the thriving scam parks. This week, Thailand cut off electricity and fuel to five Myanmar border zones. Both the regime and Saw Chit Thu recently handed trafficking victims of the scammers back to their home countries, in a show of loyalty to China.
Regime ally pledges border scam crackdown
The Karen Border Guard Force in Myawaddy on the Thai border says it is working to break up trafficking operations in Karen State. Read more
Going Brazilian for BRICS mission
The regime’s election plan and scam center crackdowns were also on the agenda as junta representatives met officials from Brazil, Belarus, China and ASEAN nations in January. Read more
Selling the big election lie
Despite assertions of international support, the regime’s proposed election finds favor only among a tiny handful of authoritarian allies and self-interested neighbors. Read more
