Military Coup in Myanmar

[Insaanistan]

On the note of the coup from a native in another country (I am not sure if this is even needed to mention but ah wells!), a couple of newsworthy (or noteworthy) events have happened.

- Well, for the second consecutive year, Thingyan (Water Festival) was more or less cancelled. Last year, it was thanks to COVID screwing things up and not permitting large gatherings. 2020 was perhaps the first time that we have to cancel the festivities since 1988. In short: 1988, 2020, and now 2021. Well, this year's festivities was technically cancelled. I mean, people are not going to enjoy it when they have guns pointed at them, and when the military was doing this. Not so for the military, obviously. If you know where to look, there are various military/cronies-sanctioned water stages and festivals held here and there. If you go there and are found out, you can and will be marked under the ire of the people around you (and this can include your friends and family if they are anti-coup), and I am not threatening anyone here or exaggerating. This has happened even to the celebrities, and what you would call a "cancel culture", except there are bigger consequences for supporting military's blood-soaked (not literally) festivals; you are not going to get killed by the citizens, but expect A LOT of shunning and loss of reputation. In short? These people are mostly pro-military folks who are enjoying the festivals while people are dying. Many of the citizens are just celebrating in spirit.

- In a twisted way of "life imitates video games", pagodas and sacred grounds are becoming actual safe-zones whereby no violence or weapon can be drawn. Yes, I have stated about how temples were seemingly looted (I am not denying it, but I can't find a legitimate source just yet, so it is possible it has happened small-scale and left unreported), but being a Theravada Buddhism-majority nation, no one is going to be blasphemous enough to do such a horrible act. Case in point, this was from a day ago. I am not here to discuss the role of religion here and on whether or not secularism will help, so please bear this in mind with me. I am simply here to share that yes, there are places where not even the military dared to touch, perhaps excluding the possible looting that I aforementioned. Interestingly enough, it rained yesterday, which we usually regard as something nice and wonderful. April is part of Summer and the hottest month in most of Burma, and rain like this is occasional. In short, people go to pagodas for a peace of mind, doing religious/traditional errands, and yes, to celebrate Thingyan in heart and in spirit.

How active are non-Rohingya Muslims in the movement.
I’m hoping that info will get my dad to be more on the protesters side than he already is right now.

[Valentine Z]

How active are non-Rohingya Muslims in the movement.
I’m hoping that info will get my dad to be more on the protesters side than he already is right now.

It is without a doubt and I would hate to also admit that some of us have a bit of a gap in terms of religion. That is unfortunate, and I wish nothing but unity.

With that said, the current coup definitely bridged such a gap. It's only a matter of time in hoping that this bridge would last forever and that we as people would, you know, stay united even after the coup and the military's antics.

An extract from the article:

New networks involving Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and other faithful are pooling resources and coordinating support for the protests in different parts of the country, Aye says. “They have the confidence to say democracy is for all of us.”

“The military miscalculated the strength and the groundwork that had already been laid, and didn’t think the people would be confident enough to come out against them so strongly,” Aye says by phone from Yangon, where they are active in protests.

Myanmar’s strong culture of giving – it is the second-most charitable country in the world after the United States – has seen an outpouring of donations to support informal health clinics and local markets, as the civil disobedience movement halts public services and businesses.

Christians are playing a bigger role than in past protests, says David Moe, a Ph.D. candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary, who grew up in Myanmar’s majority-Christian Chin state. “The coup is clearly unjust for the majority of Christian groups, even though in the beginning of the movement some people were hesitant,” he says. The Burmese Christian refugee community in the United States is actively raising funds to help support striking government employees, he says.

For its part, the military junta is working to sow divisions within the protest movement, Peter says, such as by claiming the National League for Democracy, the political party of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi that won a landslide election victory in November, was funded by overseas Muslim groups to promote Islam in Myanmar. Soon after the coup, the military raided the Muslim quarter of Mandalay, claiming to be hunting terrorists, he adds.

But such timeworn scapegoating tactics are proving ineffective, Peter believes. “People are more united, and they see the coup as the main problem,” he says.

Suffice to say the coup does not have favorites in terms of race or religion; only those who are pro-junta, and anti-junta. As a result, in some twisted form of a silver lining, I really do hope that the deaths of people would not be in vain. All I can wish for is for the coup to clear out, AND for people to be united regardless of religion or nationality. We might be Theravada Buddhist majority, but I would prefer that to be a unique purely demographic trait with no discrimination.

[Insaanistan]

How active are non-Rohingya Muslims in the movement.
I’m hoping that info will get my dad to be more on the protesters side than he already is right now.

It is without a doubt and I would hate to also admit that some of us have a bit of a gap in terms of religion. That is unfortunate, and I wish nothing but unity.

With that said, the current coup definitely bridged such a gap. It's only a matter of time in hoping that this bridge would last forever and that we as people would, you know, stay united even after the coup and the military's antics.

An extract from the article:

New networks involving Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and other faithful are pooling resources and coordinating support for the protests in different parts of the country, Aye says. “They have the confidence to say democracy is for all of us.”

“The military miscalculated the strength and the groundwork that had already been laid, and didn’t think the people would be confident enough to come out against them so strongly,” Aye says by phone from Yangon, where they are active in protests.

Myanmar’s strong culture of giving – it is the second-most charitable country in the world after the United States – has seen an outpouring of donations to support informal health clinics and local markets, as the civil disobedience movement halts public services and businesses.

Christians are playing a bigger role than in past protests, says David Moe, a Ph.D. candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary, who grew up in Myanmar’s majority-Christian Chin state. “The coup is clearly unjust for the majority of Christian groups, even though in the beginning of the movement some people were hesitant,” he says. The Burmese Christian refugee community in the United States is actively raising funds to help support striking government employees, he says.

For its part, the military junta is working to sow divisions within the protest movement, Peter says, such as by claiming the National League for Democracy, the political party of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi that won a landslide election victory in November, was funded by overseas Muslim groups to promote Islam in Myanmar. Soon after the coup, the military raided the Muslim quarter of Mandalay, claiming to be hunting terrorists, he adds.

But such timeworn scapegoating tactics are proving ineffective, Peter believes. “People are more united, and they see the coup as the main problem,” he says.

In some twisted form of a silver lining, I really do hope that the deaths of people would not be in vain. All I can wish for is for the coup to clear out, AND for people to be united regardless of religion or nationality. We might be Theravada Buddhist majority, but I would prefer that to be a unique purely demographic trait with no discrimination.

Alhamdulillah. I pray the unity lasts.

[Valentine Z]

It is without a doubt and I would hate to also admit that some of us have a bit of a gap in terms of religion. That is unfortunate, and I wish nothing but unity.

With that said, the current coup definitely bridged such a gap. It's only a matter of time in hoping that this bridge would last forever and that we as people would, you know, stay united even after the coup and the military's antics.

An extract from the article:

New networks involving Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and other faithful are pooling resources and coordinating support for the protests in different parts of the country, Aye says. “They have the confidence to say democracy is for all of us.”

“The military miscalculated the strength and the groundwork that had already been laid, and didn’t think the people would be confident enough to come out against them so strongly,” Aye says by phone from Yangon, where they are active in protests.

Myanmar’s strong culture of giving – it is the second-most charitable country in the world after the United States – has seen an outpouring of donations to support informal health clinics and local markets, as the civil disobedience movement halts public services and businesses.

Christians are playing a bigger role than in past protests, says David Moe, a Ph.D. candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary, who grew up in Myanmar’s majority-Christian Chin state. “The coup is clearly unjust for the majority of Christian groups, even though in the beginning of the movement some people were hesitant,” he says. The Burmese Christian refugee community in the United States is actively raising funds to help support striking government employees, he says.

For its part, the military junta is working to sow divisions within the protest movement, Peter says, such as by claiming the National League for Democracy, the political party of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi that won a landslide election victory in November, was funded by overseas Muslim groups to promote Islam in Myanmar. Soon after the coup, the military raided the Muslim quarter of Mandalay, claiming to be hunting terrorists, he adds.

But such timeworn scapegoating tactics are proving ineffective, Peter believes. “People are more united, and they see the coup as the main problem,” he says.

In some twisted form of a silver lining, I really do hope that the deaths of people would not be in vain. All I can wish for is for the coup to clear out, AND for people to be united regardless of religion or nationality. We might be Theravada Buddhist majority, but I would prefer that to be a unique purely demographic trait with no discrimination.

Alhamdulillah. I pray the unity lasts.

Thank you, and your sentiment is greatly appreciated. If anything, do pardon me for having quite an adverse reaction to the thoughts of your dad a few months back. I can understand where that is coming from, I won't deny the atrocities; though still, I can hope that he will find a bit more love along the way. ^^

We definitely have a lot to improve on, and we can certainly start by stopping this coup and being united against the common foe that is the junta regime.

[Insaanistan]

Alhamdulillah. I pray the unity lasts.

Thank you, and your sentiment is greatly appreciated. If anything, do pardon me for having quite an adverse reaction to the thoughts of your dad a few months back. I can understand where that is coming from, I won't deny the atrocities; though still, I can hope that he will find a bit more love along the way. ^^

We definitely have a lot to improve on, and we can certainly start by stopping this coup and being united against the common foe that is the junta regime.

Yeah, I’m quite upset at him over it, though lately he’s been more supportive of the protesters.

Indeed, Myanmar thoroughly reminds me of many African nations, including my parents’ and the nations of their parents.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Biafra War?

[Valentine Z]

Thank you, and your sentiment is greatly appreciated. If anything, do pardon me for having quite an adverse reaction to the thoughts of your dad a few months back. I can understand where that is coming from, I won't deny the atrocities; though still, I can hope that he will find a bit more love along the way. ^^

We definitely have a lot to improve on, and we can certainly start by stopping this coup and being united against the common foe that is the junta regime.

Yeah, I’m quite upset at him over it, though lately he’s been more supportive of the protesters.

Indeed, Myanmar thoroughly reminds me of many African nations, including my parents’ and the nations of their parents.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Biafra War?

Sadly, no. However, a quick Google search shows me about Nigerian Civil War. It certainly enticed me to read a bit more about it, so if you like, we can talk about that in TGs, that's cool. My inbox is open. ^^

[Heloin]

The National Unity Government of Myanmar have announced they will be forming a people’s defence force to oppose the coup. The NUG is also likely planning to form a Federal Union Army to unite themselves with the various insurgencies throughout the country against the Military Government.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/myan ... -clzw6lsdh
https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/can-mya ... e-succeed/

[Nakena]

A civil war becomes an increasingly likely outcome. As things stand, in the end the Tatmadaw and the state they build probably will need to dealt with on the battlefield and be destroyed. Only then a new and better order can arise.

There will be very dark and nasty times ahead.

[The Federation of North Raidland]

North and South Burma watch

[Sungoldy-China]

Burma was created by the army in the Second World War by swinging between the Axis and the Allies, so the army rightly enjoyed the biggest slice of the Burmese pie to the exclusion of other groups.
Now Burma is finally beginning to make up for the war that is indispensable to the creation of any nation, and hopefully this civil war will allow the various groups in Burma to find their own margins of interest and form a nation or nations, as in the case of Yugoslavia

[Heloin]

Burma was created by the army in the Second World War by swinging between the Axis and the Allies, so the army rightly enjoyed the biggest slice of the Burmese pie to the exclusion of other groups.
Now Burma is finally beginning to make up for the war that is indispensable to the creation of any nation, and hopefully this civil war will allow the various groups in Burma to find their own margins of interest and form a nation or nations, as in the case of Yugoslavia

But Burma existed before the arrival of the British. The Pagan Kingdom dates back to the 900s.

[Repubblica Fascista Sociale Italiana]

I’m curious to see India’s role in this conflict. Modi’s foreign policy has been to strengthen ties with Chinese rivals in the Asia-Pacific along with US support, but lately India has also seemed to want to expand its own power projection. A conflict of this sorts in a state they border is not something I’d think India would stay out of

[Kubra]

Burma was created by the army in the Second World War by swinging between the Axis and the Allies, so the army rightly enjoyed the biggest slice of the Burmese pie to the exclusion of other groups.
Now Burma is finally beginning to make up for the war that is indispensable to the creation of any nation, and hopefully this civil war will allow the various groups in Burma to find their own margins of interest and form a nation or nations, as in the case of Yugoslavia

But Burma existed before the arrival of the British. The Pagan Kingdom dates back to the 900s.

It's the difference between the existence of a simple polity and what is called the nation-state. think of it like the ottomans and turkey.

[Kowani]

At Naypyitaw meeting with political parties on Friday, junta-appointed election commission chair Thein Soe said they will dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party due to "electoral fraud." The regime will prosecute NLD leaders as “traitors," he said.

[Shrillland]

At Naypyitaw meeting with political parties on Friday, junta-appointed election commission chair Thein Soe said they will dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party due to "electoral fraud." The regime will prosecute NLD leaders as “traitors," he said.

In other words, they're not making the same mistakes twice and would rather see Aung San Suu Kyi dead this time.

[Valentine Z]

So hey, you know what likes to happen during a coup or some political uprising? Money shortage! Now, settle down, this is gonna be one heck of a story, some of you might have unfortunately went through something similar.

In short, there is no way around it, but it is now apparent that we are short on paper money, and trips to ATMs are tedious. You won't get robbed, most Burmese folks don't really like to do such a thing. However, you will be waiting for hours (picnic for everyone; you bring plastic chairs, multi-layer lunchboxes, etc.), and if you are lucky, you just might be able to withdraw a maximum of 5 Thein Burmese Kyats. That's 500,000 (1 Thein = 100,000) Kyats, which is ~ USD 300. If you are unlucky, you just might be unable to withdraw on that day, with the bank citing that "We are not able to replenish the machines today, come back tomorrow!" If you are REALLY unlucky, you could be nearing the front of the queue, only to go back empty-handed because the ATM ran out of notes. See for yourself more!

Well, truth be told, this is not that bad compared to the constant killings, because... you know, as tedious as it was, the worst that happened to people was not having money to buy stuff, or getting bored at the lines, or hell, you can even chat with people, social distancing be damned. It really could have been a lot worse. Of course, I am not here to dismiss these as little problems because truth be told, as not very life-threatening as it is, not having enough money on your hands is extremely horrible, especially when COVID is still going at it, Rainy season is coming, and schools are going to reopen on 2nd of June (probably; I don't know for sure about this).

[Nakena]

Is there any info on the covid situation in Burma/Myanmar?

[Neanderthaland]

Is there any info on the covid situation in Burma/Myanmar?

Officially there are basically no cases as of early February. Or at least so few that it doesn't matter.

It's, you know, unlikely that that's accurate. But it's hard to say how wrong it is. I'm sure there are very few cases in Naypyidaw. Which no doubt comes as a great relief to the capitol's sixteen permanent residents. I wouldn't suggest visiting Rangoon. But I wouldn't recommend visiting Rangoon anyway.

[Kowani]

The coup imperils monsoon rice crop

Throughout much of the country, Myanmar’s farmers are busy preparing their fields for the monsoon rice crop – the key annual event for a sector that accounts for about half of all Myanmar’s jobs and one-third of GDP.

This year, though, farmers’ faces are lined with worry over the political turmoil and how it might affect an already precarious existence.

The military coup has already led to higher prices for fertilisers and pesticides, and rising inflation is hiking their cost of living. At the same time, prices for some of the agricultural commodities produced by these farmers are falling. This, together with disruptions to transport and trade, threatens to wipe out their profits.

Farmers also worry about access to credit, without which many of them can’t afford the inputs needed to sow their fields. Although Nay Pyi Taw has announced that it will soon begin disbursing low-interest loans, farmers say they’ve so far heard nothing from the state-run agriculture bank – a primary source of rural credit – and some are also refusing to repay their loans from last year to show their opposition to the military regime.

This has left farmers unsure how much they should invest, or even whether they should cultivate at all in advance of the rains, which usually arrive in May and last until October.

“Every monsoon season I worry about how I’m going to pay for labour, fertiliser and pesticides,” said U Myint Aung, who farms eight acres (3.25ha) in Sarphyusu village in Ayeyarwady Region’s Danubyu Township. “But I think this year will be worse than ever.”

This could have devastating consequences for millions of rural households, many of which were already struggling due to the impacts of COVID-19 last year. In April, the World Bank warned that the fallout from the coup would likely “result in a sharp increase in poverty, heightened food security risks, and deeper destitution for those already poor”, and said the success of upcoming harvests would be “critical” for households reliant on agriculture. The first problem facing farmers this year is that agriculture supply shops are refusing to sell fertiliser and pesticides on credit.

Normally farmers buy on credit and pay the shops back after harvesting their crops or after receiving a loan from the state-run Myanma Agricultural Development Bank, he said. “But this year, the shop owners will only sell for cash and we don’t have the money.”

Shop owners said they were demanding cash from farmers because the companies that supply fertiliser are also insisting on being paid in cash due to the difficulty of withdrawing cash from banks amid a coup-induced crisis in the financial sector.

“It’s not the same as before,” said the owner of a farm supplies shop in nearby Sagagyi village, also in Danubyu Township. “We have to pay as soon as we receive deliveries and because we need money we cannot sell to farmers on credit anymore.”

He said prices for agricultural inputs were rising by the day because most of the products are imported. Since the February 1 coup, the kyat has slumped from K1,335 to the US dollar to almost K1,700 – a decline of almost 30 percent – making imports more expensive.

Most brands of fertiliser have increased by around 15pc, but some have risen by as much as 40pc, he added.

“It’s difficult to predict the future financial situation. Sales are also lower than normal.”

Myint Aung said that even before the coup, farmers like himself had tried to economise on inputs. He said they could never afford to use fertiliser at the rate recommended by agrochemical companies, of two bags for every acre of paddy.

“Yesterday, I went to buy inputs, but the prices were unaffordable. I used to buy four bags of fertiliser for my eight acres, but this year I only bought three bags. I have to conserve money to be able to buy pesticides,” he said.

The Danubyu Township representative of an agricultural chemicals company said sales were down by up to 20pc on the same period last year.

A March survey of input retailers by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that most were already facing a decline in sales compared to a year ago, and this decline was likely to accelerate as prices rose further.

“The combination of uncertain crop prices, higher costs to access markets, financial market disruptions, and expected increases in input prices all point to lower farm investment in production inputs for the coming monsoon season,” it said.

U Tin Soe, a paddy and beans and pulses trader in Danubyu, agreed that the reduced use of fertilisers and pesticides will result in a decline in crop yields.

“Farmers will suffer a lot this year. If crop yields and quality are bad, prices will fall and they will lose money. It would be good if the government could provide assistance to farmers,” he said.

Some farmers are already suffering. Onion growers, who harvest during the cool season ending around February, saw prices fall from K650 a viss (1 viss is equal to 1.63 kilogrammes) to as low as K250 a viss, well below the cost of production.

“Prices are down and because of the political situation transportation has become more difficult,” said U Aung Ko Myint, a grower from Taung village, near the Sagaing Region capital Monywa.

“We don’t have money left over to invest in the next crop and moneylenders are reluctant to give out new loans,” he said. “But at the same time, the US dollar is rising so all our inputs are getting more expensive. It’s a really difficult time for us.” Even when they are able to buy inputs on credit, farmers need additional capital to invest in preparing their land and growing paddy. With few private banks interested in offering loans to farmers, many rely in part on credit from state-owned MADB.

These loans have never been enough to cover all the costs of cultivation, and farmers were often heavily dependent on loans from informal lenders that could incur interest as high as 10pc a month.

The MADB allows eligible farmers to borrow K150,000 an acre for monsoon paddy and K100,000 an acre for winter crops, up to a limit of 10 acres, and existing loans must be repaid in full before new ones are granted. Last year, government figures show the bank disbursed K1.75 trillion in agricultural loans, the equivalent of US$1.3 billion at the time.

The bank typically charges 8pc interest a year. Due to the impact of COVID-19, however, the NLD government last year reduced the interest rate to 5pc, and also extended the deadline for repaying monsoon crop loans to July 31.

But the political upheaval of the past few months has left many farmers in doubt as to whether loans will be provided at all this year.

In a normal year, MADB begins contacting farmers to make repayments in February, and loans are disbursed from May. Village tract administrators make a list of farmers who want to borrow money and send it to the MADB, which then sends out loan contract forms. A few weeks after the administrators have returned the completed contract forms to the bank, farmers can withdraw the money. In practice, loans are often delayed, and farmers borrow from informal lenders to cover their costs until they receive the cash from MADB.

Since taking power, though, the regime said nothing about either repayments or new monsoon loans for more than three months. Many MADB staff also joined the Civil Disobedience Movement to show their opposition to the military coup, which delayed the repayment of winter crop loans. In some cases, these strikes are continuing; just last week, the regime suspended 60 MADB staff based in Yangon who had refused to return to work.

Then, on May 20, state newspapers published a notice from MADB saying it planned to hand out loans from May 26 to September 30. It said that although the repayment deadline for loans from last year’s monsoon season had been extended, farmers who wanted loans this year should contact the bank “as soon as possible” to clear their debt.

This announcement has been met with some scepticism. Daw Mya Thet Mu from Danubyu Township’s Htonepone village said when she went to her local MADB branch on May 14 to repay her winter crop loan, bank staff said they had no information on monsoon loans, and updates would be announced through village tract administrators.

“The [May 20] statement is so general. The government used to announce exactly how much they will lend this year, but it didn’t have any information like that,” said the 61-year-old farmer. “This time last year we had already applied for a loan through the village tract administrator … I’m worried about what will happen if farmers cannot borrow from the government for the monsoon paddy crop.”

Some suspect the authorities might be making vague promises of new loans to ensure farmers repay their existing debts. Even before the announcement, village tract administrators appointed by the military regime were coming under pressure to ensure that farmers repay their winter crop loans.

U Aung Kyaw Oo, the administrator of Sagagyi village tract, near Sarphyusu village, said the Danubyu Township General Administration Department office had summoned the township’s village tract administrators to a meeting after the mid-April Thingyan festival and directed them to form an agricultural affairs committee in each village, with instructions to chase up loan repayments in the community.

He said he wasn’t even aware of the MADB announcement in state newspapers.

“When and where was the statement released?” asked Aung Kyaw Oo. “We haven’t received any information on new loans – just pressure to make sure farmers pay back their old loans. I haven’t even collected a list of farmers who want loans, so it’s impossible for the bank to start giving out money from May 26. It looks like a lie or trick.”

The uncertainty over whether monsoon paddy loans will be available this year has forced farmers to consider other ways to raise capital. Myint Aung, from Sarphyusu village, said he might have to pawn his wife’s gold necklace.

“The income we earn from farming is for repaying loans and feeding the family. If the government can’t provide the loans, we will face a crisis,” he said. While some farmers are desperate to access low-interest loans from MADB, others are refusing to pay back their old loans to show their anger at the military takeover and deprive the regime of funds.

The refusal to repay is part of a broader boycott movement that has targeted everything from military-owned beer brands to lottery tickets and electricity bills.

The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, formed shortly after the coup by mostly NLD lawmakers elected in November last year, has encouraged these efforts. For instance, on March 12, it announced a one-year deferral of agricultural loan repayments, adding that farmers would not have to pay any additional fees or interest.

One farmer from central Myanmar’s Magway Region, who asked not to be named, told Frontier he would not be repaying the K550,000 he still owes from last year.

“In previous years, the head of the village informed us with a loudspeaker about the final date to repay our loans. This year we haven’t heard anything, but even if they ask us, we won’t do it,” said the farmer from Taw Ywar village in Myaing Township, who grows paddy, peanuts and sesame on 16 acres.

“Many people in my village won’t pay because we don’t want to give money to the military – we hate them. We will only pay it back if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asks us to do it,” he said.

The farmer said that without access to MADB loans he would likely have to borrow from moneylenders to pay labourers at harvest time. “The interest is high but we have no choice. Anyway, we’re used to being trapped in a cycle of debt.”

Farmer U Nay Naing Lin, 41, from Mingin Township in Sagaing Region, said about 80pc of farmers in his area were yet to repay the loans because the CRPH announced that repayments had been postponed.

But he said the lack of communication from MADB had created even less incentive to pay back old debts, as many farmers now think they will not be able to access new loans anyway.

“This is just going to make life harder for farmers in the months ahead. When the rain comes, of course they will want to grow and they’ll have to borrow with high interest from moneylenders instead,” Nay Naing Lin said.

“For me, I’m lucky because I also run a cargo truck between Monywa and Mingin, so I don’t rely on farming too much. But for other farmers, it’s going to be really difficult.”

Another farmer, from Nipataw Sanpya village in Magway’s Yesagyo Township, said she was undecided about whether she will pay back her K1.1 million debt.

“I’ve heard CRPH postponed the repayment until 2022 but the military government is demanding we clear our debts,” she said. “Most people don’t want to repay. I’m waiting to see how others respond – if many people pay back their debt, I will have to repay mine too. If not, I won’t pay it either.”

Either way, she said, she will not take a new loan from the “dictators”. “I don’t want money from them, even if it means I don’t have enough money for the next season,” she said. “I’ll find another way to get by.”

Despite this talk, Mya Thet Mu from Danubyu said she was sceptical that many farmers would boycott repayments because in doing so they risked more than the denial of further credit. When farmers take out loans they have to give their Form 7 land ownership document to MADB as collateral, she said, which means farmers who fail to repay their loans risk losing their land.

“If we don’t have our Form 7, we can’t sell our land or even prove that we own it,” she said.

[Valentine Z]

Is there any info on the covid situation in Burma/Myanmar?

Officially there are basically no cases as of early February. Or at least so few that it doesn't matter.

It's, you know, unlikely that that's accurate. But it's hard to say how wrong it is. I'm sure there are very few cases in Naypyidaw. Which no doubt comes as a great relief to the capitol's sixteen permanent residents. I wouldn't suggest visiting Rangoon. But I wouldn't recommend visiting Rangoon anyway.

Here's to me hoping that I would be able to visit back my home country and city again sometime, but truth be told, I am also not holding out too much.

As for the COVID cases, there does not seem to be much at the time being. Daily new cases sort of flatlined. Personally, I have both doubts that it is not that accurate and there are unaccounted cases (and deaths), or that somehow we are beating this bug. Either those, or we are sort of going to get screwed when dengue season hits with the rainy season.

[Kowani]

Myanmar junta using bodies to terrorize the populace

An analysis by The Associated Press and the Human Rights Center Investigations Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, looked at cases where bodies of those targeted indiscriminately by police and the military are being used as tools of terror. The findings are based on more than 2,000 tweets and online images, in addition to interviews with family members, witness accounts, and local media reports.

The AP and HRC Lab identified more than 130 instances where security forces appeared to be using corpses and the bodies of the wounded to create anxiety, uncertainty, and strike fear in the civilian population. Over two-thirds of those cases analyzed were confirmed or categorized as having moderate or high credibility, and often involved tracking down the original source of the content or interviewing observers. Since the military takeover, more than 825 people have been killed — well over two times the government tally — according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog organization that monitors arrests and deaths. The junta did not respond to written questions submitted by AP.

The HRC Lab examined hours of footage posted online over a two-month period showing dead bodies being snatched off the streets and dragged like sacks of rice before being thrown into vehicles and driven to unknown destinations. Some people have been disappeared or arrested one day and returned dead the next, their corpses mutilated with signs of torture, witnesses confirmed to AP.

Autopsies have been carried out without the permission of families. And some death certificates blame heart attacks or falls after violent attacks, contradicting witness accounts and images captured by protesters, journalists, or residents, including some who have been stealthily recording incidents with mobile phones through windows or from rooftops. Cremations and exhumations of the deceased have been secretly conducted in the middle of the night by authorities. Other times, grieving families have been forced to pay military hospitals to release their loved ones’ remains, relatives and eyewitnesses told the AP.

Though the incidents may seem random and unprovoked — including kids being shot while playing outside their homes — they are actually deliberate and systematic with the goal of demobilizing people and wearing them down, said Nick Cheesman, a researcher at Australian National University, who specializes in the politics of law and policing in Myanmar.

“That,” he said, “is exactly the characteristic of state terror.”

Taking a page from the army’s historical playbook, experts say the violence also appears aimed at keeping the death toll artificially low and concealing evidence. But unlike past violence, the attacks are being captured on smartphones and surveillance cameras in real-time and could one day be used against the regime before international criminal courts, as has happened elsewhere in the world.

“It has always been the military’s strategy to hide the mass crackdown there, the mass killing of the protesters,” said Van Tran, a Cornell University researcher who studied the bloody 1988 and 2007 uprisings in Myanmar. “There are always large-scale operations in order to either cremate the bodies of people that were shot down or ... bulldoze and bury those bodies. So a lot of the time, families do not know where their children went.”

Almost a quarter of the recent cases with known locations analyzed by the HRC Lab involved injured people or dead bodies snatched by security forces in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, followed by Mandalay and Bago.

The largest number of those incidents, documented through posts on social media, was reported on March 27. Celebrated annually as Armed Forces Day, it commemorates the start of the military’s resistance to Japanese occupation during World War II after more than a century of British colonial rule.

This year protesters dubbed it “Anti-Fascist-Resistance Day,” and came out in large numbers in a stand against the military takeover.

It was on that day that motorbike rider Kyaw Min Latt was shot, though his family told AP the young carpenter had not been to a demonstration but was instead heading home from the job site to grab an early lunch with two friends.

Using satellite visuals, reverse image searches, and a sun-shadow calculator, the HRC Lab was able to verify that the shooting took place at 10:38 a.m. in front of a high school on Azarni Road in the southern town of Dawei. In the footage, two shots are heard and Kyaw Min Latt, who was sitting between the driver and a fellow passenger, is seen grabbing his head and falling sideways. Officers chased after the two other riders with guns raised. Another bang is then heard.

Sixteen minutes later, a passerby posted a picture on Facebook of blood-soaked concrete and flip flops near the white motorbike that security forces had carefully propped back up before taking Kyaw Min Latt’s body.

Within two hours, the CCTV footage was also being shared widely across social media platforms.

That’s how the teen’s father received the news. He told AP he later learned his son had been taken to a military hospital. He rushed there to see him that afternoon and said the teen was still alive, but unconscious.

“He was badly wounded,” Soe Soe Latt said. “He opened his eyes when we were at the hospital, but could not say any words.”

The boy died soon after, and his father said army doctors wanted to perform an autopsy. The family fought against it, but said the hospital would only release the body if they signed a paper saying their son died of head injuries from falling off the motorbike.

A photo published online before Kyaw Min Latt’s funeral by Dawei Watch, a local news outlet, told a different story: There was a gaping wound in the teen’s neck. [...] Party officials said that family members were prohibited from collecting the body of one man who died at an interrogation center. Two other NLD members were returned as corpses to relatives the next day, drawing a sharp rebuke from the U.S. State Department.

Photos and videos posted on social media from several locations, and analyzed by the HRC Lab, show they appear to have been tortured, with the skin partially peeled from one man’s face. Another had dried blood on his head and bruises covering his body.

“Just tell people he had a heart attack and died,” a man who attended the cleaning of one victim’s body told AP, recalling what doctors told family members.

Despite the attacks on NLD members, the anti-military demonstrations continued. Ordinary citizens soon found themselves targets of soldiers and police.

This month, relatives of one man in Bago Region’s Pyay Township said security forces arrived at their home with guns drawn.

After beating 33-year-old Aung Khaing Myit, his sister told AP they took him away for questioning about his suspected involvement in a bomb blast. She said the officers swore nothing would happen to him, but he was heard screaming in a nearby room before falling silent.

The next day, the family was taken to a military hospital. They were told Aung Khaing Myit died while trying to jump out of a transport vehicle and that he was already placed inside a coffin. His sister said they were allowed to look at his bruised face, but not his entire body, and then authorities took him away for cremation over their objections.

“We knew they beat him to death,” she said. “But they tried to lie to us.”

And even if bodies are returned to families, it doesn’t mean they will be buried and left to rest in peace. Nineteen-year-old Kyal Sin, better known as Angel, became a high-profile case after being shot in the head March 3 during a protest in Mandalay, galvanizing supporters to wear T-shirts and banners bearing her image. Thousands, outraged by her death, gathered for her funeral the next day.

But later that night, the flowers were removed from her grave and MRTV state television said her body had been exhumed by authorities so an official autopsy could be carried out, exonerating the police. All that remained at the site afterward was a bloody latex glove and other strewn debris.

Authorities later released a death certificate saying the bullet that killed her didn’t match the caliber used by police, and that it came from the wrong direction for security forces to be responsible.

Shootings by soldiers and police were the reason Ye Yint Naing’s mother had forbidden him to join a protest in northern Shan State. But that didn’t stop the 15-year-old — he simply skipped breakfast that morning and snuck out while she was busy washing clothes in the back of the house.

He quickly met up with friends and headed to the rally, but an hour later tensions began to explode. After activists set a car on fire, Myanmar security forces responded by shooting into the crowd.

Ye Yint Naing was hit and fell to the ground. As he lay bleeding and calling for help, his friends watched paralyzed for two hours, unable to reach him because they feared they would be shot by a sniper standing watch, his brother told AP.

When the gunfire finally stopped, Ye Yint Naing’s motionless body was loaded into an ambulance and driven away. Social media posts provided the first clues for family members about what happened to him.

A picture posted on Facebook by a sympathetic worker at a local cemetery showed them where the body was ultimately taken. Once there, Ye Yint Naing was cremated — which goes against Muslim burial customs — following an order by police.

“They actually wanted to hide the dead body,” his brother said, adding he was able to get a bag with ashes and bits of bone to bury. “I have to say, ‘Thank you,’ to the person who cremated the body and took the photo. If not, it would have been hard for our family to find my younger brother because we would not know where he was taken.”

Other secret cremations were confirmed in a mountainous trading town in the same state. Military trucks carrying soldiers and police rumbled into Aungban to stamp out a protest early on March 19th, firing off tear gas and bullets that left at least eight people dead, a witness told the AP.

Images from the scene posted on social media, showed one bloodied body lying next to a curb, and video captured men dressed in black uniforms kicking debris and randomly shooting their guns.

Security forces brought most of the corpses to the local cemetery that night and days later. They broke locks on the crematorium and used car tires to burn several bodies, witnesses said, until “all that remained was ash.”

Terrified that their loved ones will not receive proper burials, some family members have started hiding bodies, racing to get them buried before security forces can claim them.

That was the case with 13-year-old Htoo Myat Win. He was hit in the chest by a stray bullet while sitting inside his home in the central town of Shwebo, Sagaing Region.

Video posted online showed security forces shooting while walking through the street, and a neighbor who witnessed the boy’s death confirmed to AP that they were “spraying bullets” at houses.

Authorities came to ask the family for the boy’s body, but they refused to hand it over and instead hid it at a local temple, the neighbor said, declining to give his name fearing retribution. “They cremated him the next day.” Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said there is a clear legal procedure in place when people die. Families are informed and autopsies are carried out.

“We never hide this number,” he said at a press conference earlier this month.

However, the military has put the total killed nationwide at about 300, stressing that nearly 50 police have also died in the violence. Earlier, state-run TV called the more widely used figures from AAPP “fake” news, even though the highly regarded Thailand-based monitoring group often includes the victims’ names, ages and photographs. It also details how and where they died as part of its tally, helping bolster the credibility of those numbers.

[Kowani]

Aung San Suu Kyi formally charged with corruption

Myanmar's deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained officials have been formally charged by the military junta, state media reported Thursday morning local time.

Details: "The Anti-Corruption Commission has inspected corruption cases against ex-state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She was found guilty of committing corruption using her rank," the military said, per Bloomberg, which notes she could face up to 15 years in prison for the offense.

[Kowani]

Junta troops burn village in Magway

[Valentine Z]

Junta troops burn village in Magway

Here's the source from Irrawaddy, an independent news outlet.

[Twicetagram and JYPe]

Just a shower thought, if the Junta can treat the Bamars, the majority, so poorly (I'm not assuming Junta personnel are all ethnically Burmese), imagine what they'd do to the minorities once they get what they want. Might be a stretch to think of it right now, but the prospects aren't the brightest.