Calls for boycott of regime census in October

Yangon residents reported that census workers began to compile household lists, including the names of those who’ve recently died or are currently outside of the country, since Sept. 1. A township administrator in Yangon, who spoke to DVB on the condition of anonymity, said that these lists will be given to the Union Election Commission (UEC).

The anti-coup protest group Octopus issued a warning against the national census scheduled to take place Oct. 1-15 saying it is an attempt by the regime to gather citizens’ personal information. “Instead of outright defiance, I believe people should be made aware not to provide truthful information,” a data analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The previous national census, conducted in 2014, cost Burma about $60 million USD. It was funded primarily by grants and technical assistance from the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Naypyidaw has announced that the 2024 census will use state funds, but the regime claimed that China pledged to provide technical support.

At least three killed in airstrikes on northern Shan State’s Lashio 

Two civilians were killed and at least six others were injured by airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Lashio Township Friday and Saturday. The city has been controlled by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) since it seized control of the Northeast Regional Military Command (RMC) headquarters on Aug. 3.

“Buildings from four neighborhoods and a market were damaged after their aircrafts dropped bombs at dawn,” a Lashio resident told DVB. The military has reportedly conducted nine airstrikes on Lashio over the last month. At least three civilians have been killed and more than 40 others have been injured. 

The MNDAA issued a statement on Sept. 4 declaring that it will not collaborate with the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG) in political and military affairs. It also pledged not to attack Mandalay or the Shan State capital Taunggyi. The MNDAA is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, which also includes the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA). It launched Operation 1027 on Oct. 27.  

Zin Mar Aung speaks to DVB Newsroom

The National Unity Government (NUG) Minister of Foreign Affairs Zin Mar Aung sat down with DVB Bureau Chief Mon Mon Myat to discuss the progress that it has made, along with its armed wing the People’s Defense Force (PDF), over the last three years of resistance to the 2021 military coup for the Newsroom podcast.

“Our control area is expanding each and every day. So that is why we have the accountability to provide services in our control area. First and foremost is the security of our people and civilians. And the second one is to provide for their daily needs, which is related to health, education and food,” she told DVB. 

Zin Mar Aung added that the NUG is developing early warning systems to protect civilians from military airstrikes, which have increased in areas under the control of anti-coup resistance groups since Min Aung Hlaing called for more earlier this month. Newsroom podcast episode 14 featuring NUG Foreign Affairs Minister Zin Mar Aung will be available Oct. 1 wherever you get podcasts. 

News by Region

AYEYARWADY—Prisoners at Hinthada Prison, 86 miles (138 km) north of the Ayeyarwady capital Pathein, have complained that they are not receiving adequate healthcare since the first week of September. Families have reportedly been restricted from sending medicine, especially to political prisoners.

“The prison doctors only provide paracetamol. Families who are aware of this send other medicines, but they have not reached the prisoners,” a source close to Hinthada Prison told DVB. At least 40 inmates with chronic illnesses are reportedly in poor health. Requests have been made to send sick prisoners for medical treatment at an outside hospital, added the anonymous source.

SHAN—Around 220 families displaced from their homes by flooding around the famed Inle Lake, in Nyaung Shwe Township, have been sheltering at monasteries and religious buildings 18 miles (28 km) south of Taunggyi. Residents reported that they are in need of urgent food, medicine and clean water.

“Flood victims there are only eating one meal a day as there are no donors so far. They are showing symptoms of diarrhea due to the lack of clean water,” a Nyaung Shwe resident told DVB. The Myanmar Rescue Organization (Mandalay) delivered fuel supplies to residents last week. Around 171 villages in Nyaung Shwe have been impacted by flooding since Sept. 9.

TANINTHARYI—Migrant workers deported from Thailand on Sept. 26 were taken away for military conscription once they reached Kawthaung Township, according to the Maikth Thahaya Self Administered Funeral Welfare Association (SAFWA), an aid group based in Ranong, Thailand. It added that most of the 127 migrant workers were deported from Thailand for working without proper documentation. 

“The regime previously refused to accept them. Now, the [migrant workers from Burma in Thailand] don’t want to return because they are aware that they’re being recruited for military service,” said Thar Kyaw, the group’s president. In August, 98 migrant workers deported from Thailand, via Kawthaung, were threatened with conscription by the military. 

Read: Building a democratic future: The power of grassroots unity in Myanmar by James Shwe.