The People's Defense Force was formed in response to the violent crackdown on anti-coup protesters in 2021. (Credit: PDF)
After the nationwide anti-coup protests were violently suppressed in 2021, many fled to the border to receive military training from ethnic armed groups. This led to the establishment of the People’s Defense Force (PDF) under the National Unity Government (NUG) Ministry of Defence.
TRANSCRIPT—What’s happening in Myanmar is worth your attention. Let me take a minute to explain about the People’s Defense Force, or PDF.
Following the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, ousted parliamentarians formed the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.
Two months later it established the National Unity Government, or NUG.
Its aim is to return Myanmar on its path toward democracy rather than submit to military rule.
After the nationwide anti-coup protests were violently suppressed, many fled to the border to receive military training from ethnic armed groups.
This led to what we now call the PDF under the NUG Ministry of Defence.
It divides the PDF into three military regions and operates two command centers alongside ethnic resistance organizations- to fight the military.
Research group ISP-Myanmar states there are over 200,000 PDF members.
It also states that ethnic armed groups and its allied PDF control up to 60 towns across Myanmar.
Criticism of the PDF has come from women who’ve joined its ranks.
Some say they’ve faced sexual harassment and abuse at PDF bases.
Stay tuned to DVB English News for the latest on What’s happening in Myanmar.
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Regime Acting President Myint Swe at the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) meeting in Naypyidaw in November 2023. (Credit: Regime media)
Regime Acting President Myint Swe is on medical leave and receiving care at his home in Naypyidaw due to a deteriorating health condition ongoing since last year, regime media reported Thursday.
“He has been suffering from neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy. He was treated at the Naypyidaw Military Hospital, but without showing any improvement he then went to Singapore for treatment in April. Shortly after his return, he was treated again,” a source from the Naypyidaw Military Hospital told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Myint Swe, 73, a former military officer, assumed the presidency after Win Myint was arrested during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. He served as vice president under the National League for Democracy government 2016-2018.
The list of the countries with the highest crime rates in the world was released by the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index on July 16, and Myanmar ranks number one.
The 2023 Global Organized Crime Index ranked Myanmar the number one country – out of 193 countries on its list – with the highest crime rate in the world on July 16. It moved up from the third position in 2021 after the military coup, which indicates a significant increase in organized criminal activities over the last three years.
“With a crime index of 8.15, Burma stands as the country with the highest crime rate in the world, and is a large market for crime, including people smuggling and arms trade,” stated the report.
Myanmar is described as a market for human trafficking, illegal rare earth mining and the arms trade. The Global Organized Crime Index was created in 2021 by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Read the Myanmar country report, here.
DVB English News Weekly Briefing for July 19, 2024. In this week’s briefing: The first new batch of Myanmar refugees are resettled to the US; Rohingya women assist refugees in Malaysia and Indonesia; Women in Karenni State report up to 80 cases of gender-based violence in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps; And, a history of the People’s Defense Force; Plus, a retrospective of jailed documentarian Shin Daewe’s films.
Kyaw Moe Tun delivered a speech at the UN Economic and Social Council on July 17. (Credit: Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations)
Burma’s Permanent Representative at the UN speaks out
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Burma’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., addressed the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2024 in New York on Wednesday.
“The military junta has murdered over 5,400 people. More than 3.1 million people are internally displaced, and 18.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Poverty is now deeply entrenched. Nearly half of the population are living below the national poverty line,” he said.
Kyaw Moe Tun added that Burma has been unable to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since the 2021 military coup, but emphasized that “eradicating the military dictatorship and building a federal democratic union will create a conducive condition to achieving peace, building accountable, inclusive institutions in Myanmar.”
Rohingya women assisting refugees in Malaysia and Indonesia
Noor Azizah, the co-founder of the Rohingya Maiyafuinor Collaborative Network, spoke to DVB. She recently visited Indonesia and Malaysia to help Rohingya women and children. The U.N. states that 2,500 Rohingya refugees arrived by boat to Indonesia from January to March, and at least 109,230 Rohingya refugees live in Malaysia.
“Some of our ongoing work right now in Aceh [Province of Indonesia] is providing psychosocial support to around 80 unaccompanied children who have lost their parents during the sea journey, or whose parents have been arrested in either Malaysia or Indonesia,” said Azizah.
Mandalay People’s Defense Force seizes Singu Township
The Mandalay People’s Defence Force seized Singu Township and released six detainees from the police station on Wednesday. Residents reported retaliatory airstrikes and artillery attacks by the military.
“The police had already fled before the PDF took the town, leaving the detainees behind, so the PDF released them,” a source close to the Singu police told DVB. The source added that the Singu police are now under investigation regarding the release of the detainees.
A Mogok resident collects household items among the ruins after artillery destroyed his home on June 29. (Credit: CJ)
MANDALAY—Three civilians were killed and at least two were injured during retaliatory airstrikes and artillery attacks against the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Mogok Township on Wednesday.
“The artillery shells landed near the homes and killed people,” said a Mogok resident. Many have been trapped inside their homes since fighting began on June 25. Ten civilians were killed by artillery in Mogok from July 8-17.
MAGWAY—Hundreds of thousands of Yesagyo Township residents have been impacted by flooding along the Chindwin River and are in need of food and shelter materials. Charity groups, the People’s Administration, and the People’s Defense Force (PDF), are assisting flood victims.
“We are facing many difficulties in finding food over the last three weeks since flooding began,” said a Yesagyo resident. Flooding from the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers has led to the evacuation of over 27,000 households from 130 villages.
KARENNI—The Karenni National Women’s Organization (KNWO) have reported up to 80 cases of gender-based violence over the last year in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, which are hosting over 280,000 IDPs.
AYEYARWADY—The family of a 19-year-old military conscript from Mawlamyinegyun Township was informed that he was killed at a training center on July 14. The regime claimed the conscript was attempting to escape. Sources close to the military reported that residents aged 18-35 are being forcefully conscripted with the help of local administrators.
“The shooting incident is true but we were told to keep quiet about it. The boy was selected for military training through the draft lottery [under the conscription law],” a source close to the military told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
ARAKAN—Residents of Thandwe Township reported that the Arakan Army (AA) had seized full control of the town on Tuesday after navy personnel abandoned its Maung Shwe Lay naval base. Fighting between the AA and the military began in Thandwe on April 13.
“They will try their best to take back [Thandwe] from the AA,” a military analyst in Arakan State told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The AA claimed that the military deployed forces from Ayeyarwady Region and the Navy SEALs to defend Thandwe.
Weekly Cartoon: The tiny dictator on his sinking ship blowing on his new 10,000 kyat banknotes to stop it from going down.
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