After ethnic armed groups conquered Myanmar’s northern Shan State, residents have welcomed their efforts to restore public order, but continued instability keeps the economy hobbled while ethnic tensions remain.
By FRONTIER
In the past, Awng Htun would accompany his mother, who has breast cancer, for her medical check-ups in Mandalay city. The trip from their hometown of Nawnghkio, in northern Shan State, was a smooth one, taking only around four hours.
But since this region has become engulfed in war, he waits as long as two days for confirmation that she’s reached the hospital, as she navigates military checkpoints and circuitous backroads alone.
“I don’t dare accompany her anymore,” said Awng Htun, asking to be identified by a pseudonym. As a 29-year-old Kachin man with a northern Shan ID, he’d be treated with suspicion and hostility by regime soldiers, putting his mother in more danger.
While the Ta’ang National Liberation Army declared victory in Nawnghkio in July, sporadic fighting continues, and most public services are non-existent. Awng Htun said the TNLA has a small public clinic “offering only basic healthcare”, and there are no private hospitals operating.
In October last year, the TNLA and its allies in the Three Brotherhood Alliance – the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Arakan Army – launched a spectacular military offensive known as Operation 1027. The AA has made sweeping gains in Rakhine State, while the TNLA and MNDAA have seized around 20 towns across northern Shan. While these unprecedented battlefield victories were once thought impossible, the ethnic armed groups already have a new, possibly greater challenge: rebuilding and administering their territories.
The regime’s draconian restrictions on free speech and political activities have dominated international headlines, but for many ordinary people in Myanmar, military rule has been characterised by neglect. Facing widespread armed resistance and civil disobedience, the junta has presided over a collapse in the economy, public services and rule of law – the latter largely manifesting in a surge in petty crime and drug use.
Enter the strongmen of the Brotherhood. Rather than being welcomed as liberators from tyranny, many sources celebrated them for restoring order – even when measures they used to do so violated international law or human rights norms.
But there is some discontent too. The TNLA in particular appears to be struggling to get basic public services up and running. And both the TNLA and MNDAA were founded to represent a specific ethnic minority – the Ta’ang and Kokang Chinese respectively – and there are questions over whether they can fairly administer the diverse territories they now control. Meanwhile, continued fighting, the constant threat of airstrikes and military blockades have hobbled the economy.
The long arm of the law
Awng Htun described a relatively draconian legal system in Nawnghkio under the TNLA. He said the group imposes a 6pm-6am curfew, detaining violators for three days. In cases of domestic violence or petty crime, the TNLA imprisons suspects for up to a week, a system he claimed most people are satisfied with.
But he admitted there is no due process.
“They handle incidents by detaining and holding suspects, but there is no formal judicial process in place,” he said.
Yet he welcomed the iron first of the TNLA, portraying the military as absent and overly lax.
“Problems in the town are now less frequent because the situation has become one where misconduct and bad behaviour are less tolerated,” he said. “Under the military junta, even if somebody reported a problem, there were delays in taking action.”
The MNDAA also has no due process, sources said, adding that suspected thieves can be detained for two or three months, and subjected to forced labour cleaning the town or repairing damaged property.
Many sources also commented approvingly on crackdowns by ethnic armed groups on rampant drug use.
“Under the previous regime, there were many drug users in the town, and drug selling was done openly. Now, with the TNLA, MNDAA, and KIA actively arresting drug dealers and users, it has drastically decreased,” said a Kachin woman in Kutkai town.
Kutkai is a particularly mixed area of northern Shan, with a large number of Ta’ang, Kachin and Mong Wong Chinese. While the TNLA has become the most dominant force there, the MNDAA and Kachin Independence Army also have a presence.
A Bamar charity worker in Lashio – the largest town in northern Shan, seized by the MNDAA in August – insisted the MNDAA is not involved in forced recruiting, despite a well-documented history of it. He also said the MNDAA treats drug users humanely before letting them return to their families, but other sources told a different story.
The Kachin woman in Kutkai said two of her brothers got hooked on drugs and were apprehended by the MNDAA and KIA respectively.
“The MNDAA and KIA not only detoxify drug users but also integrate them into their forces and do not release them afterwards,” she said. Forced recruitment is a violation of international law, but far from being upset, the woman approved of this harsh tactic.
“If they were released, they might resume their drug use.”
Meanwhile, an official from a different charity group in Lashio said there’s no real drug rehabilitation, and users are simply detained for a forced detox and then assigned to forced manual labour.
Patchy public services
Interviews with residents of townships controlled by the TNLA paint a picture of extremely limited public services – with no internet, electricity or phone lines. However, there appears to have been more success in rolling out public services in Lashio town under the MNDAA.
Whereas the modern TNLA was formed in 2009 and has never controlled significant territory before now, the MNDAA has experience administering an autonomous enclave from 1989-2009, until it was seized by the Myanmar military.
The Bamar charity worker said Lashio General Hospital is back up and running, thanks to MNDAA generators, and can provide even relatively complex medical services like childbirth and surgery for free. He said there are some 400 healthcare workers at the hospital, including MNDAA medics and doctors from all over the country who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement – a mass strike of public workers launched in protest against the coup. Multiple other residents corroborated these claims.
He added that Myanmar’s largest non-state armed group, the United Wa State Army, also has a significant presence in the town, and has established internet access via Starlink.
“Now every neighbourhood has access to the internet,” he claimed.
A man from Hseni town, seized by the MNDAA in January, said phone lines were open there and electricity was provided from 6am-6pm, also via generators.
But the reviews were less glowing in the TNLA’s nascent Ta’ang State.
Branley Maran, a Kachin activist in Kutkai, said the TNLA initially set up a clinic inside Kutkai General Hospital. It was moved to a secret location following an airstrike on the town’s main market on August 5, which killed at least six civilians. He said the clinic is only staffed by TNLA medics, not CDM staff, and can’t provide adequate care.
Another Kachin resident said her friend tried to go to the TNLA hospital to give birth, but it wasn’t adequately stocked so she went to a private hospital instead.
“Many people go to private hospitals because the TNLA hospital lacks sufficient medical supplies. Medical costs are high whether you go to the TNLA hospital or a private one. Even for a common illness, without any injections, you have to pay at least K50,000 kyats,” she said, about US$9 at the market rate.
Sai Kham*, a Shan grocery store owner, said “basic healthcare has become a luxury” in Kutkai.
While Awng Htun said each ward in Nawnghkio town has elected its own local administrators to serve under the TNLA, Branley Maran said there’s been no such outreach in Kutkai.
“In terms of administration, the TNLA is not very effective. They have not engaged with the local community or held meetings. There is a disconnect between the people and the TNLA,” he said. “The local people have limited trust in them.”
A Ta’ang resident of Kutkai said he’s happy with TNLA rule and doesn’t think the group gives preferential treatment to the Ta’ang, but Branley Maran insisted this isn’t true.
“In emergencies, the TNLA goes to Ta’ang villages and holds meetings just among themselves. For things like building bunkers [for airstrikes], the TNLA only gives instructions to their own ethnic group,” he said.
After retaking the Kokang capital Laukkai, the MNDAA allegedly destroyed the Bamar quarter and prevented Bamar migrants from returning. But it appears to be taking a more moderate stance in the multi-ethnic Lashio town, which is far beyond the borders of the traditional Kokang homeland.
Residents said there hasn’t been any flagrant discrimination under MNDAA rule, but there is a language barrier.
A Bamar Muslim man in Lashio confirmed that the MNDAA mostly operates in Chinese. “It’s not very convenient,” he said, but added that most of the time MNDAA troops or officials who only speak Chinese are paired with somebody who speaks Burmese, so it isn’t a massive problem.
“There hasn’t been any declaration of Chinese as the official language, nor have there been any cases where the public has been forced to use it,” he added.
But the Bamar charity worker acknowledged many of the MNDAA doctors only speak Chinese and often do not have interpreters when dealing with patients.
Both sources said the MNDAA has “appointed” local administrators, but has done so in consultation with local communities.
“As for whether those appointed really have any power, I can’t say for sure,” said the Bamar Muslim resident.
Economic woes
The TNLA and MNDAA are starting at a disadvantage, trying to administer territory that has recently been devastated by war, and continues to be subjected to blockades and airstrikes.
“Post-war life is tougher than ever,” said Sai Kham in Kutkai. “Right now, I have no income at all and am living off my savings. My top priority is to see peace in my region as soon as possible. The ongoing conflict among people from the same country is causing immense suffering, and there is nothing positive about it.”
Kutkai residents said many people were starting to return to the town, bringing the local economy back to life, until the August airstrike sent people fleeing again. It was a similar story in Hseni, where the military bombed the main market in July, killing eight.
“I fled to Taunggyi after the airstrike,” a Hseni resident said. “The fear of more airstrikes keeps me from returning.”
TNLA spokesperson Lway Yay Oo said around 140 civilians have been killed by airstrikes in northern Shan since fighting resumed in late June.
“Locals who want to return can come back. But it’s okay if they continue to monitor the situation, including airstrikes from the military council. It’s according to their wishes,” she said.
Transportation difficulties and disrupted supply chains have led to a sharp rise in prices for essential goods in most townships, especially since late June, with rice, cooking oil and fuel more than doubling.
Awng Htun said the military regime has blockaded Nawnghkio by cutting off supplies from Pyin Oo Lwin, a hill town in Mandalay Region where the military’s premier officer training school is based. He said the TNLA has stepped in to urge traders to sell any goods they may have stockpiled at a fair price.
In Kyaukme town, seized by the TNLA in August, Ma Su Hlaing Win said they are still able to get foodstuffs from Mandalay, but transporters must sometimes take alternative routes to avoid the military, driving up transportation fees and therefore commodity prices.
“The TNLA is making efforts to accommodate the residents. Since the town was only recently seized, they haven’t yet been able to fully address all the problems. It would be beneficial if they could work towards bringing peace to the area and reducing commodity prices. That’s the main concern,” she said.
Many residents said border crossings with China that have been seized by the Brotherhood have been closed since July, and some observers believe Beijing has done this to pressure them into ceasefire negotiations with the military. Sai Kham said fuel is still coming from the Chin Shwe Haw border town, seized by the MNDAA in October last year, but it’s not clear if it’s going through official channels or being smuggled.
Su Hlaing Win said only stores selling the most basic essentials – food and fuel – are operating normally. Under such conditions, some enterprising residents have adapted.
Awng Htun ran a karaoke bar in Nawnghkio town before the war, but is now a fuel trader.
“We buy fuel from a supplier and sell it in the town,” he said, explaining the fuel is transported from southern Shan, which is more stable. “With everyone struggling, our profits are minimal,” he added.
U Soe*, a construction worker in Lashio, previously transitioned to building bomb shelters around town when fighting was its most fierce. Now he’s house sitting for residents who have fled.
“Some displaced people want to know the condition of their homes. I offer a service where I check on their properties and report back on any damage or theft,” he said. “The MNDAA and UWSA provide some rice to those in need, but without a full time job it’s tough to stay in Lashio.”
*indicates the use of a pseudonym for security reasons
