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BAGO DIVISION – According to local residents, 8 people per village are selected by drawing lots to form a militia in the villages of Pyay township, and those not picked have to pay 15,000 kyats per house.
Starting from the first week of February, the police under the Junta Council and the relevant village administration bodies are asking for 8 people per village to join the militia. As no one is willing to join, they choose to draw lots.
“Mostly, junta council’s army don’t come along. In our village, there are only police and administrative bodies. We are asked to draw lots. The rest of the village had to pay to support those being picked,” said a local resident.
Those who are picked will have to attend a 2-week militia training that will be held at Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)-75 in Pyay.
For the expenses in the course, those who remain in the village are forced to contribute 15,000 kyats per house to support those taking the course.
The local said that among those who were picked, those who can afford were planning to pay for a substitute if they did not want to attend the training. The wives of those who had to attend the training were crying because they could not afford it.
In some townships and villages, including Pyay Township in Bago Division, the Military Council is pressuring them to form militias, and because there are many people who do not want to join the militia, they are forcing them to draw lots. It is reported that they are making threats by forcing them to pay money.