IDPs “dare not go home” as Burma Army reinforces troops during informal ceasefire
The
Burma Army allegedly reinforced troops and military equipment to central Shan
State on Friday night after agreeing to an informal ceasefire with the Shan
State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) on the same day.
A
meeting was held in Yangon on Friday between government representative U Khin
Maung Soe—who is the current Minister of Electric Power and a member of the Union
Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC)—and an SSPP/SSA-N delegation. It was
decided that they would form a working committee for peace in the region, where
Burma Army offensives have been ongoing since October 6, displacing more than
10,000 civilians.
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| A government delegation including U Khin Maung Soe meets with SSPP/SSA-N in 2013 (Photo: Sai Hak) |
Sai
Nor Lek, an SSPP/SSA-N representative who attended the meeting, said that they
were able to negotiate an informal ceasefire with the Burma Army through U Khin
Maung Soe.
But
later that evening, an SSPP/SSA-N information officer based in the armed
group’s headquarters in Wan Hai, Kesi Township, said that he witnessed more
than 30 Burma Army trucks heading from Taunggyi, Shan State’s capital, to
Namzang Township and Mong Nong sub-township; meanwhile, military tanks were transported
from Mandalay into Lashio, in northern Shan State.
On
Saturday, government officials informed SSPP/SSA-N representatives that the
Burma Army had changed their stance and was calling for the retreat of the
SSPP/SSA-N from central Shan State’s Mong Hsu Township and Mong Nong
sub-township; some interpreted it as an order for the ethnic armed group to
isolate themselves in Wan Hai.
“U
Khin Maung Soe replied that he can do nothing,” said Sai Nor Lek.
According
to those assisting the region’s internally displaced population, the news came
as a disappointment to IDPs who have been anxious to return to their farms to
complete the annual rice harvest and secure their food supply for the next
year.
“The
civilians were happy to hear the news that they would have a chance to go back
home again. But today it has changed,” said Sai Nor Lek.
Sai
Harn, a volunteer working with IDPs in Mong Hsu Township, said that a pause in
fighting on Thursday, November 19 had made many people hopeful that the
conflict was coming to an end.
“The
IDPs saw that the conditions were good, so they prepared to go back home to
harvest their rice,” he said on Saturday. “But yesterday they heard about the
government military increasing troops, and now they dare not go back home.”
A
second meeting between UPWC members and SSPP/SSA-N representatives was
scheduled to take place today in Yangon. The outcome of the meeting was not
available at the time of reporting.
By SIMMA
FRANCIS AND ZAAI ZAAI LAO MURNG (Shan Herald Agency for News / S.H.A.N)
Reporting by
SAI YIPHONG (Shan Herald Agency for News / S.H.A.N)
Tags: News, Politics
