“I could not kill innocent people”: in Burma, soldiers choose to defect

In the memory of Yey Int Thwe *, July 25 remains engraved as the date when “everything changed”. That day, the 30-year-old soldier and a dozen soldiers forced their way into homes in the south-east of Rangoon, Burma. Members of the security forces of the Tatmadaw, the Burmese army, they come to arrest people suspected of having organized a demonstration against the coup d’état of 1^er February. Weapon and handcuffs in hand, Yey In Thwe finds himself facing his own cousin.

“It was a shock. I spent my childhood with this man and suddenly I had to fight with him and stop him. Why? Because he dared to express his ideas”, testifies the soldier during a video call with France 24. “It was then that I understood that I had to leave the army.” The same evening, back to his barracks, he begins to devise a plan to defect. Five months later, he lives hidden in the jungle, on the border between Burma and Thailand.

“I joined the army to protect the population”

In total, according to the government of national unity (NUG), which intends to resist against the junta, 2,000 soldiers like him have defected and joined the ranks of the opposition since the coup d’état by General Min Aung Hlaing.

“The Tatmadaw has never been so hated as it is today,” said France 24 Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia department at Human Rights Watch. Every year, members of the army defect, disappointed by the living and working conditions. But this time, a moral crisis is added: they no longer want to support the junta.

All the deserters questioned indeed share the same motivation: the refusal to attack the population when the country is now plunged into civil war. In recent months, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed by Burmese security forces, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP). A UN rapporteur, meanwhile, reports “probable crimes against humanity and war crimes” perpetrated by the junta.

“In 2015, I ensured the security of the polling stations which allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to be democratically elected. Today, I am asked to shoot her defenders”, deplores Kaung Htet Aung *, interviewed by France 24. And to insist: “I joined the army to protect the population, not to fight against it.”

At 29, despite the risks involved and after nine years as a sergeant in the Tatmadaw, he too took the plunge and joined the civil disobedience movement. “Normally, soldiers do not have the right to resign. When you join the army, it’s a lifelong commitment,” he recalls. “Deserting is punishable by imprisonment, or even worse. Not to mention the risk of reprisals for our loved ones.”

A support network

Kaung Htet Aung’s journey is strewn with pitfalls. On May 6, the young man escapes from his military base, but his trip is cut short. Just hours after leaving, he was injured while riding a motorcycle. Caught up, he is thrown into a military prison. He spent three months there. In August, when the junta decided to give him a second chance at his post, he fled again.

But this time around, he can count on the help of People’s Soldiers. Composed of former soldiers, this organization offers logistical assistance to all those who wish to desert. “As soon as I was released from prison, I contacted them through social networks,” he explains. “A few weeks later, they helped me escape.”

“Everything happens on social networks,” explains a spokesperson for the association in France 24. “The soldiers or their relatives contact us. As soon as we have verified their information, we find them a bus ticket to take them away. towards free zones (a border zone controlled by armed ethnic groups, editor’s note) “. Once there, the association helps them find accommodation and obtain basic necessities.

“I am so happy to be free”, smiles Kaung Htet Aung, despite the torrential rain which falls on his makeshift shelter from where he managed to speak with France 24. Today, the young man helps the resistance by putting his military skills to work. “I made weapons within the Tatmadaw. Today, I do it to fight against it. I also teach young people, freshly enlisted in the militias, to handle them”, he explains. Before adding, bitter: “There is only by force that we can end this.”

A rampant propaganda activity

But logistical assistance is not the only mission of People’s Soldiers. The organization is also doing intense communication work to encourage those who remain in the ranks of the Tatmadaw to join them.

Every Sunday morning, at 10 a.m. sharp, the group organizes videoconferences broadcast live on social networks. Each week, a different theme is discussed and the floor is open to members of NUG, figures of the pro-democracy movement but also to soldiers who have deserted. In addition to these meetings, the group does not hesitate to flood social networks with messages or even to contact the soldiers and their relatives directly.

“This propaganda plays a major role,” said Phil Robertson. “Because it not only reassures those who are thinking of deserting, but it also puts pressure on them and encourages them to take the plunge.”

People’s Soldiers can also count on the help of the government in exile. At the beginning of September, the latter indeed called on the military to join the resistance, guaranteeing safety to those who desert.

It is thanks to this propaganda that Yey Int Thwe’s sister was able to come into contact with the movement. “The Tatmadaw knows full well that People’s Soldiers exist. To avoid us contacting their members, they keep a close eye on our phones,” said Yey Int Thwe. “My sister found out about the organization through one of her lectures. She sent her a message. Then she told me where I should go so that I could flee to an area. free.”

Today, he helps the movement by building houses in the middle of the jungle to accommodate future soldiers. “I live with donations to People’s Soldiers and spend my days chopping bamboo,” he laughs.

But if the young man says he now feels safe, he would like to convince his family to join him. “The whole time I was on the run, she was afraid for me. Today, I’m the one who’s afraid for her. I fear that she will suffer the consequences of my choice.”

Retired soldiers back in line

However, the number of defections remains low when compared to the 350,000 people who make up the Tatmadaw, according to official estimates. Yet each of them is celebrated as a victory by the resistance.

“For the moment, this dynamic remains too limited for it to play a major role,” said Phil Robertson. “But each departure helps to raise awareness and this could weaken the junta and its leadership.”

“Faced with these desertions, the army is not doing nothing. And it is reacting as it usually does, with force,” laments the deputy director of the Asia department of Human Rights Watch, noting recurring intimidation against the troops.

A sign, too, of growing disenchantment with the army, the Tatmadaw has struggled to recruit for several months. So that, according to the Burmese Myanmar Now site, several retired soldiers and senior officers were called to return to service and threatened to have their pensions suspended if they refused.

According to another Burmese site, Irrawady, the army has also made military training compulsory for the children of its personnel, from the age of 14, in order to create reserve troops. An act contrary to international law.

“The junta must understand that even in its ranks, we no longer support it”, concludes Yey Int Thwe. “It must return power to the people and we must begin a major military reform. The army must find its primary goal: to protect its population.”

* Names have been changed.