By Ko Myo / MPA
Yangon, Myanmar — Residents of Yangon are facing a resurgence of arbitrary street arrests, monitors say, as the relative lull during the military junta’s recent election campaign abruptly ends.
According to the Rangoon Scout Network (RSN), a local group monitoring military movements, the frequency of detentions on public streets has returned to “normal” high levels following the conclusion of the first phase of the regime’s controversial election on December 28.
Targeting Civilians at Night “We have observed a distinct return to previous patterns,” an RSN official told MPA. “Police activity has notably increased, with officers targeting civilians at night under various pretexts, such as drinking beer on the roadside or loitering in unlit areas.”
Recent incidents in Thaketa Township illustrate the crackdown. On Friday night (January 9), police in a saloon car detained two men near a refuse site on Ayeyarwun Road. Just a day earlier, a police patrol vehicle accosted three young men near the township’s “10 Market.” Two were forcibly dragged into the vehicle after officers accused them of public intoxication.
The ‘Conscription Market’ While some detainees are released after paying bribes, the fate of many remains unknown.
A police source within Yangon revealed a darker motive behind the dragnet: officers are reportedly using security sweeps during the election period to meet quotas for the military. The source alleged that detainees unable to pay ransom are effectively being “sold” into the military’s forced conscription system to fill depleting ranks.
“Some manage to pay and get out,” the RSN official noted. “But for the majority, once they are taken, we hear nothing more.”
