By Foe Aww Yaw/ MPA
TAMU — Women-led protests have erupted in northwest Myanmar’s Tamu Township following reports that local resistance groups are forcibly recruiting men from farms and paddy fields, disrupting the region’s vital agricultural sector.
Demonstrations took place in Min Thami village on the night of 15 February and in Bukkan village the following day.
Protesters are denouncing what they describe as “violent portering”—the practice of seizing civilians for forced labor or military service—which has reportedly extended into daylight hours and workplace environments.
“They are seizing people while they are harvesting in the fields or tending to cattle,” a local woman from southern Tamu told MPA. “Men no longer dare to sleep at home at night. Now, entering the fields during the day to take them is simply too much. That is why we are protesting.”
The forced recruitment drives have reportedly paralyzed the local economy. With men in hiding to avoid conscription, women have been forced to take over heavy agricultural labor. In the town of Khampat, residents noted that only the elderly and women dare to travel for trade, as any younger man fears being detained by armed groups.
The situation is complicated by overlapping jurisdictions. In December, the Emergency Administrative Body for Tamu, operating under the National Unity Government (NUG), imposed a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew, citing security and anti-drug operations.
While some groups claim these detentions are part of a crackdown on narcotics, locals argue that the practice has evolved into overt forced recruitment for military reinforcements.
“They are mainly targeting Bamar villages—those not directly affiliated with specific armed organizations,” a male resident from Tein Kayar village said. He noted that individuals from villages with ties to Chin ethnic armed groups are often released, while others remain in custody.
The climate of fear is driving a labor migration shift. Rather than working local farms, many men are reportedly fleeing to neighboring Kyikha and Tonzang townships to work in poppy plantations, seeking refuge in areas outside the immediate reach of Tamu’s recruitment patrols.
The protests highlight a growing tension within the resistance movement: the struggle to balance the need for manpower against the rights and livelihoods of the civilian populations they claim to protect.
