12 May 2026 By Min AB
KAWKAREIK, Myanmar — The Myanmar military junta is using a combination of threats and meager material incentives to pressure thousands of displaced residents into returning to the ruins of Kawkareik, a town largely destroyed by military shelling and arson attacks.
Locals from the Kayin State town report that ward administrators are contacting families who fled the conflict, offering just five bags of cement and 15 corrugated iron sheets per household as “reconstruction aid.” The offer comes with a chilling ultimatum: return now or risk losing their land titles and remaining property to others.
“They are telling us the town is peaceful now and that we must come back to claim our cement and zinc sheets,” a resident currently taking refuge in Myawaddy told MPA. “But then they add a threat—if we don’t return, they say they can’t guarantee our property won’t be seized by others. It’s a deliberate attempt to scare us into coming back.”
Kawkareik was a major battleground in early 2024, with resistance forces seizing nearly 80% of the town before a massive military counter-offensive in April of that year. During the fighting, daily airstrikes and heavy artillery barrages launched by the military reduced thousands of homes to ash, displacing tens of thousands of people.
On 2 May, senior military officials, including Colonel Soe Moe Win, the junta’s Minister for Border Affairs in Kayin State, visited the town to promote a “reconstruction program.” While military propaganda channels claim the regime is helping residents rebuild, locals view the move as a cynical PR exercise and a potential corruption scheme.
“The government buildings are being prioritized so officials can get kickbacks from contractors,” another resident said. “The promise to help the public is just a facade. How can five bags of cement rebuild a house that was completely torched? There is no security, no jobs, and the fighting continues on the outskirts of the town.”
Despite the military’s claims of stability, resistance groups confirm that sporadic clashes continue just beyond the town limits. For many, the memory of the “scorched earth” tactics used by the army remains too fresh.
“Only about a third of the population has dared to return,” a former resident estimated. “The rest of us are watching and waiting. We aren’t going back to be used as human shields or to live in fear of the very soldiers who burned our lives down.”
The military junta has not officially responded to allegations of coercion. As the regime attempts to project an image of territorial control, the empty streets of Kawkareik serve as a stark reminder of the deep mistrust between the people and the forces claiming to protect them.
