As losses mount, Myanmar soldiers’ wives, children forced into service

Myanmar’s military is increasingly using the families of soldiers to provide security at frontline outposts as it continues to lose ground to anti-regime forces, according to military sources. In northern Shan State and other major combat zones, the wives and children of soldiers are often expected to risk their own lives to hold the line, the sources said. This was most graphically illustrated last week when anti-regime forces captured the Northeastern Regional Military Command headquarters in Lashio. A video of the aftermath of the battle for control of the junta stronghold showed the bodies of women and children among the dead. According to Capt Zin Yaw, a Myanmar army defector, the regime makes no effort to protect the dependents of soldiers stationed in army outposts. Instead, he said, it presses them into service. “They are organised into teams led by the wives of commanding officers and second-in-commands and assigned to medical and other support duties. They are put in a position where they have to fight to the death. There is absolutely no plan to evacuate families,” he said. Since the start of Operation 1027, a major anti-junta offensive launched late last year, there have been numerous reports of entire army units surrendering to avoid mass casualties among soldiers and their families. In some cases, commanding officers have been prosecuted for not continuing to fight. For Zin Yaw, the regime’s disregard for the lives of its rank-and-file soldiers and their families comes as no surprise. “The families of army personnel are treated like slaves. They are given a place to stay and then forced to become part-time soldiers under the guise of ‘supporting their partners’ duty,’” he said. According to Zin Yaw, soldiers’ wives are required to undergo military training as “reserve forces” so they can be deployed without compensation as camp security guards. Children living in army compounds are similarly exploited, he added. The wives of soldiers on guard duty at a junta outpost A retired warrant officer who served in the military for over 40 years said that it wasn’t unusual in the past for military wives to bear arms under a system they called “husband dies, wife fights.” Now, however, the situation is quite different, he said. Before the military seized power more than three years ago, it was relatively rare for the wives of soldiers to be put in actual combat positions, he said. But these days there are reports of soldiers’ spouses being deployed in rear guard units during fighting. He said the change was due to a dramatic shift in conflict dynamics since the coup. “Back then, we won every fight. Now we lose every fight. We never heard of these kinds of situations or stories before,” the former serviceman said. Military families are also severely restricted in terms of their freedom of movement, making it difficult for them to escape from their camps if they don’t want to be forced into service. “Even if we just want to visit our relatives, we can only leave for a few days and we have to submit a written promise to return. It’s like we’re under house arrest,” said a member of a military family. He added that for many, it was difficult to even contemplate life outside of an army base, as few had any other home to go to. “We’ve always lived in an army compound, so now we’re afraid to live outside,” he said. In a speech delivered on Tuesday, junta leader Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing offered praise to soldiers, police, and militia members loyal to his regime. He also promised support for the families of those who have died or been injured while in active service. Despite his efforts to bolster morale, the military has struggled to meet its personnel needs, forcing it to resort to mandatory conscription as a means of replenishing its ranks.

As losses mount, Myanmar soldiers’ wives, children forced into service

The regime’s disregard for the lives of military families has come to the fore as more die while defending frontline positions

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