Junta believed to be behind anti-Rakhine propaganda campaign in Mandalay

As the military regime loses territory and weapons to attacks by the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State, flyers with anti-Rakhine sentiments were distributed some 500 miles away in the crowded areas of Mandalay this week, locals said. A man from Chanayethazan Township told Myanmar Now that the individuals putting up posters on Monday urging the boycott of Rakhine businesses were guarded by armed personnel, presumably affiliated with the junta. “Not far from them, plainclothes people armed with weapons were providing security. They even took photos,” he said. Addressing the people, the papers read: “To oppose the AA terrorists, refrain from eating at or buying from any Rakhine-owned shop in Mandalay.” They were scattered on streets and stuck on walls and buildings in markets and near the city’s major university. Known pro-junta social media pages posted photos of the flyers online on Monday. Other residents of Mandalay who saw the papers described the messaging as “incitement” but dismissed suggestions that the public would heed the directives, calling them “ineffective tactics.” “This kind of thing has always been done by their army,” another local said of the Myanmar military, referring to a long history of campaigns to turn the public against ethnic minorities and noting that public support for groups like the AA was growing. While ethnic Rakhine people live throughout Mandalay, it is not known whether the distribution of the flyers has had an impact on their livelihoods. Neither the military nor the AA had commented on the issue at the time of reporting. The AA has claimed several recent victories in continued offensive operations against the Myanmar army in Rakhine State, with the junta only maintaining full control of three townships: Gwa, Manaung, and Thandwe. In the 14 others, the AA is active, attacking military posts, or taking full control of the territory. The ethnic armed organisation has seized Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U and Pauktaw, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State. Clashes are ongoing in the townships of Buthidaung, Kyaukphyu, Maungdaw, Ponnagyun, Ramree, and Rathedaung, and are expected in Ann, Myebon, Sittwe and Taungup. The AA also sank two military warships and a ferry on the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw last week. The recent anti-Rakhine propaganda seen in Mandalay follows these developments, as well as a February 11 junta announcement that it will begin enforcing a conscription law from 2010 compelling all men aged 18 to 35 and all women aged 18 to 27 to serve in the military for at least two years. Throughout this month, military units have increased door-to-door checks on household registration to confirm the presence of residents in each home and arrest unregistered guests, Mandalay locals said. “In the wards where they are checking, they cut off the electricity, so those areas feel like cemeteries,” one woman told Myanmar Now, adding that their focus appears to be on Maha Aungmyay, Patheingyi and Pyigyitagon townships. “[The troops’] shouts echo through the neighbourhoods.” In the foothills outside of the city, junta soldiers, police, and administrators arrested some 30 men and fined internally displaced persons from Madaya Township on February 4 for not registering themselves in a village where they had rented homes after fleeing military offensives in their own communities.

Junta believed to be behind anti-Rakhine propaganda campaign in Mandalay

Posters urging the boycott of Rakhine businesses are distributed in the city as the junta loses ground to the Arakan Army, a Rakhine ethnic armed organisation, in the country’s west

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