Karenni governing council to require border-crossing card as part of new reforms

Members of Karenni State’s Interim Executive Council (IEC) this week outlined plans to introduce new administrative reforms, which will include a requirement for outsiders to carry a border-crossing document when visiting Karenni (Kayah) State. The IEC, a governing body opposed to Myanmar’s military regime that conducted a census in Karenni State in 2024, announced in the second week of February that people from outside Karenni State must carry a card indicating that their presence in the state is authorised. The IEC’s immigration department posted a sample permit card on Facebook that week. Accompanying text explained that visitors are prohibited from passing through Karenni State without the card and that it must be shown to Karenni authorities upon request, cannot be transferred to others, and must be returned without fail when the visitor leaves Karenni State.The text also said that children under 10 years old are not required to carry the card and that different types of permit cards will be assigned depending on the visitor’s occupation.According to IEC Secretary 2 Banyar Khun Aung, the state border-crossing permit card will generally be issued free of charge, but people coming to live and work in the state will be required to pay certain fees.“For those who will work and live in the state for a long time, there will be a small fee for paperwork and such. What’s certain is that there will be regulations concerning these matters. Local businesses know about this, including where to process the permit,” he said.The crossing permit will allow for the easy resolution of any problems or questions arising from newcomers’ travel within the state, the IEC said, and will allow authorities to notify local communities about their presence.“From the perspective of native Karenni people, there are many concerns,” Banyar Khun Aung said. “We have the responsibility to look after people’s lives and property and the rule of law. By screening like this, we will know about people’s movements. We will know about the length and location of their stay and who employs them.”The IEC said they will hold information sessions about the issuing of border-crossing permit cards and will make information available about how to apply for them. The new, 16-township subdivisionLeaders of the IEC also told Myanmar Now about the administrative apparatus they had put in place to govern resistance-held areas in Karenni State. As part of their implementation of an administrative mechanism, the council has organised the territory where it claims jurisdiction—including Pekhon Township, southern Shan State as well as the seven townships of Karenni State recognised by previous Myanmar governments and military regimes—into 16 townships. The seven townships recognised by the junta in Karenni State are Demoso, Hpasawng, Hpruso, Bawlakhe, Mese, Loikaw, and Shadaw.The 16 new townships recognised by the Karenni IEC’s subdivision of its claimed territory are Hubaw, Kayhlar, Demoso (East), Hpunbawkut, Somo, Hoyar, Sotashar, Loinanhpa, Debaunghku, Nan Mei Khon, Mese, Pawwaw, Bawhudae, Lomukho, Ywarthit and Pekhon.Although the military regime designates Pekhon Township as an administrative subdivision of southern Shan State, the IEC has included it within Karenni State’s boundaries.IEC leaders have said Pekhon Township was historically part of the Karenni lands, with Moebye, a part of Pekhon Township, constituting one of the four territories—Gandayawaddy, Moebye, Kyeihpoegyi, and Bawlakhe—inhabited by Karenni people since before Myanmar’s independence from the British Empire.“Pekhon has been part of Karenni State from the beginning,” said Zu Padonma, who serves as Secretary 1 in the IEC. “So when we’re reorganising Karenni State during this revolution… we’re restructuring in Pekhon too. We’re also continuing to work with the people in the Pekhon area on humanitarian issues, education, and healthcare needs.”The IEC reportedly also plans to recognise Loikaw Township, the location of the junta’s administrative capital in Karenni State, as an additional township.Zu Padonma, who serves as Secretary 1 in the IEC, said the installation of township-level administrative bodies would make governing operations more efficient and inclusive.“The main point of increasing the number of townships and designating new townships is to allow local people to participate directly in administrative mechanisms,” Zu Padonma said. “Another reason is that building administrative mechanisms closer to the people will make them more effective.”According to Banyar Khun Aung, a Secretary 2 of the IEC, the need to establish additional townships is also rooted in the need to cooperate with the many armed groups active in the area.“It’s about coordinating and implementing administrative work with existing ethnic armed organisations,” Banyar Khun Aung said. “The ethnic armed groups also have their territorial demarcations. That’s part of what this is based on. It’s a collective administration. We chose to divide the territory into many townships to make the administration people-based.” IEC seal (Photo - IEC Facebook) Among the most prominent armed groups in the area are the Karenni Army (KA) and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF). IEC secretaries also said they had already announced that all vehicles in the state must be registered and drivers must apply for licences. The council said the aim of these rules is to help with security and law enforcement matters, especially concerning vehicle theft and loss. The council said they will only require payment of a license plate fee for vehicle registration. The establishment of a federal union The IEC does not yet have full control over the areas where it has delineated the new townships. The council and affiliated armed groups control Mese Township, the towns of Mawchi, Nan Mei Khon, and Moebye, and the newly designated Sotashar Township—called Shadaw by the military regime and previous governments of Myanmar. The Myanmar military has maintained strongholds in the towns of Hpasawng, Bawlakhe, Hpruso, Demoso, Pekhon and Loikaw, while Karenni resistance forces control most rural areas. IEC Secretary 2 Banyar Khun Aung said that working with the limited resources available to make administrative reforms in resistance-controlled territories was a preliminary step, preparing anti-junta groups for the eventual establishment of a federal union in Myanmar. “By having arrangements suitable for the region and state, we can move forward better. We can’t just sit and wait because we can’t do everything perfectly yet. We have people living in this state. After seizing territory, we need to establish systematic administrative mechanisms,” he said. The IEC’s members say they have managed to establish basic educational, healthcare, and law enforcement infrastructure in the territories under the council’s de facto control since 2024. This has included the construction of 16 police stations and two prisons, more than 30 self-funded preschools, three universities, a medical college, a college of education, and two hospitals. Karenni State, which shares a border with the junta’s administrative capital, Naypyitaw, has distinguished itself as a stronghold of the armed anti-junta resistance since the 2021 military coup, and has accordingly become a target for harsh retaliation from the military including massacres of civilians and indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling.

Karenni governing council to require border-crossing card as part of new reforms

The council also said it would establish at least 16 township-level administrative subdivisions in the Karenni territories—including Shan State’s Pekhon Township—where the junta and previous Myanmar governments recognised only eight

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