Myanmar’s military junta began to collect citizens’ personal data on Monday, local sources said, choosing not to postpone a scheduled survey despite the emergency conditions prevailing in the country after weeks of catastrophic flooding.
The census is a necessary preliminary step in the regime’s plans to hold elections throughout Myanmar in 2025, a move that pro-democracy advocates, resistance groups, and opponents of the military’s rule have condemned as illegitimate.
The Myanmar military seized power in a coup in 2021, accusing the ousted, elected civilian government of vote fraud in the previous November 2020 election and declaring a state of emergency. . .