KIA resorts to forced recruitment even from monasteries due to military overextension and high desertions
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Phyo/Thant Zin (NP News) - Jan 26
Locals told The Statesman Journal that the KIA is forcibly recruiting new members, including those from monastery compounds while the number of members defecting from the group is increasing.
The KIA's forced recruitment has mostly taken place in areas under their control in Kachin State. Previously, it was once every three months, but now it is once a month.
“They are recruiting all over Kachin State. They are recruiting in all the areas. In Hpakant, the Hsengtaung is now KIA-controlled territory. The areas of Lawng Hkang, Hpakant can be called Tatmadaw controlled territory. But these KIA guys have a strong influence, and they are recruiting in the wards. Recently, they have recruited hundreds of people,” said a local source.
On January 20, the KIA forcibly arrested and recruited monastic students who were staying at the Hmawshan Winthiri Mingalar Monastery located on the hill of Aung Tawmu Pagoda in Hsengtaung Village, Hpakant Township.
“In Hsengtaung, the students in the precinct were recruited. Then they also recruited people by entering into the house. They also arrested people on the street. They are recruiting people everywhere. It was good for them to recruit at the mining sites because there are many young people in those areas. There is no exact list of how many people they recruited,” the source said.
The head monk of the monastery has requested the KIA officials to release the young students arrested from the monasteries as soon as possible, but there has been no response yet.
The local source said that although the residents want to protest against the KIA's forced recruitment, they are unable to do so because they are being held at gunpoint.
“The locals hate it bitterly. They can’t do anything. They just sit and watch the KIA’s bad manners. These KIA guys have taken a lot of territory. So, they are unable to defend those areas properly. They have overextended themselves. And the desertion rate from the KIA group is also very high. No one wants to be in the KIA. So, they flee. The KIA can’t prevent it. And the death rate is very high. The KIA leaders have lost many soldiers, and they need a lot of people to withstand the attack from the Tatmadaw,” he said.
Currently, the KIA has opened battlefronts in and around Bhamo and Myitkyina in Kachin State, as well as in Banmauk, Momauk in Sagaing Region, and Mansi and some other areas in Kachin State.