How could they fund defectors while their own supporters were living in squalor and being asked to support the anti-junta struggle? There has been insufficient funding for the defections program. But with fighting on multiple fronts and depleted manpower, the military has been executing would be defectors to set an example.Ī newly passed law on firearms criminalizes the selling or transfer of state-owned weapons or ammunition punishable with stiff sentences and making it, in some cases, a capital offense, another deterrent for would-be defectors. In normal times, desertion would merit a three year prison sentence. Given the use of war crimes as a deliberate strategy, including torture and killing of POWs, intentional targeting of civilians, arson destruction of more than 65,000 homes, beheadings and desecrations, many soldiers may feel they're too culpable to ever be allowed to defect without punishment. Protesters flashing three fingered salutes and displaying a defaced image of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing faceoff with a line of riot policemen in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Feb. The military has always been able to segregate soldiers from the population and brainwash them with a sense of superiority and responsibility that only they can hold the fractious country together. All military personnel are supposed to get an annual dividend, yet none have been paid since the coup.įoregoing these investments alone is not enough of a disincentive, but coupled with the others, it’s an added deterrent.Īnd of course there is just old-fashioned indoctrination. All soldiers are forced to buy a minimum two-year life insurance policy, with an up-front cost of K500,000 ($238), a princely sum for an enlisted man, and a monthly deduction of K8,400 ($4).Īnd there are reports that the insurance provider, Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Co., which is owned by Min Aung Hlaing’s son and has had the contract since 2015, have not been paying benefits out of a shortage of cash, unit-level corruption, and/or fear of acknowledging the high rate of casualties.Īt the same time, all soldiers have a compulsory monthly deduction from their salary to buy shares in the military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd. There are some financial costs to defecting as well. They have all their savings in one of two military-owned banks, Myawaddy and Innwa, which allows the leadership to monitor large withdrawals. Soldiers and their families live in military cantonments and work in military-owned companies. Protesters display signs supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Feb.
They have done so through keeping close tabs on soldiers, monitoring their social media posts, made easier by subsidizing or forcing them to use SIM cards sold by MyTel, the telecoms firm that is a joint venture between the Myanmar and Vietnamese militaries. Stemming mass defections has arguably been the Tatmadaw's most important military victory to date. While anecdotal evidence suggests that desertions are up, there is no way to quantify them. There have also been few senior officers who have defected. And when defections do occur, it tends to be individuals, not groups, let alone entire units.
Moreover, 8,000 people had defected in 2021 the rate dropped sharply in 2022. The NUG’s Ministry of Defense didn’t provide any supporting evidence. These numbers are higher than what People’s Embrace, an NGO that encourages defections and offers support to defectors, had previously recorded.
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