Militias Become Border Guard Forces: State Media

The state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar said on Tuesday: “Arrangements have been made for nationality groups that returned to the legal fold to transform themselves into frontier forces [border guard forces] legally holding arms.”

The report mentions Kachin State Special Region 1, where a force also known as the New Democratic Army – Kachin is led by Zahkung Tingying, and Kayah State Special Region 2, where the Karenni National People’s Liberation Front is based.

The report said the Burmese military government hosted honor ceremonies for both groups in their regions on Nov. 8.

“The national race armed organizations [armed ethnic cease-fire groups] feel delighted and proud of shouldering their duties of safeguarding the State by legally holding arms in order that eternal peace can be achieved in border regions.

“Members of the frontier forces will enjoy the same salary, rations and uniforms as a Tatmadawman [a junta soldier] provided by the State,” the paper said.   

A breakaway cease-fire group in Kokang Special Region 1 recently reorganized its remaining troops into a battalion with 300 soldiers and 15 Kokang officers. An honor ceremony will take place soon, according to Aung Kyaw Zaw, a former communist rebel based in Yunnan who follows Sino-Burmese issues.

Previously, the Kokang cease-fire group had some 1,700 troops, but about 1,000 Kokang fighters surrendered their arms to the Chinese government after Burmese government troops seized their capital Laogai in August.

Former Kokang leader Peng Jiasheng escaped from Laogai, leaving deputy chairman Bai Suoqian, who is associated with the Burmese regime, to lead the Kokang splinter group.

Speaking at a press conference in September, Bai Suoqian said he agreed to form a political party and contest the general election in 2010 as a representative of people in the Kokang region.   

However, the largest cease-fire group that has agreed to become a junta dominated border guard force—the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army—has not received an honor ceremony and military training by the regime.
 
The deadline for ethnic cease-fire groups to transform their militias into  border guard forces ended on Oct 31.

Observers note, however, that the militias cited by The New Light of Myanmar are small, and strong cease-fire militias such as United Wa State Army with 20-25,000 fighters and the Kachin Indpendence Army with 4,000 fighters have not agreed to the proposal.  

Other small cease-fire groups such as the New Mon State Party and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council remain opposed and have not yet agreed to transform their troops into border guard forces.

Meanwhile, reports are emerging of disagreements between regime troops and soldiers of a Karen breakaway group known as the Karen Peace Force (KPF). 
 
On Nov. 9, Lt-Col Lay Wah, the leader of the KPF was arrested and detained by a Burmese junta army battalion at the Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burmese border.

Lay Wah recently expressed disagreement with Burmese plans to transform KPF troops at the Three Pagodas Pass into border guard forces. 

Seventeen ethnic armed groups have signed cease-fire agreements with the Burmese junta over the past 20 years, according to the Burmese government.