Border News Agency

Kyaukphyu, October 20.

Private Soe Min Thein, from Infantry Battalion 118 under the junta’s Military Operations Command No. 11, who surrendered to the Arakkha Army (AA) during the fighting in Kyaukphyu, has urged other soldiers to surrender to the AA if they want to reunite with their families.

The AA released his video statement today, October 20.

Soe Min Thein, who lives in Ward 67 of Dagon Seikkan Township, Yangon Region, said he was stopped and checked on his way home from work on May 8. He was falsely accused of a drug-related offence and arrested.

He was then threatened and beaten and forced to choose between going to prison or joining the military. After attending training at the Advanced Training School in Hmawbi, he was sent to the Sanay Kone Taung military camp on the Kyaukphyu front line.

“We had to carry logs and dig trenches. If we could not do the work, they beat us, cursed us, and shouted at us. We suffered a lot. When it came to guard duty, only those of us with the personal soldier identification numbers had to go out. Almost every day, we had to carry injured soldiers from the front line on stretchers,” Soe Min Thein said, describing the difficulties he faced after arriving at the front line.

He said that soldiers on the junta’s front lines were facing human rights violations, oppression, and torture within the military. Some soldiers had become so desperate that they took their own lives, leading to declining morale among the junta’s troops.

Because of these conditions, Soe Min Thein and other soldiers fled from the Sanay Kone military camp. Although junta troops fired at them as they escaped, they managed to get away and sought help to surrender to the AA, according to the report.

“We have surrendered here. The AA treats us like younger and older brothers. We can live peacefully and feel at ease. I want to reunite with my family. If you do not want to die and want to see your family again, I urge you to surrender to the AA,” he said.

As the AA’s offensives in the Arakkha region intensify, junta soldiers have continued to surrender for various reasons. The report says that more soldiers are becoming dissatisfied with the military and want to rebel or escape.

The AA is providing care for those who surrender to protect their lives and reunite with their families. They have also been taken to safe and secure locations, according to the report.