GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FORCED INTO MILITARY TRAINING
(Kao Wao, August 4, 2003)

All government employees are forced to attend a one-month basic military training facilitated by the Burmese Army in Mon State.

According to IMNA report, about 800 civil servants from Mudon Township were forced to buy uniforms worth of 2950 Kyat (Burmese currency) and attend the
“State Defense Force” military training in town.

Local army officers instruct all civil servants to attend the training, they are housed temporarily in the city hall, which is used for a training camp, and the Township Soccer Ground is used for training exercises.

Both male and female staffs, mostly schoolteachers, were divided into two groups, the first group numbers around 433 trainees, reported an officer from Mudon.

The BA teach their students how to use small arm weapons and how to fire up
the propaganda machine to defend the State against foreign invasion (American) and other destructive element forces as defined by the SPDC authorities, said a trainee from Mudon.

In some places, the Army replaced police officers for this training, reported a town man.

Last month, over 200 civil servants from Kyaikmayaw Township were forced to
attend similar training. Government employees stay at the compound of Shwe
Hin Tha city hall and attend the training from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., then stay over night in a camp.

Some women are frightened and upset because of the harsh training methods,
said a schoolteacher from Kyaikmayaw. “The authorities say we must attend
this training to defend against an American invasion and other outside destructive forces. They say they are not afraid of foreigners, but we (civil servants) are annoyed with this statewide paranoia. We are not professional soldiers, only they (soldiers) will know how to fight the Americans, if it ever comes to that. Many of us are discouraged to be forced into training, we don’t understand it,” said a senior
schoolteacher from Kyaikmayaw.

Most government offices are closed during the training, only a few are working in some offices. However, only those who have already attended the Political University in Rangoon (Phaung-gyi) were omitted from the training while all civil servants between the ages of 15 and 60 were ordered to join in.