The junta has been abducting internally displaced people (IDPs) who sought refuge in Mon State amid widespread fighting since the coup, subsequently extorting them. According to locals, the coup regime has also been forcibly conscripting eligible individuals from among those abducted.

According to Mon State locals, junta authorities have been abducting people in the region, primarily targeting those fleeing Shan, Kachin, and Rakhine (Arakan) states, as well as Magway and Sagaing regions.

The junta is also enforcing strict checks at entry points to cities and towns in Mon State, demanding large payments for passage and, at times, carrying out arbitrary arrests.

A Mon State resident, speaking anonymously to Than Lwin Times, said the junta has been abducting entire families of IDPs in his area, with many young men still being held indefinitely.

“The authorities mainly target IDP families in these abductions, and sometimes entire families are taken. Even when IDPs carry all their valid documents, they cannot escape the junta’s targeted arrests. In some cases, for example, five members of a family were arrested, three were later released, but two remain in detention,” he noted.

There are also suggestions that families fleeing from other regions must register with junta-appointed administrators in the areas where they are sheltering, making it easier for the junta to obtain their information and carry out subsequent abductions.

Among the young men abducted by the junta, only a few who could afford to pay for their release were freed, while the rest were forcibly conscripted.

Starting September 17, the junta has ordered that anyone entering Mon State with a national identification card (NIC) issued to Shan State residents must stay in two hotels and a motel designated by the authorities.