Myanmar’s Junta is working to block the flow of funding to the National Unity Government (NUG) and other anti-junta organizations by shutting down mobile banking accounts and forcing private lenders to submit daily reports on account activity, RFA reported.

Lines now form daily for A.T.M. withdrawals, which have been capped at around U.S. $120 to help prevent a run on the banks, and fewer than 100 A.T.M.s carry cash on any given day.

Account-holders have increasingly turned to mobile banking services to bypass the country’s cash shortage, including the NUG and the various People’s Defense Force (PDF) militias formed to protect the public from the military, and the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).

The shift has drawn greater scrutiny and restrictions from the junta.

Caption: People queue as they wait to use the automated teller machines (ATM) of KBZ Bank in Yangon on April 7, 2021, amid strained banking operations due to the ongoing demonstrations by protesters against the February military coup. Photo: AFP