The Junta has ordered high-ranking civil servants who fled Sittwe Township in Rakhine State to return to the state capital.
Since February, many Sittwe residents and government employees have been fleeing, apprehensive that the outbreak of war could extend to the city.
Wary of the escalating fighting in the vicinity of Sittwe, numerous high-ranking civil departmental officials affiliated with the Junta, including those from education and administration, evacuated the city. Currently the Junta has ordered their return to Sittwe by the May 25 deadline, a source close to the matter told Narinjara.
"Recently, we have seen a notable increase in people returning from Yangon to Sittwe, surpassing those heading in the opposite direction. These returnees generally fall into two groups: rich people retrieving properties and belongings left in Sittwe, and high-ranking officials summoned back by the Junta. It has been mandated that these officials must return by the May 25 deadline”, he said.
Some officials will reluctantly return due to the Junta's threat of filing cases under Section 505(A) of the Penal Code and also facing possible allegations of collaboration with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
"As the Junta threatened prosecution under Section 505(A) for those who did not return, certain high-ranking officials temporarily relocating in Yangon and Naypyidaw were making their way back to Sittwe”, the source added.
A teacher also informed Narinjara that the Junta's Ministry of Education had ceased wage payments for education staff from rural and frontier areas, stating that they would only receive wages, only if they come to Sittwe.
"None of the employees in Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw and Pauktaw townships’ rural areas are receiving their wages anymore. The ministry informed them that they will only be paid if they come to Sittwe”, she said.
Similarly, in April, over 100 personnel from Maungdaw District Police Department and the Township's Myoma (main) police station either resigned or deserted. Police sources disclosed that cases had been filed against all these individuals under section 505(A) at the Myoma police station.
