Former internally displaced people (IDPs) who have returned to their home villages in Inle Lake area in Nyaungshwe Township, southern Shan State, are being extorted by the junta-aligned militia group Pa-O National Army (PNA), the armed wing of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), for a staggering 1 million MMK per household, and families unable to pay are having members forcibly drafted for conscription.
Since the first week of August, the PNO/PNA has demanded that returnees in Hpayartaung Village, Inle Lake area, pay 1 million MMK per household. Family members from households unable to pay have been forcibly conscripted as PNO/PNA militia, made to wear its uniforms, and assigned to guard duties in nearby villages.
“We’ve only been back in our home village for about 10 days, and already the PNO/PNA troops are demanding money from us. We don’t have any work, no income, nothing. How are we supposed to pay 1 million MMK when we’re barely surviving day to day? And if we can’t pay, they force us to join their ranks and stand guard in other villages,” said a Hpayartaung villager.
In the Inle Lake area, known for its communities living in stilt houses on the lake, people engaged in farming and fishing are only allowed to work during a specific daily time window set by the PNO/PNA. The group has warned that anyone found working outside this period may be shot on suspicion, and it will not take responsibility for such cases.
In Hpayartaung Village, during the displacement of residents, thieves ransacked homes and stole property, taking everything from window frames from houses to engines installed in boats.
“When we came back home, it was just a shell—there weren’t even any doors left. The thieves had taken everything. I found my boat down south of the village, but the engine was gone. I felt completely devastated. Everything I had worked so hard to collect and build was gone,” a returnee told Shan Herald.
The Inle Lake area was severely affected by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck central Myanmar in late March, and locals have also struggled with other disasters, like flash floods. Amid these hardships, the PNO/PNA is extorting enormous sums of money from returning IDPs, or forcibly conscripting those who cannot pay.
In February, the junta shelled Hpayartaung Village with artillery, forcing the villagers to flee to Nangpang Town in the Inle Lake area. They returned home in the first week of August.
Currently, some PNO/PNA troops are stationed in Hpayartaung Village, and villagers are being forced to provide and prepare food for them.
