Irrawaddy-Mar 23
The Australian government’s granting of protection to defectors from the Myanmar regime’s armed forces has elicited interest even among senior officers, especially those who oppose military rule in the country. Some have already quit the military, which has become notorious for killing its own people. The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that the Australian government has accepted defectors seeking asylum down under since January. Since the coup in February last year, Myanmar’s military has been struggling with an unprecedented and rising number of striking soldiers. According to some army defectors, the main reason is the people’s hatred of soldiers due to the regime’s brutal crackdowns on protesters following the takeover. Another reason is the growing and effective popular armed resistance and guerrilla warfare against the regime’s troops. As a result, soldiers no longer dare to step out of their units alone in uniform. Given this situation, the Myanmar military has started to see strikers quitting their battalions since the middle of last year. The number keeps growing. According to Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government (NUG), the number of army defectors so far is nearly 3,000, including some battalion commanders—the highest position among those to defect so far. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/australias-embrace-of-defectors-sends-shockwaves-through-myanmar-military.html
