Irrawsddy-July 27
Around 400 undocumented Myanmar migrant workers in Jinghong, a town in Yunnan Province bordering Mongla in eastern Shan State, have been forced to hide in a forest to avoid arrest by Chinese police.
Workers say Chinese police, tipped off by brokers, are detaining migrants and handing them to the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also known as the Mongla Group, which then transfers them to the Myanmar military.
The workers reportedly pay brokers 400 yuan upfront and 300 yuan monthly to secure jobs in maize plantations and factories.
“For over a year we’ve been working in Jinghong after paying Burmese, Ta’ang, and Kokang brokers,” an escapee told The Irrawaddy. “Now Chinese police arrest us and hand us to the NDAA. From there, detainees are transferred to the Myanmar military in Kengtung and forced into military service.”
The NDAA was found by Sai Lin, an ethnic Han who moved from Yunnan to Mongla during China’s Cultural Revolution, later joining the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and rising to command Zone 815, the area now known as Mongla along the China border. After the CPB’s collapse in 1989, he founded the NDAA and quickly signed a ceasefire with the military regime in exchange for near complete autonomy as Shan State Special Region 4. The NDAA has maintained its truce with the Myanmar military for more than three decades.
The group’s general secretary declined to comment on the allegations when contacted by The Irrawaddy.
Most of the workers fleeing are men aged 25 to 30 from Magwe, Rakhine, Ta’ang, and Naga areas. Each reportedly spent around 4 million kyats to reach China. Local sources estimate more than 6,000 Myanmar workers are currently employed in Jinghong.
“They arrest everyone and send them back,” said a Myanmar worker now hiding in Jinghong. Some returned home on their own out of fear that they would be arrested by Chinese police and sent straight into the army.”
Workers hiding in China reported that over 500 migrants were arrested and deported on July 19, with families losing contact since. “I have been hiding since police raided the factory where I work. I thought I could wait until the end of the month to collect my wages, but the situation became too dangerous. Now about 30 of us are in hiding together,” said one migrant worker.
Myanmar migrants typically work in garment factories, farms, and machinery plants in Ruili, Jiegao, and Jinghong. Each year, over 100,000 cross into Yunnan, some legally with Temporary Border Passes, but many without documentt
Undocumented workers face wage cuts, withheld overtime, and frequent police raids. Those caught risk a two to five year entry ban and fines of up to 20,000 yuan (about 13 million kyats or US$ 2,950). But workers say the current crackdown is different:
A labor rights activist in Tachilek confirmed that Chinese authorities are sending detained Myanmar migrant workers in Jinghong to the Myanmar military in coordination with the NDAA.
As jobs dry up inside Myanmar, more workers are crossing illegally into Chinese border industrial zones in Ruili and Wanding, where wages are four times higher than in domestic factories. This has created shortages of skilled labor inside Myanmar, while exposing migrants to exploitation abroad.
Recent arrests in Ruili’s Xinjiang Garment Factory saw 46 undocumented Myanmar workers detained and deported. Migrants say they are trapped between exploitative brokers, Chinese police, and armed group authorities, with no protection under Myanmar’s labor laws.
