Irrawaddy-May 16
Myanmar military commanders are diverting insurance payments for slain soldiers into their own pockets, according to sources close to military families, and junta soldiers who have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Early this year, the regime halted insurance payouts for families of 66th Light Infantry Division (LID) soldiers killed in Kayah (Karenni) State whose bodies could not be recovered. They are listed as missing in action rather than dead, a source close to families of the 66th LID told The Irrawaddy. “They are not listed as dead because [the Myanmar military] does not want to give insurance payouts,” he said. It is mandatory for junta soldiers to buy life insurance. Privates are required to buy a minimum two-year policy worth 500,000 kyats (US$ 238 at the official exchange rate) and pay a monthly premium of around 8,400 kyats. An estimated 14,890 junta soldiers were killed, and nearly 5,000 wounded in the 12 months after armed revolution began on June 1, 2021, following the military coup in February that year. Previously, Myanmar military personnel had been required to buy life insurance at state-owned company Myanma Insurance. But since 2015, four years after Min Aung Hlaing became the military chief, military personnel have been required to take out insurance with Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Co, which is owned by Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone. Read more at:
