Myanmar’s Generals Step into Politics as Newly Minted Civilians

Posted by Asia Views | Oct 31, 2025 | 0 |

PhnomPenhPost-Oct 30

Senior military officers are shedding their uniforms like ants’ wings to contest the upcoming election as candidates for the army’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Many have served the junta in key posts. Reports suggest they will contest constituencies where either the military presence is strong or where conditions have been engineered to favor the junta. For example, Communications and Transport Minister Mya Tun Oo will contest Pyin Oo Lwin, the seat of the junta’s elite military academies, while Prime Minister Nyo Saw will stand in Coco Islands—a Yangon constituency with fewer than 1,000 residents, most of them military families and government staff. Security Council Chief Executive Aung Lin Dwe will contest an Upper House seat in a constituency comprising Naypyitaw and junta-controlled parts of Mandalay. Lieutenant generals Thet Pon and Soe Tint Naing will contest seats in Sagaing and Magwe, where polling stations are only likely to exist in downtown areas. Others include Lt-Gens Kan Myint Than (Officer Training School–66th intake), former head of the Directorate of Defense Industries; Lin Aung (Defense Services Academy–27th intake), former military appointment-general; Soe Tint Naing (OTS–75), former inspector general; Phone Myat (OTS–73), former adjutant general; and former BSO Commander Teza Kyaw (DSA–28). They are joined by other recently retired senior officials, including National Defense and Security Council Chief Executive Aung Lin Dwe and Prime Minister’s Office Minister Tin Aung San. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has openly urged military families to vote only for candidates with a “defense mindset”—a phrase that excludes civilians in favor of ex-generals running under the USDP banner. Together with military representatives, who in any case hold 25 percent of parliamentary seats under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, they are expected to lend legitimacy to his rule once elected. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/myanmars-generals-step-into-politics-as-newly-minted-civilians.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Myanmar’s Generals Step into Politics as Newly Minted Civilians

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