Ko Kyaw Maung Win, who was forcibly recruited as a new soldier in Mandalay, has revealed to Yangon Modern News how he was tortured by administrators and military personnel before being sold multiple times for over 20 million kyats before eventually escaping from the terrorist military. Ko Kyaw Maung Win was an employee at Thida Moe Company in Mandalay when he was lured by the Htun Maw ward administrator and his sons under the pretense of being invited for dinner while returning home from work. They then told him he must join the military, subjected him to torture including burning, stabbing with knives, and beatings before sending him to a Major from Industry 1.
After being handed over, Ko Kyaw Maung Win was sold by the Major from Industry 1 to the Ward 3 administrator’s office in Pyin Oo Lwin for 5 million kyats. The administrator then resold him to a military recruitment broker from Myan Pyay village for 7 million kyats. The broker from Myan Pyay village subsequently sold him to the administrator of Kantawgyi village in Magway for 10 million kyats, after which he was finally sent to Infantry Division 88 in Minbu as a new recruit. He then underwent 12 weeks of military training at the Hopong training school in Southern Shan State.
During his training period, Ko Kyaw Maung Win reported being fed poor quality food that led to malnutrition. Trainees were forced to perform daily tasks like collecting garbage and cleaning toilets. He later attended an additional two weeks of refresher training inside Mandalay Palace. After completing training, he was deployed with a military column to Seven Mile Village in Sagaing Region’s Sadaung Gyi Township. While serving as a frontline guard, he was caught using a phone by a Major. The Major and his group severely beat Ko Kyaw Maung Win and, believing him to be dead, left him in the forest.
However, Ko Kyaw Maung Win had only lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness at dawn and realized he was still alive, he managed to escape. He has now come forward to publicly reveal his experiences, exposing the military’s human rights violations and their system of human trafficking in the form of forced military recruitment. His testimony provides a detailed account of how civilians are being forcibly conscripted into military service through a network of local administrators and brokers who profit from trading human lives, while recruits face severe abuse and inhumane treatment within the military system.
