Junta Weighing Options to Reign in BGF Defectors

Saw Chit Thu, left, and Maw Tho at the 2010 initiation ceremony for DKBA members who joined the Burmese government's border guard force. (Photo: Border Guard Force).

With the number of border guard force (BGF) troops in Karen State who have defected with their ammunition increasing by the day, Burmese military authorities are attempting to retain the remaining BGF troops with increased salaries and benefits.




According to sources from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union (KNU), more than 200 BGF troops have defected thus far. There are 10 BGF battalions in Karen State, consisting in aggregate of about 2,000 troops.


A BGF officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that many troops who defected joined the KNU or the DKBA, which are still fighting against the military government.


“The new government will increase the BGF troops' salary and other benefits such as houses with electricity, free education for their families, etc,” a BGF officer said.


One BGF soldier who defected said, “An ordinary BGF soldier get 35,000 kyat (US $39) per month. Maung Win, one of the BGF commanders, said we will get 150,000 kyat ($168) when the new government is in place. We don't believe him and that is why we defected.”


Some BGF sources said that the military regime had a budget of about 1 billion kyat ($111,000) for each BGF battalion. Saw Chit Thu, a former operation commander of DKBA Special Battalion 999, and Maw Tho from BGF Battalion No. 1022, are the people who will manage the finances and benefits to be handed out, according to sources.


An engineer from a construction group which received a contract from the BGF to construct a building said, “We got the contract to build the barracks through Saw Chit Thu and Maw Tho.”


Many BGF troops said that the Karen State BGF troops will not receive the promised benefits, but they will go to people who receive contracts for those kinds of projects.


Meanwhile, sources said the DKBA will attack the town of Chukli, a new town for which the opening ceremony will soon be held, and have informed government servants that they should flee the township. Chukli, 30 miles from Myawaddy, is located between Myawaddy and Kyar Inn Seik Gyi in Karen State.


Maj. Saw San Aung, a spokesperson for the DKBA, said that the ethnic armed group asked people to leave the town because it wanted to avoid civilian causalities. The Burmese military has brought in about 40 military trucks to reinforce and secure the township for the opening ceremony.


Source:http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20812