Departmental Staff Face Difficulties as All Departments Except Education Forced to Attend Office Amid Intense Fighting in Ann Town

Min Shin Saw, Narinjara News, 18 October 2024

Only the education department's teachers are spared from attendance despite the fierce fighting that is going on in Ann Town; other department employees are having a lot of trouble going to work because the junta is forcing them.

"The education office and other departments are still open, but the schools have been shuttered since the final week of September. If employees do not show up for work, the general administration office and the junta have threatened to arrest them for civil disobedience. We are all heading to the office because we are afraid of this. Junta airstrikes continue day and night, and fighting is still going on in the Ann Town area. A staff member stated, "We are forced to keep the office open and work every day under continual tension despite this life-threatening scenario."

Narinjara News was informed by an anonymous education staff member that the township's schools, including those in Ann Town, have been closed since the last week of September because of the increasing violence.

Among the offices located in Ann Town are the following: the office for forests; immigration; customs; labor; social welfare relief and resettlement; electricity; planning and finance; municipal; agriculture and livestock; general administration; audit; health department; education department; and construction office.

According to locals, some staff members left Ann Town as the violence got more intense, while others were detained at junta checkpoints.

A staff member's family objected to the junta's decision to force departmental employees to report to the office while maintaining government offices open, saying that it is equivalent to employing employees as human shields in the middle of fierce combat and nonstop explosions and artillery fire.

The Arakan Army (AA) is reportedly winning the current battle in Ann Township and is drawing near Ann Town, which has forced many people to evacuate because the AA may soon begin an offensive against the Western Command, according to residents.

Furthermore, the junta troops know they might have to give up Ann Town, which would mean Western Command and other military families would have to move to the mainland. Other departments' families, however, are not allowed to leave Ann Town, which makes them unhappy.