- Web Master
- June 15, 2022
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.