Defectors from Myanmar's military describe a culture of brutality and fear

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Since last year's coup, at least 2,500 soldiers have defected from Myanmar's military to join the resistance, according to defectors.

Captain Pyae Sone waited until the wee hours of the morning before making plans to depart.
His superiors had given him orders to gather 25 infantry soldiers under his leadership the next morning to confront anti-coup protestors.

However, the danger of killing innocent villagers concerned him from his military base near Dawei in northeastern Myanmar.

 

"I realised I couldn't instruct my forces to kill civilians like that," the 30-year-old told Al Jazeera over the phone.

Pyae Sone slipped fled his army base as soon as morning broke on April 16, 2021.
He boarded a small plane, his heart pumping, and flew to rebel-controlled territory.

"The only way out was via plane," he explained.
"With the number of security checkpoints strewn across the eastern coast's topography, leaving by car would have been impossible."

Pyae Sone Oo travelled from Dawei to eastern Karen state, where the Karen National Union (KNU), an opposition political organisation with a substantial military force, controls area.
His brother, who was also an army officer, had already deserted and joined the resistance.

 

Thousands of troops are said to have fled Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, since it ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government on February 1 of last year.

Since the military's power grab and fatal assault on peaceful protestors, People's Soldiers, an organisation aiming to help troops quit the Tatmadaw, estimates that up to 2,500 soldiers have defected.
According to rights groups, about 1,600 people have been killed and 10,000 have been arrested since the coup, while hundreds of others have been displaced as civil violence erupted across the country.