By Kantarawaddy Times
The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) has formed a monitoring committee to systematically monitor government staff and Burma Army soldiers who join civil disobedience movement and seek refuge in KNPP’s territory.
“We already formed a ‘CDMers monitoring committee’. We will check their backgrounds when they arrive in our territory. We will check whether they really join civil disobedience movement and changed sides. If they are real CDMers, they are safe in our territory. The purpose of this monitoring is to achieve mutual trust between us,” Khu Taw Reh S (source 1), head of the ‘CDMers monitoring committee’, told Kantarawaddy Times.
The CDMers Monitoring Committee was formed in mid-2022. The objective of forming the committee is to check the background of people who join the CDM and seek refuge in KNPP territory, and to protect CDMers leaving from our territory secretly.
Khu Taw Reh S (source 1) said that he didn’t remember the exact number of CDMers who have sought refuge in KNPP territory after military coup, but it is in the hundreds.
“We are worried that the military regime will send undercover spy agents into our territory. This is why we launched the systematic monitoring of CDMers. It’s not good if a person is living with suspicion in our territory,” Khu Taw Reh S (source 1) told Kantarawaddy Times.
After the completion of the inspection process, CDMers are assigned to work jobs according to their professions.
Khu Taw Reh S (source 1) said that they are presently drafting a policy related to CDMers.
Some people who joined the CDM and sought refuge in KNPP territory are serving in the Karenni Army, but some people live as normal civilians in the KNPP area.
A Burma army soldier, who joined the CDM and surrendered to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force battalion-10, took three rifles when he ran away from the KNDF area on 30 January 2023.
“We want to send the message that we can check the backgrounds of people who join the CDM and seek refuge in KNPP territory. If people are real CDMers, they are safe in our territory,” he (source 1) told Kantarawaddy Times.
More than 100 Burma Army soldiers and policemen have joined the CDM after the coup and sought refuge in the territories of Karenni armed groups including KNPP and KNDF controlled territory in Karenni state.
