Junta banned by Wa, Mongla from issuing ID cards

SHANLAND
Officials visiting Mongla and Wa areas in eastern Shan State last month to issue temporary ID cards to the local people were detained by the ceasefire groups, according to local sources.

The reason for their dissatisfaction was that the white cards issued to them were only "temporary safe conducts" and not the standard pink cards regarded as permanent IDs.

The 9 registration teams, each with 9 officials, were all being detained at the school compound in Mongpawk, just south of the Wa capital Panghsang on the Sino-Burma border from 2-29 March. Only 20-30 Chinese citizens from Daluo, opposite Mongla, were able to obtain temporary cards before the officials were rounded up and sent to Mongpawk.

Until the end of March, the two sides were still at a deadlock, one side demanding permanent ID cards while the other said they were only authorized to issue temporary ones," said a local source.

The white card, a copy of which SHAN has received, states clearly that it could not be used to verify one's citizenship.

Another reason for the ceasefire groups' dissatisfaction was the designation of townships which they regard as not in line with the actual situation at the ground.

Saleu, for instance, is the headquarters of Mongla's 369th Brigade, but it is not in Mongla Township but in the neighboring Mongyang. Mongpawk also has not been designated Wa territory although Markmang (Metman in Burma) under the Burma Army control since 1980, was named as a township in the Wa Self-Administered Region by the junta-sponsored National Convention.

Wa and Mongla, better known as United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), concluded ceasefire with Burma's ruling military council in 1989.