Shan youths are trapped in the Karen State border area because any young people from Shan State are being arrested at Hpa-An Township junta checkpoints on the only routes out of the area.

Currently there are Shan youths stranded in the Karen State towns of Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko on the border with Thailand. They are too scared to return home because the only routes back to Shan State go through the Hpa-An checkpoints where the junta is arresting and detaining any young people whose National Registration Cards (NRCs) identifies them as a Shan State resident.

Shan State residents’ NRCs start with the numbers 13/xxx. The junta has barred any young people with NRCs beginning with 13/xxx from passing through Hpa-An since 18 August 2024, when fighting in Shan State intensified.

A 22-year-old Shan man currently stranded in Myawaddy Town told the SHAN that he didn’t dare return home due to reports that the junta is not only enforcing the ban on Shan youths entering Hpa-An but is also arresting and detaining any young holders of 13/xxx NRCs.

He said: “I’ve heard that people coming from Shan State and those traveling to Shan State are being arrested in Hpa-An. So, even though I want to return to my hometown, I’m too afraid to go back for fear of being detained.”

If he cannot return home he intends trying to enter Thailand, but this option will be hard and illegal as he does not have a passport.

A young woman considering returning to the Shan State capital of Taunggyi from Myawaddy said that the journey would be very expensive. She estimates that, even if she can mange to get past the Hpa-An checkpoints, when car rental fees and general expenses are taken into account the journey will cost her 900,000 MMK.

She said: “I’ve already enquired about the cost of the return trip. It will probably be around 900,000 MMK in total to get back to Taunggyi. The car rental operators told me there are many checkpoints along the way, each with tolls to pay.”

Most of the townships in northern Shan State have been captured by the Three Brotherhood Alliance members, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). In response, the junta has increasingly restricted the movement of 13/xxx NRC holders in the areas still under its control.

Since July 2024 the junta has been carrying out more stringent checks at the Tarkaw Bridge checkpoint over the Nam Khong (a.k.a. Salween) River on the road between Taunggyi and Kengtung (a.k.a. Kyaingtong) Town in Shan State. They have been checking NRCs to see where people are from and their ethnicities. They are particularly targeting people from ethnic groups who have been displaced by fighting, from their homes in northern Shan State.