The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Army, is collecting household registration information in 16 villages under its control in Mong Yai Township, Shan State, in preparation for issuing local identity cards. Locals who refuse to comply have been warned they will be designated as “guests.”

On September 18, MNDAA officials summoned village leaders from Ho Ya, Kawng Mawng, and Nawng Mo village tracts to explain the plan. Two days later, on September 20, officials from the MNDAA’s Immigration and Administration Department began compiling registration lists in the villages.

A local man from Ho Ya told SHAN that about 80 percent of residents complied, with more than 500 people registered across the 16 villages.

“What they are doing now is only the household registration list; the actual ID card will be available in four months. They said later the national ID card would also be processed,” he explained.

Residents are required to pay 6,000 Kyat (around 1.3 USD) per family for household registration and 18,000 Kyat per person for the identity card.

“The statement that those who don’t comply will be designated as ‘guests’ is heartbreaking. It’s an indirect form of oppression. This is our own area and our own region,” the man added.

The Ho Ya tract, where the MNDAA is conducting registration, lies at the Tangyan junction on the Lashio–Mong Yai highway, about five miles from Mong Yai town.

The move comes as Mong Yai remains contested. During the second phase of Operation 1027 in July 2024, thousands of Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) troops occupied the area. However, locals report MNDAA and United Wa State Army (UWSA) troops continue to operate nearby.

“People don’t encourage each other to do it, but in the end, everyone has to decide for themselves. If we don’t have proof that we are locals, they can accuse us of being outsiders. That’s the idea,” said a local woman from Ho Ya.

Similar pressures have been reported in Pang Hseng (Kyu Koke) and Mone Koe in Muse Township, where the MNDAA has warned residents that those without its registration documents will not be recognized as locals.