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Myanmar railway workers stay defiant even after junta evicts them from homes

  • The military has forced out hundreds of families from government-issued housing for being involved in strikes and protests against the February 1 coup
  • Nearly all of Myanmar Railway’s 20,000 workers are on strike, shutting down a sector that transports not only people, but goods, harvest and military supplies

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Railway workers protest to demand the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on February 19, 2021. Photo: AFP
Nadi Hlaingin New YorkandMichael Haackin Washington

When Myanmar railway switch operator Ko Thet, 34, and his family were evicted on March 22 from the home they had lived in for generations, they did not have time to pack much.

The family of six took “only our essentials: clothes, some pots, and bowls”, he said.

They were among the hundreds of families in Mandalay who were forced out of their government-issued housing for taking part in strikes and protests against the February 1 coup that have ground the country’s economy to a halt.

At the Ma Hlwa Gone railway station in Yangon, the military raided the residential compound of 800 striking railway workers at the crack of dawn last month. Thousands were evicted and at least three people were arrested.

But the punishment for supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) has done little to convince the workers to return to work and restore business activity.

“When the rail system shuts down, everything else shuts down,” said Maung Hlain, a 36-year-old accountant who chose to work for the railway in part to continue living in government-issued housing, after his father, also a railroad worker, retired.

Bazaar vendors move their products as a train approaches in Mandalay. File photo: AFP
Bazaar vendors move their products as a train approaches in Mandalay. File photo: AFP

Myanmar Railway employs 20,000 people nationwide, nearly all of whom are on strike. These workers operate the country’s 8,000km of tracks that stretch from the commercial capital in Yangon into the mountainous regions that are controlled by ethnic armed organisations.

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