Narinjara News, July 17, 2025 

By giving 10,000 kyats apiece, the Arakanese—who work for the military council in Yangon Region and are supporters of the Junta—are recruiting the Rakhine population of Yangon to join the fight against the Arakan Army (AA).

Since the second week of July, they have been organizing in townships and neighborhoods where the majority of Rakhine people live, including several townships like Shwe Pyi Thar and Hlaing Tharyar, according to an Arakanese woman who was mobilized.

"Schoolteachers, politicians, and general managers were among those who came to arrange. They are all Rakhine. They are the junta's slaves. According to them, the AA caused us to flee the war. We're running away. They have severed our phone lines and prevented us from contacting our loved ones. The streets are blocked. They informed us that we had to protest the AA in order to get the roads reopened,” she said.

The protest's organizers said that they would give each participant 10,000 kyats.

The demonstration, organized by former junta army soldier U Tun Zaw Latt, was planned to take place on July 6 in Yangon's city center at Maha Bandula Park, but because permission was denied, it is said that the protest has not yet applied for permission.

The protest's goal was to "express their disapproval of the ULA/AA and to demand that military leader Min Aung Hlaing to drive out AA troops from Rakhine State and to expel the AA from Rakhine State."

Although an application for permission to conduct such a protest has been made, it has not yet been granted, and it is rumored that another application has been submitted recently.

The protest leader, U Tun Zaw Latt, is a former military officer from Lintha Village, Ngapali Beach, Thandwe, who is now a refugee in Yangon.

Out of the 17 townships in Rakhine State, the AA has taken over 14. The three remaining towns that the AA needs to take over are Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Manaung, where the AA is still engaged in fierce combat.

According to a Sittwe local living in Yangon, the military council is now carrying out censuses and organizing Rakhine refugees (IDPs) in Rangoon in order to give 40,000 kyats for each family.

"It's like helping Rakhine refugees. Junta authorities are collecting accurate censuses. They are determining the population of Rakhine people in each town. They are attempting to deceive us. They are attempting to sow discord among the Rakhine population. They are attempting to persuade us to join the demonstration in order to demonstrate that the entire Rakhine population is opposed to the AA. I can see the military council preparing a variety of schemes.”

The AA has seized 14 Rakhine townships, and it is also attacking the three regions surrounding Rakhine, including Ayeyarwady, Magway, and Bago. Analysts also think that the military council's supporters intentionally organized this demonstration in order to isolate the AA, which is having such success, from the people of Rakhine.