Monks were reportedly among a group of civilians used as human shields by the Burmese army during an operation to deliver supplies to frontline troops in Shan state on Sunday last week.
About 35 men and women, as well as monks from the monastery in Wanhpein, were taken along by the army – there are around 40 monks and novices residing at the monastery and only seven monks, a lay-disciple and the abbot were left, said the local. The army also took a truck that belonged to the monastery and one of the monks had to drive it.
The use of human shields by Burmese troops is regularly reportedly in the country’s border regions, where the army is fighting a number of wars against ethnic armies who depend to an extent on cooperation and support from locals. But the inclusion of monks is rare : the monastic community is highly revered in Burma, although the Buddhist government is known to spare them little favour: 222 are in prison, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners–Burma, while a number were famously shot dead in the September 2007 uprising.