Chinese authorities have arrested more than 100 Myanmar nationals working illegally in Chinese border towns, as more young people head across the border to escape a dearth of job opportunities and fighting in war-torn Shan state, a Myanmar legal aid worker said Wednesday.


About 40 are ethnic Ta’ang youths from Namhsan and Hsipaw (also known as Thibaw) townships who were picked up in the Chinese towns of Ruili and Mengxiuxiang on Nov. 25 and 26, Mine Myo Aung from the Ta’ang Legal Assistance Organization told RFA’s Myanmar Service.


The laborers must pay about 100 yuan (U.S. $14) for weekly Chinese work permits as masons and sugar cane plantation workers, he said.


Authorities arrested the Myanmar nationals when they failed to renew their weekly permits because their jobs were located outside major towns where they had to go to pay their fee and get a new document, he said.


Mine Myo Aung also said that his group will request that local government officials in Muse, a Myanmar border town that serves as a trade hub between the two countries, push for the workers’ release.


As Myanmar’s largest ally and one of its top investors, China not only spends heavily on major infrastructure projects, but also serves as a mediator between ethnic armed groups and the powerful Myanmar military engaged in hostilities in border regions.


China, which provided support to Myanmar to hold a third round of peace talks in July under the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government, says it firmly opposes any attempt to undermine peace and stability along the China-Myanmar border and any act deliberately obstructing Myanmar’s peace process.


But China is also believed by security experts to be the direct or indirect source of weapons for many of the ethnic armies fighting the Myanmar government.


The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that fighting between ethnic armies and Myanmar forces in Kachin and Shan states has displaced about 107,000 people, as a result of conflict that restarted in 2011.


The military blocks U.N. humanitarian aid from reaching civilians who live in ethnic areas not controlled by the Myanmar government.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/mya...018165055.html