Myanmar's military government launches a census seen as a way to gather information about opponents

BANGKOK -- A nationwide census was launched Tuesday by Myanmar’s military government, which says it will be used to compile voter lists for a general election promised for next year, even though much of the country is engulfed in civil war.

Census takers, most of them schoolteachers and local administrative workers, began going door-to-door in the capital, Naypyitaw, accompanied by soldiers and police.

A group that leads the struggle against military rule, the shadow National Unity Government, has advised people to use “caution” in complying with the survey, and pro-democracy guerrillas have warned that those who help collect information will face reprisals. Several were attacked and killed during a similar smaller-scale survey last year.

The military government is widely seen as hoping the polls will legitimize its rule, which began after it seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

In a televised speech in early September, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, said the census information being gathered from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15 is crucial for compiling voter lists for a general election, but did not specify a date for the polls. He previously pledged to hold an election in 2025.

He also said that people must answer all the questions without anxiety or doubt. The census is widely seen as an effort to gather information to more closely monitor opponents of military rule.

The Ministry of Immigration and Population says more than 42,000 census workers will gather information from more than 13 million households across the country. The survey contains 68 questions on matters such as the number of people living in each home, their education, disabilities, types of houses and access to water, electricity and toilets.

It also includes questions about the occupants' backgrounds, family members who have been away from home and the cause of death of family members, all highly sensitive matters for those who joined the armed resistance or the civil disobedience movement.

A 33-year-old nurse from Yangon, the country’s biggest city, who joined the civil disobedience movement in 2021 said she was worried about her safety because the census contains detailed questions about her job history and the military might use it to punish her. Like others who agreed to be interviewed, she spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared arrest.

A 29-year-old man who took up arms to fight against the army in the southeastern state of Kayin said he had suggested to his family back in his hometown in Mon state that they visit relatives in other townships to avoid the survey.

A 26-year-old gym trainer from Yangon told the AP that he believed the authorities are gathering information not only for the census but also to obtain details of men who are eligible for military service. The military activated conscription in February after it was forced into the defensive against pro-democracy militants as well as ethnic militias seeking autonomy. Independent analysts believe the military government controls much less than half of Myanmar's territory.

It would be difficult to organize an election while the country is at war, and critics see no way for the polls to be free and fair. At a meeting at the end of July, Min Aung Hlaing said the census would be prioritized in areas under the military’s control.

“Whether they are doing it for the fake elections or census, they are doing it to terrorize the people, so don’t collaborate with them in these matters,” said Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government. “I would like to say that all those who cooperate with the military council will be punished according to the law because their action is similar to encouraging and cooperating with the military’s terrorist activities.”

The Chin Brotherhood Alliance, which comprises five ethnic Chin militias from the northwestern Chin state, and the Dawei Defense Team, a group from the southern Tanintharyi region, warned in statements last month that they will take strong action against military government personnel who participate in the survey.

Such guerrilla groups, which often target people associated with the military, carried out attacks during a three-week survey to compile voter lists in January 2023, when elections were still expected later that year.

About a dozen people including two police officers and local officials were killed and four military personnel were captured during the attacks.

The U.N. Population Fund, the major collaborator in the previous census in 2014, announced in late 2023 that it was unable to support the 2024 census due to Myanmar's political strife and conflict. The military government said in August this year that China, a close ally, had pledged to give technical support for the census.

The Ministry of Immigration and Population has estimated Myanmar has more than 56 million people,