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USDA still actively recruiting on Thai-Burma border

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IMNA : Despite widespread allegations that the group is now defunct, sources indicate that the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) is still active on the Thai Burma Border, and is busily recruiting members for its association.

According to USDA members and businessmen in Three Pagodas Pass  (TPP) sub-township, Kyainnseikyi Township,  Karen State, the organization is using both business opportunity offers and threats as its campaign tools. These individuals reported that friends and family members of pre-existing USDA members are the primary recruitment targets. These sources said the USDA began its campaign for members last week, shortly after the Burmese government officially announced that the country’s upcoming elections would be held on November 7th of this year.

The USDA is a Burmese government-controlled civilian social organization that many believed to have been disbanded in early July of this year, including the British Broadcasting Corporation, who reported on the supposed dissolution of the group on July 6th of this year.

The association was believed to have been replaced by the official government-backed political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). However, this seems to not be the case along the Thai-Burma border.

“The USDA start organizing people near by them. People who were friendly with them,” a USDA member told IMNA. He reported that the official USDA organizer at TPP is named U Lwin Htay, and the vice organizer is  named U Cho Lay. TPP at present contains a pre-existing USDA office; a USDP office has not yet been established.

The USDA at TPP called a meeting for its pre-existing members at   the local Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) office on August 13th, with the goal of  establishing the underlying leadership structure for its new campaign.  Reportedly, four Executive Committee members were given control of recruitment in each quarter of the community.

According to a businessmen at TPP, USDA members have been informing local businessmen, beauty parlor owners, gold shop owners and their friends that being a member of the association will free them from government taxation, investigation from government authorities, trade restrictions, and travel difficulties.

He said that “They could be free for traveling and trading without getting [into] problems [with government authorities] by showing their [USDA] member cards. For example, people can pass smoothly at Kyainnseikyi check point without checking from local authorities by showing their[USDA] ID”.

IMNA sources at TPP reported that USDA members have also issued threats to community members, telling locals that they will “face problems” if they refuse to join the association; allegedly, USDA campaigners warned that those lacking membership with the USDA could expect harsh questioning and investigations from government-operated checkpoints in the area.

A politician living in TPP told IMNA that he believes that the USDA has already formed thorough plans regarding the conducting of its campaign, and strategized how to crowd out competing political groups in the area; he warned IMNA that in his opinion the group can be expected to automatically convert its members to USDP members when the 2010 election draws nearer.

According to IMNA’s USDA contact, members of the TPP Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) are automatically recognized as USDP members.

This individual also reported that TPP is expected to set up 35 poll locations for the upcoming elections, although the exact locations of all of these polls is not yet known. He also reported that in TPP, the USDA will handle monitoring voting booths; any plans to have members of ethnic cease-fire groups handle poll booth security at the Thai-Burma border has, according to this source, been abandoned.

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