The Watermelons: BBC Eye sheds light on pro-rebel spies in Myanmar’s army…
The Watermelons, a new documentary from BBC World Service’s BBC Eye Investigations, shows how the once formidable Myanmar military is cracking from within, riddled with spies who are secretly working for the pro-democracy rebels.
A BBC data investigation into the power balance in Myanmar nearly four years after the coup found that the military only has full control of less than a quarter of Myanmar’s territory. The Beeb assessed who was in charge in more than 14,000 village groups. It reveals that a patchwork of ethnic armies and resistance groups now control 42% of the country’s land mass. The rest is largely contested.
The corporation talks to an army major who became an informant two years ago. Kyaw (not his real name) says it was the military’s brutality that prompted him to switch sides. He is what is known in this war as a “Watermelon” – military green on the outside, rebel red within.
More than 20,000 people have been detained and thousands killed, according to the UN, since the Myanmar military seized power in a coup nearly four years ago, ousting and jailing elected leaders. More than three million have had to flee from their homes.
Kyaw decided that becoming a spy was “the best way to serve the revolution”. When he judges it safe to do so, he leaks internal military information to the People’s Defence Forces (PDF) – which helps them mount attacks on the armed forces. He also sends them some of his military wage, so they can buy weapons.
Two years ago, the resistance set up a specialised unit to manage the growing network of spies and to recruit more. Agents like Win Aung (not his real name) collect the Watermelon leaks, verify them where possible, and then pass them on to the rebel leaders in the relevant area.
He’s a former intelligence officer who defected after the coup. He says they’re now getting new Watermelons every week, and social media is a key recruitment tool. Their spies, he says, range from low-ranking soldiers to high-ranking officers. They also claim to have Watermelons in the military government – “from the ministries down to village heads”.
These spies are helping the resistance achieve what was once unthinkable. The military is trying to reclaim lost territory, carrying out a wave of deadly bombings. With China- and Russia-made fighter jets, it is in the air that they have the upper hand. The military is also conducting sweeps looking for Watermelons. If caught, they would likely be killed.
“When I heard about the sweeps, I stopped for a while,” says Kyaw. He is scared and doesn’t know how long he can stay hidden. But for now, he will keep acting as a military mole, hoping to see a day when the revolution is over. The Myanmar military did not respond to a BBC Eye request for interview.
BBC Eye Investigations: The Watermelons is available in the UK on BBC iPlayer, and internationally on the BBC World Service YouTube channel. It will air on the BBC News TV channel on 28-29 December. The audio version of the documentary, The Watermelons: Myanmar’s military moles, is available on the BBC World Service radio and The Documentary podcast.
Read the story on the BBC News website – via bbc.co.uk in the UK; and internationally – on BBC.com
