The Myanmar junta has tightened up on inspections of overnight guest list registrations in six Yangon townships where martial law has been in place since March 2021, according to Yangon residents.

The six townships are Hlaingthaya, Shwe Pyi Thar, South Dagon, North Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa.

In Myanmar, residents have to register any guests that are staying overnight in their homes with the authorities. Despite the guest list registration law remaining on the law books it was not rigorously enforced under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, but since the February 2021 coup the law has been more strictly enforced and people have been arrested for not correctly following the law.

Recently junta soldiers have been strictly checking overnight registrations and carrying out patrols in the six mentioned townships, according to a Dagon Seikkan Township resident.

According to local news sources, junta personnel have also been ordered to check CCTV footage from the six townships.

"They [the junta] have been checking the overnight guest list registrations in some wards in South Dagon Township for the past two days [28 and 29 November]. I saw some uniformed Junta soldiers patrolling the wards, as well as some soldiers in civilian clothes patrolling on motorbikes. I believe that they are patrolling and tightening security because it will soon be Independence Day [on 4 January]”, said a resident of the southern part of Dagon New Town.

The junta is preparing to hold Independence Day celebrations in Yangon on 4 January and some Yangon residents have said that they believe this tightening of security is to make sure that the celebrations run smoothly.