Authorities to scrutinize origins of Muslims detained off Tanintharyi coast

By Cha Lu Aung 14 Jan 2020

Cha Lu Aung | DMG
January 14, Sittwe
 
Maungdaw District administrator U Soe Aung says authorities will check whether 155 Muslims who were detained in waters off southeastern Myanmar and brought to Maungdaw had previously lived in Arakan State.
 
A total of 172 Muslims detained last month off the coast of Kawthaung town in Tanintharyi Region were transported to Arakan State by navy vessel on January 13.
 
Seventeen members of the group were sent to Thae Chaung village in Sittwe Township and were issued temporary National Verification Cards.
 
The remaining 155 Muslims were sent to Alae Than Kyaw beach in Maungdaw Township, where they will be questioned about where they formerly resided in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships.

U Soe Aung said local authorities will receive the Muslims under the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development program, if they can prove that they lived in the region previously. Otherwise, they will be transferred to Bangladesh, he said.

“We will have to check how many people used to live in Maungdaw or Buthidaung. We will accept only those who actually used to live in Maungdaw and Buthidaung,” he said.
 
Attacks on security posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in 2016 and 2017 in northern Arakan State prompted a fierce military counter-insurgency campaign that led more than 700,000 Muslims in the region to flee to Bangladesh. Although Myanmar has had a joint agreement with Bangladesh to repatriate the refugees, none of the displaced has yet returned to Myanmar under the repatriation program.
 
The Muslims in question were detained last month by the Myanmar navy while reportedly attempting to travel to Malaysia from St. Martin’s Island a.k.a. Ohn Kyun Nayarpara refugee camp. State-run media published a notice on December 17 stating that the group included 82 men, 68 women, 13 boys and nine girls.
 
On November 30, more than 90 Muslims detained in Dawei District were brought back to Sittwe town.
 
As Muslims in Arakan State have faced difficulties accessing basic necessities such as food, clothing and healthcare, they have for years set out on perilous journeys by boat, attempting to reach other countries or more hospitable destinations within Myanmar. The boats are sometimes intercepted by Myanmar navy patrols, with passengers typically sent back to locations where they are thought to have originated.

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