Immigration cases being brought against unlawful entrants in Maungdaw

By Kyaw Myo Aung 30 Jun 2020

Kyaw Myo Aung | DMG
30 June, Maungdaw

Twenty-nine people who are alleged to have illegally crossed the Bangladesh-Myanmar border into Arakan State’s Maungdaw District are facing legal action under the Immigration Law, according to U Htein Linn, deputy director of the Department of Immigration and Population.

“A lawsuit has been opened against them for illegal immigration and abetment. It was the first case in the district,” he told DMG.

Nineteen of the defendandants are from Maungdaw Township and 10 are from Buthidaung Township, according to the department.

About 90 people are estimated to have illegally entered Myanmar in recent weeks despite the government, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, suspending repatriation processes for the hundreds of thousands of refugees currently residing in Bangladesh.

Twelve patients have so far reported positive for COVID-19 in Arakan State: one each in Sittwe, Taungup and Thandwe townships, seven in Maungdaw Township and two in Buthidaung Township. The nine cases in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, which together form Maungdaw District, all reportedly entered Myanmar from Bangladesh unlawfully.