More than 100 Arakan State Muslims detained since February 1, junta media reports

By Admin 18 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 February 2023, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime detained 103 Muslims attempting to leave the country illegally between February 1 and February 18, according to Rakhine Daily, an Arakan State-centric junta media mouthpiece.

Among those detained were 75 males and 28 females, including some children under the age of 16. The detainees are from Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Sittwe townships.

They were detained in Thandwe, Gwa and Ann townships, along with eight traffickers, according to Rakhine Daily.

Muslims in Arakan State have been suffering from unemployment, poverty and travel restrictions, said U Thae Maung, manager of the Dar Paing Muslim camp in Sittwe, who went on to explain why Muslims are desperate to leave Arakan State.

“In our camp, parents and their adolescent children are packed like sardines in a tiny room measuring 9-by-9 or 10-by-10 feet. There are no jobs or privacy for us. And we live on donated supplies,” he said.

Authorities imposed travel restrictions on Muslims in Arakan State following inter-communal conflicts in 2012. Muslims must seek approval from authorities to travel from one village to another or one township to another within Arakan State, and they are effectively barred from leaving the state.

“Some have citizenship IDs. Some have documents pending for citizenship approval. Some might not have ID cards. But even those who have ID cards are restricted, and it is not easy for us to travel,” said a Muslim leader from Kyaukphyu.

Risking arrest and prosecution on immigration charges with potential imprisonment of up to five years, Muslims in Arakan State continue to attempt to leave the state to work elsewhere in the country or abroad, driven by this institutionalised discrimination and poverty. Many make their way east via Yangon, helped along the way by a network of agents at transit points such as Myawaddy in Kayin State and Kawthoung in Tanintharyi Region, on Myanmar’s southern border with Thailand.

Muslims look to make the often-perilous journey pay 8 million to 10 million kyats per head to agents.