Nearly 400 Rohingya were arrested in three weeks

 2022.11.16

  

While seeing the arrested Rohingya at Bo Kalay police station. Photo: Citizen Journalist

 

According to figures compiled by RFA, 388 Rohingya who tried to flee refugee camps in Rakhine State and Bangladesh were arrested in the last three weeks from October 17 to November 11.

 

They are fighting in Rakhine state. gourd mountain Maungdaw Aid workers for the Rohingya said that they were people who had fled from Rasay Taung and refugee camps in Bangladesh.

"As far as I know, the reason they run away from there is because they're not comfortable at all."

Last October 30, Irrawaddy Division, Bo Kalay Township, A boat carrying about 80 Rohingya, including 45 underage Rohingya children, sank near Kanuley village in Ama township, and about 20 people on the boat are missing, a resident of Bokalay town told RFA.

"They go to Malau by boat to look for jobs. While he was coming, he put it on the beach in Kakun Lai Island, When it ran aground, the ship, to put it bluntly, went belly up and broke apart. It broke and floated in the water. About twenty floated into the water. I know that I can save sixty"

He added that this year, more Rohingyas have been arrested in Irrawaddy than in previous years, but this is the highest number of people missing since the boat broke down. Have the missing people died? It is still unknown whether he survived.

The 60 Rohingya who survived have been detained at the Bo Kalay police station and are allowed to send food to them, a resident of Bo Kalay who is helping the Rohingyas told RFA.

"Rice packs for them, From what I eat, send me whatever dish I eat with that dish. If you cook duck eggs, duck eggs If you cook five, How many rice packets can a house raise? If you can get ten packets, ten packets. If it's five packs, we picked up five packs. I picked up and gathered sixty letters in one place and then went and delivered them. After renting a tricycle, It's just like that. The current case is that he traveled without a document while traveling. Mainly the moon, The plaintiff is not enough."

They are Buthidaung, Rakhine State. He added that they are people who left Maungdaw and tried to go to Malaysia to work.

On October 20, 117 Rohingya who tried to leave Rakhine State for Malaysia, Yangon Division, He was arrested in a house in the 10th ward of New Dagon Township Eastern Township. On October 22, the Irrawaddy Division, 54 Rohingya, including a pregnant woman, were arrested in Toe Myit near Oklim Village in Mau Pin Township. On November 2, Rakhine State, 101 Rohingya who tried to go to Thailand-Myanmar border from Buthidaung Township, Karen State. He was arrested near Hlaingwa Bridge in Kok Krait Township.

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A Rohingya from Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told RFA that the fighting between the Military Council Army and the Rakhine Army (AA) has intensified in northern Rakhine State, as more and more people are leaving their homes, fearing that the army will clear the area again.

"Now in Rakhine State, there is a resurgence of fighting between the Rakhine Army (AA) and the Myanmar Army. Therefore, it is impossible for them to go back to their home country. It is impossible for them to continue living as refugees for twenty years. food, My health is not good at all. They thought about running away from there. As far as I know, the reason why they ran away from that place is because they are not comfortable at all.”

The people living in the refugee camp also have to leave their lives for better places to survive because their food is not suitable. He continued to say that they tried to leave their lives.

RFA reached out to the Irrawaddy Division and Rakhine State Military Council spokespersons by telephone to find out the details of the situation regarding the return of the arrested Rohingya, but there was no response.

U Tin Hlaing, who works to raise awareness about human trafficking in Sittwe, Rakhine State, said that the arrests of the Rohingya are due to the lack of effective action against the traffickers who are exploiting them economically.

"Mainly suppressing human trafficking brokers, I think it's because I'm weak in arresting. Because the human trafficking broker is gradually getting stronger. We need to take effective action against them. They are either the village administration groups in our area, Departmental organizations serving on the ground, With any of the orders above, I think that if human trafficking brokers are hunted down and taken action, these will be less.

He added that in order to go from Rakhine State to Malaysia, a Rohingya needs to pay 75,000,000 to 100,000,000 kyats to brokers. In the Rohingya refugee camps, there are people brokers looking for people who want to leave their homes. Residents of the refugee camp said that if they can find a Rohingya, they get 500,000 Kyats as a broker.On October 13, 2022, when seeing the nine Rohingyas who were arrested on the road No. 3, Muangal Dom Township. (Photo: Citizen Journalist)

U Kyaw Win, executive director of the Burma Human Rights Network, pointed out that since human trafficking gangs are exploiting the stateless and helpless Rohingya, only the traffickers should be prosecuted and the Rohingya who are hostages should not be punished.

"There are two ways. On the other hand, they go out by boat. Another way is to leave the land. If they go by land, they cross the Myanmar side and re-enter the Malay border from the Thai border. After all, there is a gang of people smugglers. All classes are involved in this smuggling gang. Many organizations are involved. If they catch people smuggling, they are prosecuted for people smuggling. If these people are the culprits, the people they smuggled (the Rohingya) are the hostages. It's not the culprits. Since they (the Rohingya) are being prosecuted, it is unfair. I'm doing it because I'm a Rohingya."

He added that the Rohingya traffickers demanded money from the remaining families after they arrived on the boat, and threatened to throw the boat into the sea if they did not pay.

According to a list obtained by RFA, from December 2021 to October 12, 2022 after the military coup, 992 Rohingya refugees were arrested, and 223 of them were sentenced to two to five years in prison.

Due to the conflicts that occurred in 2012 and 2017 and the army's clearing of the area, Sittwe Township's Sakkyen Pyin, Dauphin sand creek More than 100,000 Rohingyas are sheltering in 14 refugee camps such as Ohn Togyi. More than 800,000 Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh are still unable to return home.