Teachers stuck in Paletwa town due to suspended transport routes

By DMG 07 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
7 September 2022, Paletwa, Chin State

Several teachers have reportedly been stranded in Paletwa for about a week due to the military closure of roads in the remote Chin State township.

At least 20 teachers are unable to return to the villages where they are assigned to teach and have been stranded in Paletwa town as the Myanmar military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 289 has banned travel via ferry boat since September 2.

“They [the teachers] came to Paletwa to withdraw their salaries. They are still unable to return to their villages for the time being due to safety concerns and suspended transport routes,” said a resident of Paletwa.

The reason for the military’s closure of transport routes remains unknown and the affected teaching corps is facing difficulties, a teacher told DMG.

“We wouldn’t have come to Paletwa if [we had known that] the transport routes were closed,” he said. “I don’t know the reason why the roads are closed. They [military officials] said they are waiting for permission to reopen the transport routes.”

Those stranded in Paletwa include employees from the Department of Education based in at least five villages along the upper reaches of the Kaladan River.

In addition to the teachers, some locals who saw doctors at clinics in Paletwa are unable to return home due to travel restrictions.

“I think the teachers are not allowed to return home due to ongoing fighting along the upper reaches of the Kaladan River,” a teacher from Peinhnetabin village told DMG. “The military is expected to reopen the transport routes in two days. I came to Paletwa to see a doctor, but I have yet to return home.”

DMG attempted to phone regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun regarding the matter, but he could not be reached.

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army reached an informal ceasefire agreement ahead of the country’s November 2020 general election, after some two years of often-intense fighting in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State. But the peace pact has verged on total collapse for weeks amid months of escalating military tensions and a series of clashes between the two sides across multiple Arakan State townships, and in Paletwa Township.