Military tells Muslim administrators in Kyauktaw Twsp not to accept AA administrative outreach

By DMG 07 Sep 2021

DMG Newsroom
7 September 2021, Kyauktaw 

The Myanmar military has summoned some local Muslim administrators in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, telling them not to accept an offer of police and administrative training courses to be provided by the Arakan Army (AA), according to the ward and village administrators. 

The military officials summoned the Muslim village administrators on September 6. 

“Military officials told us not to accept the police and administrative training courses to be conducted by the Arakan Army. They also told us that there cannot be two administrations in one state. Military officials warned us that if we obeyed the Arakan Army, it would be against the law,” a Muslim village administrator who attended the meeting told DMG. 

The military also told the local Muslim authorities not to report incidents in their villages to the Arakan Army. 

“If there is any problem, we have been told to resolve the problem through the concerned departments, village heads, hundred-household heads, and village elders. We have been told that the military will provide security for us if we cannot deal with the problem,” said a Muslim administrator who declined to be named for security reasons. 

DMG attempted to contact Col. Kyaw Thura, the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs, about the military’s summoning of the village administrators, but he could not be reached. 

The summoning of the village administrators in Kyauktaw Township came weeks after the United League of Arakan and Arakan Army (ULA/AA) issued a statement on August 1 encouraging the public to file legal complaints with a parallel judiciary that it has been working to establish.  

“We would like to suggest that the judiciary should work for the good of the people rather than [against] the court set up by the Arakan Army. Then the people will not even go to the AA’s court,” said Ko Zaw Win, a resident of Kyauktaw. 

Last month, the Tatmadaw summoned more than a dozen ward and village administrators from Kyaukphyu town, pressuring them to inform the military government regarding the activities of the Arakan Army and its recent administrative initiatives.

There have been no clashes between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State for some 10 months, but locals say they are worried the fighting may resume amid stepped up military patrols in some townships.