Four Muslim children arrested in Maungdaw Twsp for crossing border illegally

By Admin 24 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 October 2023, Maungdaw
 
Four Muslim minors were arrested in Nganchaung Village, part of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, for allegedly crossing the border illegally on October 22, according to Rakhine Daily, a mouthpiece of the Arakan State military council.
 
The arrestees have been identified as Mahmad Owel, 16, Ma Furukyinar, 14, Ma Rufarma, 13, and Ma Suphira, 9.
 
They were reportedly living with relatives in a Bangladesh refugee camp and were arrested after crossing the border fence near Yaytwinpyin Village, Maungdaw Township, and returning to Nganchaung Village, where their parents live.
 
“The village administrator and his team reported those who crossed the border illegally to the relevant local police station. Local authorities are checking to see if the Muslim minors can be dealt with according to the law,” the junta-affiliated media reported.
 
DMG phoned Maungdaw Township Administrator U Kan Tun Aung for comment on the matter, but he could not be reached.
 
Rakhine Daily also reported that a 25-year-old Muslim man who had entered Arakan State illegally from a refugee camp in Bangladesh was arrested near Shwezar Village in Maungdaw Township on October 19.
 
Muslim refugees living in camps in Bangladesh are often arrested while crossing the border into Maungdaw District.
 
“Muslim refugees in Bangladesh are in crisis due to the insecurity of the area, and they are facing poverty in terms of food and living conditions, and are arrested while crossing the border illegally into Arakan State,” said a Muslim man from the Maungdaw Youth Association.

Many Muslims in Arakan State were killed and their houses torched when the Myanmar military conducted so-called and brutal “area clearance operations” in response to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacks on more than 30 border guard police outposts in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships on August 25, 2017.
 
Muslim refugees who have subsequently crossed the border, often in attempts to return to their places of origin in Maungdaw District, are frequently prosecuted in Myanmar under Section 13(1) and Section 13(5) of the Immigration Act and sentenced to prison terms.
 
Among those arrested in the past have been minors, some of whom have been handed over to their parents after obtaining guarantees from the respective village and ward administrators.
 
Rakhine Daily regularly reports on arrests of Muslims crossing the border illegally. According to a compilation of reports by Rakhine Daily, about 100 Muslims were arrested over the past eight months.