Residents flee Tatmadaw foray into Kyaukphyu Twsp village

By Nyan Hein 11 Nov 2020

Nyan Hein | DMG
11 November 2020, Sittwe 

Residents were fleeing to nearby villages on Wednesday after a military column entered Aung Lan Chain village in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township and conducted interrogations of locals beginning at around 7 a.m. on November 11.  

The uprooted Aung Lan Chain residents sought shelter in neighbouring villages such as Myochaung, Taguntaing and Ahtet Maday Island. 

“Security personnel were stationed at a location between Aung Lan Chain and Taguntaing villages. They [security personnel] entered the village, arrested some residents and interrogated them,” Ko Maung Khaing Wai, who fled Aung Lan Chain village, told DMG. “Except for the elderly people, the villagers are fleeing in fear of being arrested or tortured by the Tatmadaw. I heard that the Tatmadaw gathered villagers and interrogated them.” 

There are more than 400 households in Aung Lan Chain village, with a population of nearly 3,000. 

As a result of the Tatmadaw’s foray into Aung Lan Chain village, some residents of Taguntaing village, about a mile away, also fled to safer locations, said Ko Kyaw Myint, a Taguntaing villager himself. 

“Our village is about a mile from Aung Lan Chain village. Some of the residents fled to safer locations because the Tatmadaw conducted interrogations of locals in Aung Lan Chain village. It has been a week since the boats were not allowed to leave, so locals face livelihood hardships,” he explained. 

U Kyaw Lwin, an Arakan State MP for Kyaukphyu Township, confirmed to DMG that the Tatmadaw had entered Aung Lan Chain village on the morning of November 11, that villagers were fleeing and that roads in the vicinity were closed.  

DMG contacted Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team seeking comment on the incident, but he could not be reached. 

More than 700 residents fled to downtown Kyaukphyu and nearby villages when Tatmadaw troops entered Zaichaung village and conducted interrogations of locals on November 2. 

The number of IDPs in Arakan State has climbed to more than 236,000 due to the conflict between the military and the Arakan Army over the past two years, according to data released by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) on November 2.