ALP looks to establish base near Muslim village in Sittwe Twsp

By Admin 23 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 June 2023, Sittwe

Local Muslims in Bu May Village, Sittwe Township, have expressed concerns for their safety as the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) is reportedly planning to establish a base in the village.

Around 10 ALP members arrived in two vehicles at the village on May 29, and fenced in a land plot measuring over 10 acres, saying Myanmar’s military regime had granted the land to the ALP for the ethnic armed group to set up its headquarters.

A community elder from the village who asked for anonymity said: “They came on May 29, and said the government [military regime] granted a land plot for them there. Two days later, they fenced the land plot using poles and tin sheets. They also said cattle are no longer allowed to be herded on that land plot.”

ALP members also said they would settle disputes among villagers after they set up their office there, a resident told DMG on condition of anonymity.

“They said they would build prison cells on that land plot, and handle lawbreakers in the village. They said they have their headquarters in Nazii ward, and they would do the same here,” she said.

Local residents said they are concerned that an ALP base near the Muslim village could rekindle sectarian violence between the local Muslim and Arakanese communities.

Political analyst U Tun Kyi said: “Whether they live there temporarily or permanently, they need to respect the fundamental rights of local residents there.”

The land in question was seized by the then ruling junta in 1998. The site previously hosted government offices, and has been the site of ward administration offices since 2014.

When asked by DMG about the ALP’s attempt to establish a base near Bu May Village, ALP leader Saw Mra Raza Lin said: “I don’t know about it. We didn’t grab other people’s property.”

On April 1, about 10 ALP members tried to fence in a football pitch on the compound of a basic education post-primary school in Bu May Village. They then erected a sign reading “Nyein Chan Thitsar Fruit Farm.”

“That day, they came to fence [the football pitch], saying they would establish a farm there with the approval of the [Arakan State] security and border affairs minister. The school headmaster told them to show the document from the minister if they had his approval. They haven’t come again since that day,” said a resident.

DMG was unable to contact Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura for comment.

The post-primary school’s headmaster has since taken to cultivating the land, but denied residents’ allegations that he has entered into a profit-sharing arrangement with the ALP.

“The land has been idle, so I fenced it and am growing guava and banana trees together with an agriculturalist. It has nothing to do with the ALP. They haven’t come since that day,” said principal U Kyaw Tin.

The ALP is also planning to establish a base on a land plot adjacent to the No. 36 police battalion near Bu May Letthamar Village, according to residents.

The ALP/Arakan Liberation Army was established on April 9, 1967, with the stated purpose of bringing independence for Arakanese people. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government on April 5, 2012, and subsequently signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on October 15, 2015.

Following frictions within the leadership, a faction led by Saw Mra Raza Lin announced reconstitution of the party in March of this year. That faction is based in Sittwe’s Setyonesu Ward, and engages in peace talks with the regime. Another faction led by Khine Ye Khine is based in the border lands of Myanmar, India and Bangladesh.