27 Muslim refugees arrested in Arakan State for crossing border illegally

By Admin 07 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
7 November 2023, Sittwe

Twenty-seven Muslims were arrested across Maungdaw, Rathedaung and Buthidaung townships, for allegedly crossing the border illegally from October 31 to November 6.

The 14 men and 13 women were all arrested within one week, said Rakhine Daily, a mouthpiece of the Arakan State military council.

Under successive governments, Muslims in Arakan State have been barred from travelling freely, and must seek permission from authorities to travel to other townships even within the state. Many have thus been illegally leaving Arakan State to work in Yangon, other major cities in Myanmar, or foreign countries to seek out better livelihood prospects.

More often than not, life is even harder in the refugee camps.

“We face various difficulties and no one wants to live in a refugee camp. Some Muslim refugees get out of the camps due to these difficulties,” said U Aung Myaing, a Muslim man at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Muslim refugees typically cross the border en route to foreign countries despite various difficulties, and are arrested if caught and sentenced to prison terms by the respective township courts.

International organisations have said that more than 700,000 Muslims fled to Bangladesh when the Myanmar military carried out brutal so-called “area clearance operations” in the aftermath of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army’s attacks on multiple border guard police outposts in 2017.  

On October 31 and November 1, a Myanmar regime team led by junta-appointed Social Affairs Minister U Saw Naing of the Arakan State military council met with Muslim refugees and Bangladeshi authorities in Teknaf, Bangladesh, and reportedly discussed repatriation. Critics say the regime is sending mixed signals.

“The military junta does not want Muslims to come to mainland Myanmar, and they have established policies for ages to lock up Muslims in Arakan State,” said U Pe Than, a veteran politician in Arakan State. “Repatriation of Muslim refugees is the military junta’s pretense that it is positive in order to gain face from the international community and the OIC [Organisation of Islamic Cooperation] members.”

According to figures compiled by DMG, 182 Muslims were arrested in Arakan State over the past 10 months.

As long as the Muslim refugees are not properly accepted, they will continue to try to cross the border through various means in an effort to find a way to foreign countries like Malaysia and Thailand, members of the Muslim community say.