Civilian arrests in Arakan State undermine trust: AA spokesman

By DMG 23 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
23 June 2022, Sittwe

The Arakan Army (AA) said the Myanmar military’s arrest of civilians in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships undermines trust between the two organisations.

“While they [the military regime] call 2022 the ‘Year of Peace’, they are doing the opposite. Their arrests of civilians explicitly show that they are saying one thing and doing another. This is the very act that breaks trust between the two sides,” AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha told DMG.

The AA has detained at least nine junta personnel between June 11 and 22, including six junta soldiers and police officers in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun, a policeman in Mrauk-U and two more in Ramree.

U Khaing Thukha said the ethnic armed group has seized junta personnel in response to the regime’s detention of some of its members.

In response, the regime has arrested dozens of civilians on suspicion of having ties to the AA. It has detained at least seven residents in Ponnagyun, and one of the detainees is just 17 years old.

It has also detained at least 20 more each in Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships.

“The Myanmar military has unfairly detained, threatened and coerced innocent Arkanese people in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U recently. By doing so, they are attempting to destroy the socio-economic lives of people in the region,” said U Khaing Thukha.

The arrest of civilians disrupts regional stability, said U Khaing Thukha who called the arrests a criminal act.

Local residents in Arakan State are now in fear as the regime and the AA are seizing each other’s personnel.

On Wednesday, the military told residents in Ponnagyun not to worry about the latest developments in the town. Residents, however, have concerns as the regime has tightened security, said a local.

“They [regime authorities] went around the town and told the people not to worry. They told the people to do their jobs, run their businesses and go to schools as usual. But then, [junta soldiers] came out on the streets with arms. So, people were worried,” said a Ponnagyun resident.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun on Thursday.

At a press conference in May, the regime spokesman said the military is tolerating the AA for the sake of peace and the country, and told the ethnic armed group not to blame the military if anything bad happens in Arakan State due to the AA’s “provocative” acts.

Military tensions have been running high in Arakan State for months, and observers say the state is increasingly edging closer to a return to war.