Two human traffickers arrested in Buthidaung: junta media

By Admin 03 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
3 October 2023, Buthidaung

Two human traffickers who were attempting to smuggle a pair of 20-year-old men to Malaysia were reportedly arrested near a jetty in Buthidaung, Arakan State.

Junta officials arrested the alleged traffickers near the jetty on October 2 based on a tip-off, according to Rakhine Daily, a mouthpiece of the Arakan State military council.

The two alleged traffickers are also reportedly in their 20s, and the two trafficking victims are said to be from Thabyaytaw and Thayaykonbaung villages in neighbouring Maungdaw Township.

“A lawsuit has been opened against two human traffickers and efforts are being made to arrest related persons. The two human trafficking victims have been handed over to their parents,” said the junta-affiliated media.

Muslims in Arakan State continue to attempt to leave the state to work elsewhere in the country or abroad, driven by this institutionalised discrimination and poverty.

“People are struggling to make ends meet. Many people go abroad to work due to job scarcity in Myanmar. There are also people who have entered through illegal routes to find work. This is the reason why many people are smuggled,” said a Muslim man in Buthidaung.

The Muslim community says vulnerability to human trafficking is due to lack of knowledge about human trafficking, gullibility and travel restrictions.

“No matter how much people are trafficked, there is very little action taken. We have to decide with our own conscience. That’s why I want the authorities to provide a lot of awareness about human trafficking,” said a Muslim man from Ohntawgyi (South) IDP camp in Sittwe Township.

According to Article 14 of the 2008 Constitution, the trafficking of women and children can be punishable by a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and according to Article 25, trafficking anyone other than women and children can be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.