Junta steps up scrutiny at checkpoints in Arakan State: residents

By Admin 24 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 October 2023, Sittwe

It has been nearly a year since the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) reached an informal ceasefire in November 2022, but junta soldiers have tightened security checks on locals and travellers at security checkpoints along the Sittwe-Yangon road in recent days, locals said.
 
A checkpoint near Kyauktan Village in Sittwe Township was jointly set up by military personnel, police and immigration officials, with junta officials conducting strict checks on passengers and cargo bags, according to passenger bus drivers.
 
“Junta officials check passengers’ ID cards and personal belongings such as backpacks,” said a bus driver plying a route between Sittwe and Kyauktaw.
 
The death of an emergency patient on the night of October 20, which has been blamed on prolonged checks by junta soldiers at the Kyauktan security checkpoint, has sparked criticism among residents.
 
Ma Khin Khin Lin, a pregnant 29-year-old woman from Kyelte Paikseik Village in Sittwe Township, was examined at the Kyauktan security checkpoint for a long time when she was sent to Sittwe Hospital as an emergency patient, according to her husband Ko Maung Zaw Lin.
 
Ko Maung Zaw Lin said she was transported from the village by an ambulance at around 10 p.m. and was scrutinised at the Kyauktan security checkpoint for nearly an hour, arriving at Sittwe Hospital at 11 p.m. The trip typically only takes 30 minutes by car.
 
“They [junta soldiers] checked us for about 40 minutes and told us we would be allowed to pass the security checkpoint only if the permission was given by military officers. They knew my wife was in critical condition. I want junta officials to allow locals to pass security checkpoints freely. I don’t want more people to face what my wife faced,” he said.
 
There are several other security checkpoints set up by the military across Arakan State’s Sittwe, Ann, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships.
 
“There are difficulties when helping patients at night,” said a member of a charity based in Arakan State. “There are checkpoints where junta soldiers and police check lists of people. In the case of emergency patients, there are those who have died. We want to ask the junta officials to relax the tight security checks in order to save lives.”
 
Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Col. Kyaw Thura could not be reached for comment on the matter.