Regime uses overnight guest checks as pretext for some Sittwe arrests

By Admin 20 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 November 2023, Sittwe
 
The regime has reportedly been detaining some civilians including children in the Arakan State capital Sittwe under the pretext of conducting overnight guest checks since the resumption of hostilities between the military and Arakan Army (AA).

About 20 junta soldiers arrested Maung Maung Zan, a 7-year-old boy, and Ko Zaw Zaw, 20, from Sittwe’s Minzan Ward at Shwe Yaung Sone Monastery at around 10 p.m. on November 18.

“They are residents of Minzan Ward,” said a source close to the monastery. “They used to collect meals for the monks and sleep at the monastery. They were reportedly arrested for failing overnight guest registration. Junta soldiers broke the window to enter the religious hall.”

The pair was reportedly detained at Sittwe’s Myoma police station for one night and were released the next morning.

Junta soldiers have been conducting overnight guest checks in Sittwe without local authorities since renewed hostilities began in Arakan State on November 13.

“Masked junta soldiers conduct overnight guest checks at monasteries in Sittwe without ward administrators on a daily basis,” said a local woman in Sittwe.

University student Maung Myat Htoo Naing and his father U Maung Than Win were taken from their home in Sittwe’s Kandawgyi Ward by junta soldiers at about 9 p.m. on November 17.

“Masked junta soldiers entered the home and conducted checks on family members. They [junta soldiers] abducted Maung Myat Htoo Naing and his father for questioning. I don’t know where they were taken,” said a relative of the arrestees.

Maung Myat Htoo Naing uploaded a video on his Facebook account that showed dozens of fully armed junta soldiers in five military trucks arresting four residents in Sittwe’s Mingan Ward on the evening of November 15.

Residents in Arakan State say the regime’s willingness to arrest even children is instilling fear in the public.

“The regime is making arrests and threatening people with terrorist threats. All the people will have to bear the malice and revenge of the regime more and more every day. The regime is now also threatening the people of Arakan State and forcing the entire people to flee,” said U Pe Than, a political analyst.

The regime has detained at least 30 university students, internally displaced people (IDPs) and locals in Sittwe, according to a DMG investigation.