Families not yet allowed to meet Buthidaung detainees

By DMG 27 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
27 October 2022, Buthidaung

Relatives have not yet been allowed to meet some 20 Arakanese and Muslim detainees who were arrested by the Myanmar military from the central market and jetty in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Sunday.

All of them except a policeman remain in custody. Policeman Zaw Win, who was assigned to provide security at the market, was detained on Sunday but later released.

A relative of detainee U Maung Aye Tun, who was working as a tax collector at the market, said: “We have not yet been allowed to see them. We heard they are still being detained at Battalion 234. We are concerned for them. We want them to be released immediately.”

Among the detainees were Ko Nyi Nyi Soe, a sales agent for Capital Tobacco Co in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships. He was detained while loading cigarette cartons onto a vehicle to be delivered to Maungdaw, said a relative.

Family members went to visit the detainees at the Battalion No. 234 headquarters in Buthidaung, but they were denied access to their loved ones.

A relative of Ko Nyi Nyi Soe said: “We were called by Battalion 234 this morning, and were told they are being detained there. We were not allowed to see them when we went to the battalion. And the battalion did not tell us why they were detained.”

Among others who were detained on Sunday were tax collectors and clerks at the market, and boat owners and porters who were detained by junta soldiers at the Buthidaung jetty.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura and junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun.