Families unable to meet Kyauktaw Twsp duo detained by Myanmar military

By DMG 05 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 October 2022, Kyauktaw

Family members say they have not been in contact with two local men in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township who were recently detained by the Myanmar military.

The commander of the military’s Kansauk Village-based Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 539 phoned U Hla Maung Than, a 43-year-old rice mill owner from Kardi aka Thazin Village on October 2, telling him to come to the battalion’s headquarters for talks.

U Hla Maung Than, together with his friend Ko Maung Chay, 39, went to the LIB No. 539 location as requested, and the two men have not been seen or heard from since, family members said.

“We are worried about his safety because he is in poor health. He is the breadwinner of our family,” said Daw Hla Aye Hsan, the wife of U Hla Maung Than. “I want him to return home as soon as possible. We are concerned for his safety because we don’t know his whereabouts.”

U Hla Maung Than phoned her at around 10 a.m. the day after he went missing, saying he was being detained in military custody, Daw Hla Aye Hsan added. She said that when she went to LIB No. 539 to enquire about her husband, she was told by military officials that the pair were not there.

“I am worried about his safety and want to know his whereabouts,” said the wife of Ko Maung Chay. “My 2-year-old son cried and asked me about his father.”

DMG attempted to contact regime spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura to seek comment on the matter, but they could not be reached.