Police threaten Kyauktaw Twsp villagers with arrest for reporting detained relatives 

By Hnin Nwe 09 Dec 2020

Hnin New | DMG
9 December 2020, Sittwe 

Police have allegedly threatened villagers in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township who sought to report missing persons for a second time after their family members were reportedly detained by the military in March, with their whereabouts still unknown. 

The Tatmadaw’s Light Infantry Division No. 55 arrested 18 residents of Tinma Gyi and Tinma Thit villages in March, according to local residents.  

Tinma Gyi village administrator U Maung Kyaw Win said he and around 20 other relatives of the detainees went to Kyauktaw police station to file complaints on Tuesday. 

“When I told the police clerk that I would like to file a complaint again because there was no response to my previous complaint about the abduction of my son, he said he could arrest me,” U Maung Kyaw Win said. “Then he went out and made a phone call. I don’t know who he phoned. And he also closed the door. I felt leery and ran over the wall.”  

Police officers told the other villagers to leave their complaints, said Ma Khin Myint Win, the wife of a Tinma detainee.  

“At first the police clerk said it was none of their business as it was the military that abducted our relatives. Later, he told us to leave our complaints. So we did,” she said. “We will only know later whether or not they will handle it. I want the case to be made known to the senior officials and not handled secretly at the lower level.”   

Relatives said they had gone to the police station with high hopes because last month military spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun said the families of people missing or detained by the Tatmadaw were welcome to file complaints with the police.   

“In light of his words, that we can file a complaint with evidence, we went to the police station with the hope that we would be able to find our relatives. The families are of course not happy as they were threatened with arrest. We want to know exactly whether they [the Tinma detainees] are still alive or were killed,” said U Maung Kyaw Win.  

Following the arrest of the 18 Tinma villagers, other area residents fled their villages. Locals said three villagers who stayed behind to take care of the villages also went missing. Hundreds of houses were set ablaze in abandoned villages in the area on March 22. Myanmar’s military, however, denied locals’ accusations that it was responsible for the arson.   

DMG was unable to contact the Kyauktaw Township police station for comment. Since the beginning of this year, at least 30 people have been reported missing in Arakan State after being detained by Myanmar’s military, according to their relatives.