Man from IDP camp in Kyauktaw Twsp goes missing

By DMG 21 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
21 July 2022, Kyauktaw

A man from the Kavi Yadana camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw, Arakan State, went missing on Tuesday night and has not been heard from since, according to family members.

The man has been identified as U Kyaw Hein, 39, a traditional medicine practitioner. He went missing while returning to Kavi Yadana displacement camp after providing medical treatment to a patient from the Kangyishin IDP camp on July 19, his wife said.

“My husband went to Kangyishin IDP camp by motorbike to treat a patient at about 9 p.m. I got a phone call but his mobile phone was switched off later. We have yet to find his motorbike or mobile phone,” said Daw Ma Aye Than, the wife of U Kyaw Hein.

In addition to his work as a traditional medicine practitioner, U Kyaw Hein earns a living as a motorbike taxi driver.

“He [U Kyaw Hein] arrived at the displacement camp to treat a patient, and headed back at around 10 p.m.,” said an unnamed IDP at Kangyishin displacement camp. “He was reportedly arrested on his way to Kavi Yadana IDP camp. We don’t know exactly who arrested him. Junta soldiers are always active near the displacement camp.”

Another person from the Kangyishin IDP camp, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said he saw U Kyaw Hein being arrested by the Myanmar military.

“He was arrested on his way to Kavi Yadana IDP camp. The junta soldiers took U Kyaw Hein and his motorbike near the agricultural institute in Kyauktaw,” the unnamed IDP added.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura regarding the matter.

U Kyaw Hein was previously a resident of Kyauktaw Township’s Mee Wa village and has been sheltering at the Kavi Yadana IDP camp for the past three years.

Kyauktaw is among the Arakan State townships where tensions between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army have been rising in recent weeks. The Arakan Army has detained several junta soldiers and police officers, and in response, the military has arrested dozens of residents in Kyauktaw and a handful of other Arakan State townships.