Tatmadaw restricts pharmaceuticals supplies to Arakan State

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 12 Oct 2020

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG
12 October 2020, Sittwe 

A pass from the Arakan State security and border affairs minister is required to bring pharmaceuticals and facemasks from Yangon into Arakan State, according to Ann Township administrator U Ko Ko Myat. 

“As far as I know, the security checkpoint run by the Myanmar military will not let those things into the township unless there is an official pass from the state security and border affairs minister. Their gate does not allow it even with a pass from health authorities,” said U Ko Ko Myat. 

There are two security checkpoints run separately by the Tatmadaw and relevant government departments in Ann Township. Bus lines running from Yangon to Arakan State are subject to inspection at both gates. 

The non-military inspection gate, collectively run by relevant government departments including police and immigration officers, does not impose any ban on pharmaceutical products, said U Ko Ko Myat. 

“Pharmaceuticals are not a problem for us. Our gate allows pharmaceuticals. But the military may ban them for security reasons. It has nothing to do with us,” he said. 

The military often seizes pharmaceuticals being transported from Yangon to Sittwe without an official pass from the Arakan State security and border affairs minister, according to an employee of a bus line that regularly plies Yangon-Arakan State routes. 

“The buses can transport pharmaceuticals only with a pass from the regional security and border affairs minister. When customers come and ask for delivery, we don’t usually check what’s inside the packages. When the military carries out checks, they confiscate the pharmaceuticals if they don’t find a pass,” he explained. 

Arakanese youth associations in Yangon want to send pharmaceuticals to internally displaced people (IDPs) staying at camps in Arakan State, but have difficulties doing so, said Ko Kyaw Htay Win, a member of the Arakan Conservation Association’s central executive committee. 

“We heard that some basic medicines to treat cough and cold are running out at IDP camps. We wanted to send some medicines there. But then locals said the military-run inspection gate in Ann does not allow pharmaceuticals due to security reasons,” he said. 

People living at IDP camps in rural and remote parts of Arakan State have expressed concern about medical supply shortages due to the transportation restrictions enforced at Tatmadaw checkpoints.