Missing villagers still a mystery after four months

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 24 May 2019

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG

May 24, Sittwe

Five men from Yan Aung Pyin and Kya Nin Kan villages from Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw Townships have been missing since February 19 and no news about them has been found.

U Aye Thein and Maung Myo Min Zaw from Kya Nin Kan village went missing after they headed out to buy firewood by motorboat. U Maung Win Sein and U Maung Shwe Saw were missing after they left their village by motorbike. Another man, identified as U Hla Htay Chay, from Yan Aung Pyin village was missing when he was returning to his farm.

“We have no news of them. We want to get back our husbands wherever they are now. We do not blame any organization for arresting our family members. We just want them to release our family members. We want justice,” said Daw Aye Soe May, wife of U Aye Thein from Kya Nin Kan village.

Local residents said that the villagers went missing at the border of Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U Townships where clashes erupted between the Tatmadaw and the AA one day before they disappeared.

On February 21, two days after villagers went missing, villagers found a place where dead bodies were believed to have been burned near Yan Aung Pyin village in Mrauk-U Township.

“People guessed that three bodies might have been burned at that location. No clues have been discovered at the scene apart from a motorbike part. I want my husband back, my children are asking about him every day,” said Daw Myint Htay, wife of U Maung Win Sein.

Since U Hla Htay Chay from Yan Aung Pyin village did not arrive home at the usual time from his farm, his wife searched for him late at night and found that he was arrested by the Myanmar army and his hands were tied behind his back, his wife said.

“I did not recognize their faces, and I do not know how many soldiers there were. I was afraid and did not look at them. I went there after the fighting. My husband went to the farm and was late arriving home. They tied up my husband. His hands were tied behind his back,” said Daw Dar Sein, wife of U Hla Htay Chay.

U Tun Tha Sein, Member of Parliament for Mrauk-U Township in Arakan State Hluttaw, said in a press conference held on March 24 in Mrauk-U town that there might be a connection between the missing villagers and the location where bodies were burned. Those who arrested villagers must take responsibility for missing villagers.

“The wife of U Hla Htay Chay said that she found her husband was arrested when she searched for him because he did not arrive home until 11am at night after he stopped working on his farm. She saw that her husband’s longyi was untied so she tied it to his waist,” U Tun Tha Sein said.

Even though the missing villagers have been reported to authorities, new facts to the case have not surfaced so far, furthermore the burned bodies cannot be positively identified.