Muslim returnee apprehended in Maungdaw, four associates wanted

By Kyaw Myo Aung 22 Jun 2020

Kyaw Myo Aung | DMG
22 June, Maungdaw

One of five Muslim men known to have entered Arakan State illegally from Bangladesh was reported in Maungdaw Township on June 21 and the other four are being sought by authorities, according to U Soe Aung, deputy commissioner of Maungdaw District.

“We instructed the respective village administrators from Dar Gyi Sar and Thu Oo Lar villages to investigate the case of five men who had spent one night there. They [the Muslim men] would be quarantined at the Hla Phoe Khaung transit camp,” the deputy commissioner said.

The five men reportedly travelled to Dar Gyi Sar village in Maungdaw Township from Bangladesh on the morning of June 20 and spent a night in Thu Oo Lar village. One of the Muslim returnees was arrested at a local bazaar in Maungdaw Township while en route to Buthidaung Township, he added.

The detainee was identified as Mohamed Aryis, 22, from Thayet Manu village in Buthidaung Township.

Similarly, a Muslim man who returned to Myanmar unlawfully from Bangladesh was found in his house in Kun Taing village in Buthidaung Township on June 20. One of three returnees was also apprehended on June 16, but the other two remain at large, according to U Shwe Hla Aung, Buthidaung Township administrator.

As many as 10 people who had contacts with the returnees have been sent to the Hla Phoe Khaung transit camp to undergo facility quarantine.

Among the unlawful entrants, four from Maungdaw Township and three from Buthidaung Township have tested positive for coronavirus.