Arakan IDPs face tight checks, extortion in Pyay

By Admin 18 Dec 2024

DMG Newsroom
18 December 2024, Mrauk-U

Displaced civilians from Arakan State sheltering in Bago Region’s Pyay Township have been subjected to tight checks, travel restrictions and extortion by Myanmar’s military regime.

At checkpoints, junta soldiers impose tight checks on civilians holding citizenship registration cards indicating that they are from Arakan State. They are also subjected to verbal abuse, said those displaced.

“When we show our IDs at the checkpoints, the way the security personnel treat us changes immediately, and their tones become harsh,” said one displaced woman from Arakan State currently living in Pyay. “I saw an Arakan person lining up before me being asked to take documents from local administrators in Arakan when he showed his ID. It has become almost impossible to travel from one place to another.”

Arakan ID holders are also charged extra for train tickets at ticket counters, said displaced Arakan State residents in Pyay.

Another displaced resident from Arakan State said: “I had to pay 25,000 kyats for a train ticket that is sold for only 8,000 kyats to others.”

Residents from Ann, Taungup, Thandwe and Gwa townships have fled the fighting to Bago, Yangon, Ayeyarwady and Magwe regions.

Arakan residents in Pyay say the tight checks and travel restrictions spell trouble for their livelihoods.

One female Thandwe resident in Pyay said: “We are away from our homes, but we have to do whatever jobs are available as we are poor. The regime imposes tight checks at every checkpoint, making travel extremely difficult.”

Tight checks and travel restrictions on Arakan ID holders have been reported to increase in the areas where Magway and Ayeyarwady regions border Arakan State.

Arakan residents taking shelter outside the state are concerned for their safety as the regime carries out frequent checks on households for unregistered overnight guests and making arrests on that basis.