Military, police and CSOs to jointly patrol in Sittwe as crime reportedly rises

By DMG 14 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
14 December 2021, Sittwe       

 Joint teams including military and police personnel, along with civil society organisations, will undertake patrols in Sittwe amid reports of a rise in thefts and other criminality in the Arakan State capital. 

The plan for patrols was made after a meeting of ministers of the Arakan State regime council and the head of the military’s Western Command on December 13, U Hla Thein, information officer for the state’s military government, wrote on his Facebook page. 

Residents welcomed the bolstered nighttime patrols, but some questioned the involvement of military personnel. 

“The issue is concerned with the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is not related to the military. If the military participates in it, residents are worried about their safety,” a resident said. 

With a series of thefts and robberies taking place in Sittwe, residents in some wards have felt compelled to hire nighttime watchmen to protect their neighbourhoods. 

Police Colonel Thet Lwin, Arakan State minister for Transportation, said alcohol and drug use, along with economic hardship, were contributing to criminality in the state capital. 

“Some young people do not have an income source and they want to spend money. So, they commit theft,” he said. 

Police alone cannot eradicate theft and their crime-fighting efforts require cooperation from the people, he added. 

“We are making patrols until midnight. We arrest suspected people. If people cooperate with police, it is easy to identify criminals as soon as possible,” he said. 

Most cases of theft in Sittwe involve the stealing of motorbikes and mobile phones. 

A total of 98 major criminal cases were reported in Arakan State through the first nine months of 2021, figures from the state’s Myanmar Police Force (MPF) showed. From January through September, there were 75 murders, 12 rapes, five cases related to the Unlawful Associations Act, three animal thefts, one case of dacoity, one break-in, and one case involving illegal arms possession.