Protestors demand an end to violence in Arakan State

19 Jun 2019

Nay Yaung Min | DMG

19 June, Sittwe

About 40 people comprised of Arakanese and Kachin migrant workers in Japan staged a protest on Wednesday in front of the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo demanding the Myanmar government and the Tatmadaw to stop unjustified arrests and the senseless killing of civilians in Arakan State.

Ko Kyaw Than Hlaing, patron of Arakan Youth Union (AYU-Japan), said that the rally was held to stop the harassment that Arakanese people have been experiencing. In addition to the unwarranted detentions by the Tatmadaw, some of which had led to unnecessary deaths at the hands of the government’s army. The group was also protesting against the Tatmadaw’s “alleged” battles against opposing forces, giving the army the excuse to fire weapons indiscriminately into villages, when in fact there was no real fighting occurring.

“If Arakanese living overseas don’t voice their opinions about these situations, the number of innocent victims will increase. I hope by staging a rally here and addressing serious issues that occur in our homeland we can be a part of the process to end the madness that goes on unabated,” he said.

About seven people were killed and many civilians were injured while the Tatmadaw detained more than 200 villagers for questioning in Kyauktan village, Rathedaung Township, in early May. Protestors said that the incident was a blatant act of lawless violence committed by the Tatmadaw.

“The funerals of the seven dead villagers were held away from family members. We thought that the army did not want family members and friends to know how they were killed,” he said.

The protestors said that they staged the rally to let the international community know that Arakanese people have been detained and killed gratuitously. If nothing positive results from their protest, they will hold press conference in Japan and send a letter of grievance to the UN, they said.

Colonel Win Zaw Oo from the Western Command said: “You will know better than me if there is such a situation occurs or not. We often said we are working for regional stability and development. We never delayed regional development or disrupted regional stability.”

The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission conducted field inspections in May relating to the incidents in Kyauktan village, and members of the commission told the media that the Tatmadaw did not breach human rights according to their findings, but it was not included in its statement.