Residents flee Ywar Tharyar village after Tatmadaw’s questioning

By Khaing Roe La 14 Nov 2019

Khaing Roe La | DMG
November 14, Myebon

All residents from Ywar Tharyar village (Yaw Chaung) in Myebon Township have fled their village on November 14 after Tatmadaw soldiers entered the village and questioned residents for a second time.

A Tatmadaw unit arrived in the village on November 10 and blocked all of the entrances and exits until November 12. After questioning the villagers, the Tatmadaw soldiers detained five people from the village.

The five detained are U Maung Tin Nyunt, 41, U Maung Hla Myint, 37, U Tin Maung Nyunt, 37, U Khin Maung Lay, 48 and U Tin Myint, 46. The villagers said that it is unclear why and where they have been taken to.

On November 14, the Tatmadaw arrived at the village again to question more villagers.

U Aung Win, a member of Pyithu Hluttaw from Myebon Township, said that residents in the village were afraid of being detained and fled their homes. 

“The villagers are afraid now. The Tatmadaw is trying to stop people from leaving the village. We saw that the Tatmadaw were questioning the villagers, and if they see someone talking on their mobile phone they don’t like it so they beat those people. Food is starting to run out because people aren’t allowed to go outside the village,” U Aung Win told DMG.

Sayardaw U Dahma Piyaka, the head monk of Thirimigalar Myoma monastery, said that more than 300 people from Ywar Tharyar village have arrived in Myebon town. 

“Now we have about 180 Ywar Tharyar villagers at our monastery and heard that more people are coming. There are about 130 people staying at another monastery – Maku Thaynar Yone (Ywar Kyaung),” Sayardaw said.

An anonymous villager said that they fled the village to Myebon town yesterday [November 13], and about 700 people had left their homes today [November 14].

“They ran away from the village on their own because they cannot use motorboats. They might go to Myebon IDP camp or other villages where their relatives live,” he said.

DMG tried to contact Colonel Win Zaw Oo from the Western Command for comment but he couldn’t be reached.