Regime accused of extorting Muslim IDPs, villagers for militiamen’s salaries

By Admin 13 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
13 September 2024, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime is reportedly collecting extortion money from Muslim displacement camps and villages to pay salaries to Muslim militiamen in Sittwe Township, Arakan State.

Junta officials and village in-charges collected extortion money ranging from K5,000 to K30,000 from Muslim IDP camps and villages in Sittwe Township, locals told DMG.

“Junta authorities and village officials collect extortion money from Muslim displacement camps and villages monthly in order to pay salary to Muslim militiamen,” said a Muslim man from Bumay Village.

“The military regime has been collecting extortion money ranging from K5,000 to K30,000 from Bumay, Thelchaung, Barsa, Darpaing, Thelkelpyin and Letthamar villages, and Muslim displacement camps, since April,” he added.

The regime trained thousands of Muslims from displacement camps in Sittwe Township in February and March, with Muslim conscripts given military training for two weeks before many were sent to the front line to fight the Arakkha Army (AA).

“The money collected from us is mostly taken by junta officials and their stooges,” said a Muslim man from Barsa Village. “Among the Muslim conscripts, some earn K200,000 a month, and some do not earn at all. There are also people who flee while serving in the military and are killed in landmine blasts.”

The junta has reportedly set up more security checkpoints in Sittwe Township and is extorting money from Muslim passersby, who say the extortion is an added cost on top of rising prices across the board, and with few livelihood opportunities.

“They [junta officials] threatened us that if we did not pay the money they charged, we must join the military. We have no place to escape to, so we have to pay extortion money to them every month. As we are displaced people and we do not have jobs, we are facing livelihood hardships,” said a Muslim IDP man from the Thelchaung displacement camp.

Sittwe is the only township still under the control of the military regime in northern Arakan State.

The junta has forcibly recruited Muslims to defend against the AA onslaught, and stands accused of inciting tensions between the Arakanese and Muslim communities in Arakan State.