Si Taung villagers submit request letter to return home

By Min Htun 07 Apr 2019

Min Tun/ DMG

April 7, Sittwe

Villagers, who have been displaced from their homes at Si Taung village in Buthidaung Township to safety following shootings in the village, have submitted a request letter to the township administrator on April 6 requesting to return to their homes.

More than 2000 villagers from Si Taung and Kan Byin villages fled from their home on March 21 due to the shootings in their village.

A villager from Si Taung said that they want go home because of insufficient accommodations, food, water, education, health and safety in the area they are taking shelter at.

“There were shootings in our village. Five people were killed and some were injured. So, we all had to flee to safety. About 100 people are now going home back. Our home is the best place to be for us,” he said.

He added that they told Rakhine State Hluttaw MP U Tun Aung Thein by phone that they will inform relevant authorities about their request to return home because they want to observe the eight Buddhist precepts during the Water Festival.

“We have not received their request letter yet, but I think they submitted the request because I received a phone call and I was told they informed relevant authorities about their appeal to return to home. Some villagers have arrived home.  They want to go home because there were no clashes in their villages and they want to stay at their homes to observe the Sabbath during the Water Festival,” U Tun Aung Thein said.

Five villagers were killed and eight others injured during the shootings on March 21 at Si Taung village in Buthidaung Township.

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