Junta forces Arakanese villagers to relocate to Sittwe

By Admin 15 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
15 June 2024, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime has forced thousands of residents from 12 Arakanese villages in Sittwe Township to move to Sittwe Town, its seat of administration in Arakan State.

On June 9, the regime ordered that the affected villagers must move to Sittwe Town by the following Friday, June 14. It has accommodated them at Buddhist monasteries and other places for the time being.

Elderly people, women and children make up the majority of residents who were forcibly moved to Sittwe. The regime has yet to provide any material assistance to them.

One woman said: “As many people have crowded into a place, it won’t be convenient for us in the long run. If we are in our village, at least we still can feed ourselves.”

The relocated villagers have expressed concerns for their safety as junta troops often carry out checks on monasteries, arresting people who they suspect. Residents are also worried that they might be used as human shields if fighting breaks out in the Arakan State capital.

“The regime knows exactly where we are. And they can do anything they want to us. We have concerns for our safety,” said another woman.

The Arakkha Army (AA) has seized Pauktaw, Ponnagyun and Rathedaung townships bordering Sittwe Township. The regime has prepared to mount a defence in Sittwe, and has barred residents from leaving the town.

One military analyst said the regime had removed the residents from their villages so that it could freely attack the AA troops advancing on Sittwe.

“Those villages are located on the route to Sittwe. The regime has to take pre-emptive measures as those villages can be an obstacle for its defence against the AA. So, it has forced thousands of people out of their villages,” he said.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun told the BBC that the regime had taken security measures because AA members disguised as civilians were staying in those villages and that they had used homemade rockets to attack other villages. Residents in the area roundly dismissed his claim.

The regime killed nearly 80 people in Sittwe Township’s Byaing Phyu Village on May 29, citing security measures.

The junta’s regional operations command, Infantry Battalion Nos. 20, 232 and 270, Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 344 and 354, and police battalions 12 and 36 are based in Sittwe town. The regime has also planted landmines around the town.