Families worry over fate of six detained Buthidaung Twsp villagers

By DMG 26 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
26 September 2022, Buthidaung

Six residents of Thabeik Taung Village in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township were detained by Myanmar military personnel on September 24, and family members are concerned about the fate of the detainees, who have since been held incommunicado.

The six detainees are Ko Nyunt Win, 35; Ko Shwe Tun, 36; Ko Maung Myint Win, 37; Maung Tun Tha Hla, 20; Maung Than Tun Aung, 16; and Ko Maung Phyu, 37. They were tied up and taken from the village monastery on September 24, according to Ma Oo Hla May, the wife of Ko Maung Myint Win.

“That day, villagers fled after [the Myanmar military] fired shells. We were trapped in the village. We were taken to the village monastery and questioned. Women and elderly persons were released. My husband and five others were abducted,” she told DMG.

The villagers were detained by border guard police based near Kin Chaung Village in Buthidaung Township. Junta soldiers were reportedly included among the group that made the arrests.

Ma Khin Soe Than, the wife of Ko Nyunt Win, said: “My husband does casual jobs at the village, and he is the breadwinner of our family. We have two children. I don’t know how he is doing now. We don’t know why they were detained. We dare not ask the border guard police battalion.”

Two of the detainees, Maung Tun Tha Hla and Maung Than Tun Aung, are brothers, and Maung Tun Tha Hla has mental problems, said their father U Tha Tun Tin.

“That day, three houses including my house were torched. My two sons were detained. One of them has mental problems. They also briefly detained us, and told us to go anywhere we like, but don’t return to the village. I’m afraid they are not alive now. They are innocent,” he said.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from Arakan State Security and Border affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura about the detention of the six villagers.

Thabeik Taung Village has over 60 houses with a population of more than 300 people. Villagers fled to nearby villages and Buthidaung town following the shelling on September 24. Junta troops and border guard police reportedly remain in the village.

Arrests of residents on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) have been on the rise in Arakan State and Chin State’s Paletwa Township amid fresh armed conflict between the two sides.

From June to September 21, the Myanmar military regime detained at least 140 residents, and more than 60 remain under detention. More people have been detained since September 21.