Rights group calls for evacuation of trapped civilians in Pauktaw

By Admin 20 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
20 November 2023, Pauktaw

The Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association demanded on Monday that civilians trapped in the fighting in Pauktaw town for five days be allowed to leave.

The association urged the regime to allow residents to leave Pauktaw on humanitarian grounds.

Thousands of residents were forced to flee Pauktaw when junta helicopters and warships opened fire on the town following the Arakan Army (AA)’s seizure of the town police station. Some 500 residents remain trapped in the town and some of them have health problems.

The regime has also reportedly detained around 100 civilians including staff from health, education and agriculture departments in the town.

A relative of a detained education staff member said: “They have been detained for five days now. We still can’t get in contact with them. On November 16, they phoned us and said they had been arrested. We have lost contact with them since. Their phones might have been seized.”

Junta troops are deployed at Lawka Hteikpan Pagoda and town entrances and exits. Two junta naval ships are also stationed near the Pauktaw Jetty.

People trapped in the town and their families have called on charities to help them if they can.

“I am trapped in Pauktaw town together with my paralyzed grandmother, and my mother who has had a surgery. We request rescue teams to help us. We have almost run out of food and medicines, and my phone battery is almost flat,” wrote a trapped resident on social media.

DMG was unable to obtain comment from junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State security and border affairs ministers Colonel Kyaw Thura.

Arakanese politician U Pe Than said: “The regime is doing so to undermine public confidence in ULA/AA. It has been repeatedly claiming that people got into trouble because of the AA. The regime is trying to defeat ULA/AA by using local people as human shields.”

Local social organisations and international aid agencies still can’t get permission from the regime to rescue civilians trapped in Pauktaw.

Junta artillery strikes caused civilian casualties on November 16 in Pauktaw town.