Junta detains dozens of vendors in Kyaukphyu

By Admin 18 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
18 December 2023, Kyaukphyu

The regime has reportedly detained dozens of vendors from Gonechein and Aungcedi villages, Taungyin Ward and Kyauktalone displacement camp in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State.

At least 30 locals selling vegetables, fish and prawn at different locations in Kyaukphyu were arrested on December 17 and 18.

“Locals face livelihood hardships. The detainees were arrested while selling vegetables, fish and prawn in Kyaukphyu,” said a family member of one of the detainees from Gonechein Village.

Among the detainees are five from Gonechein Village, eight from Taungyin Ward, 11 from Kyauktalone IDP camp and six from Aungcedi Village, according to a DMG accounting.

The military regime detained dozens of locals selling vegetables in Kyaukphyu at about 4 a.m. on December 4 for violating a ban on people entering or leaving the town, but released the detainees on bail at around 12 noon the same day.

“IDPs have been living in poverty in displacement camps since the beginning [of renewed fighting in Arakan State]. Now that the regime has blocked the roads, the IDPs are facing livelihood hardships. So some of them went to Kyaukphyu market to sell chicken,” said a family member of one of the detainees from Kyauktalone displacement camp.

Gonechein and Aungcedi villages, and Kyauktalone IDP camp, are located about five miles from Kyaukphyu and vendors go to Kyaukphyu by three-wheeled and regular motorbikes to sell vegetables, fish, prawn and chicken.

With the junta blocking the entries and exits to Kyaukphyu, locals from nearby villages have to go to Kyaukphyu as early as possible to sell their vegetables.

The detainees are being held at Kyaukphyu Myoma police station and the police will take action against them, family members said.

“Family members have not been allowed to meet the detainees yet. We will likely have a chance to meet the detainees during the court hearing. The police are saying that if they [detainees] don’t pay the fine, they will be jailed,” said a family member of one of the detainees from Taungyin Ward.

The junta’s Kyauk Talone checkpoint outside Kyaukphyu on November 13 imposed a ban on people entering or leaving Kyaukphyu town. The regime also imposed a ban on sea transport for one month, from November 19 to December 19.

As Kyaukphyu is an island town, residents rely on other townships to buy food supplies. The grassroots in Kyaukphyu, where China-backed projects are being implemented, are reportedly living on a subsistence diet of porridge alone as food supplies have dwindled due to the junta’s isolation of the town.