Regime detains at least 700 Sittwe residents in two months

By Admin 09 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 July 2024, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime detained at least 700 local residents in Sittwe, the Arakan State capital, during the two months from May 1 to June 30, and has released about 300 detainees on bail, according to DMG tallies.

Around 400 Sittwe residents remain detained and some of them have been charged by the regime. According to family members, some of those who remain detained do not know what they are being charged for, and have not been able to contact them.

“The regime does not release those who have been arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakkha Army (AA) and have tattoos. Eight people in my village have not been released yet and family members are unable to contact them and do not know their whereabouts,” said a family member of a detainee from Amyit Kyun Village.

About 60 junta soldiers in four military trucks entered Amyint Kyun Village and arrested 46 men whose ages ranged from 18 to more than 40 years old on June 22. The regime released eight of those detained villagers on July 3.

The regime has been arresting civilians in some Sittwe Township villages on suspicion and has made a series of arrests of civilians in downtown Sittwe on the pretext of conducting overnight guest checks.

“Some detainees were released on bail, but some were charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly having ties to the Arakkha Army,” said a family member of a detainee from Sittwe’s Mingan Ward.

About 50 out of some 200 residents of Mingan Ward in Sittwe Town who were detained by the regime were reportedly released on bail on June 18.

The military regime has opened cases against at least 40 residents of Mingan Ward in the Arakan State capital Sittwe under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly having ties to the AA.

Family members are worried about the fate of over 100 residents of Byaing Phyu Village in Sittwe Township arrested by the regime as they have not been able to contact them.

“When we went to No. 1 police station in Sittwe to enquire about the detained Byaing Phyu villagers, police officials told us that they didn’t know about that. We don’t know their whereabouts,” said a family member of a detained villager.

Junta troops are now deployed in 14 Sittwe Township villages including Byaing Phyu, where the regime massacred nearly 80 people in late May, bordering Rathedaung and Ponnagyun townships.

“Sittwe has become a bad place to live. The regime has blocked all the roads and is doing as it wants the people to do. It is a concern for the people living in Sittwe,” said a human rights activist in Arakan State.

The regime has beefed up security in Sittwe although there have been no clashes between the military and AA in the Arakan State capital. Military tensions between the military and AA are running high as the ethnic armed group has cut off supply routes to Sittwe.