How Rohingya Youths Transferred from Open Prison to Closed Prison

Sittwe – Rakhine human traffickers indirectly hand over dozens of Rohingya youth from Sittwe and other neighboring cities especially IDP camps to the authorities on their way to Thailand and Malaysia, after fully receiving the payments of trafficking fees.

On 25^th September, 18 Rohingya youths were arrested in Sittwe who were about to set off their journey by land. They were actually a group of 60, but the rest escaped police raid.

On 26^th September, 30 others were caught in Ngapu Taung Tsp. of Irrawaddy Region, who are also hailing from Thakkay Pyin and Thei Chaung of Sittwe. There were 44 persons while leaving Sittwe in two groups of 30 and 14 earlier, but the fate of another group is still uncertain.

On 29^th September, another group of 6 Rohingya youths was detained near the milepost (236/4) on Pathein-Mone Ywar Highway, Attak Min Hla Tsp. of Magway Division.

These are three different incidents that took place in the last week of September alone and similar incidents are very frequent every year, throughout the year. The more interesting is that nobody knows of their fate.

According to reports, in 2013, for example, 52 Rohingya youths were detained in Ngapu Taung Tsp. In 2018, hundreds youth were arrested in Tanintharyi Region in their voyage to Malaysia by sea. Bago Region also arrested 78 Rohingyas earlier this year.

This is part of the planned anti-Rohingya operation, according to observers, to expel the remaining Rohingya there from those regions. The traffickers especially target youth layer of the society, whose ages mostly range from 15 to 30.

This operation serves the interests of anti-Rohingya extremists form various angles. They not only loot millions of kyats from the people of camps who survive necessitous conditions on other’s aids, but also endanger them to get into the hands of authorities outside Rakhine State and to be charged with unauthorized movement.

If they, by chance, can escape to their destination, it is also an implementation of their plan to cleanse and throw the Rohingyas out of their land.

The traffickers charge 40-50 lakh kyats each.

Being fed up with the desperate situation in IDP open prison, these members of Rohingya young generation risk their lives relying on the false promises of their enemies, as they believe that risking their lives is better that surviving in camps.