Over 100 Rohingyas trying to flee Myanmar arrested near Southern border

As they attempted to leave the country for Malaysia, more than 110 Rohingya from the war-torn western part of Myanmar were detained, a local security source told AFP on Wednesday.

In Myanmar, the predominantly Muslim Rohingya are viewed as foreign invaders from Bangladesh. They need permission to travel and are not granted citizenship.

A local security source, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak to the media, said that on Tuesday, fifty-nine men and fifty-eight women were taken into custody from two trucks in Thanbyuzayat township in eastern Mon state.

According to the source, the group was traveling from Thailand to Malaysia.

According to initial reports, the group travelled first by boat from Sittwe and Maungdaw in Rakhine state and were later picked up by traffickers in Thanbyuzayat for the onward journey to Thailand before being abandoned.

In recent weeks, fighting between the junta and ethnic armed group the Arakan Army (AA) has rocked swathes of Rakhine state, displacing tens of thousands.

The military has since closed highways and banned water travel in the riverine state.

In 2017, the military launched a crackdown on Rohingya in Rakhine, sending hundreds of thousands of the persecuted minority fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

The crackdown is now the subject of a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, while the Rohingya who remain in Myanmar are subject to what rights groups describe as apartheid-like conditions.

Every year, thousands of Rohingya undertake risky sea journeys from Myanmar and overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh trying to reach Malaysia or Indonesia.

Around 569 Rohingya were reported to have died or gone missing at sea last year, the United Nations’ refugee agency said on Tuesday, the highest number since 2014.

Nearly 4,500 embarked on sea journeys from Myanmar or camps in Bangladesh in 2023, the agency said.

(with inputs from AFP)