Arakan News Agency
Myanmar authorities said they had detained a ship carrying 28 Rohingya people detained in the Bay of Bengal after last Sunday afternoon, while they were returning to Myanmar ‘s territorial waters illegally from St. Martin island of Bangladesh.
Maungdaw police station official in Arakan State Mr. Kyaw Aye Hlaing said that the ship was heading to Akyab (Sittwe) the capital of Arakan State, which lies approximately 70km from the island of St. Martin, noting that five of the detainees were children, aged between 13 and 15 years old.
According to the Irrawaddy, those who were arrested said they were Rohingya originally from Internally displaced people camps (IDP), which lies on the outskirts of Akyab and they have crossed the border into Bangladesh by boat to receive treatment and some to work.
And as a displaced Muslim in these camps one needs a formal permission from the authorities to travel, particularly from the Department of Immigration in Arakan State, and also from the camp management committee.
U Kyaw Hla Aung, a member of the Rohingya community, and who now lives in Akyab, told The Irrawaddy by telephone that to obtain a travel permit from the authorities is very difficult though wanting in that first obtaining the permission of the village director and the police, and then from the Department of Immigration, which also calls for providing an address in Bangladesh or application hosting from there.
Aung added that this process can take three months, and if permission was granted, it will be for a period of 45 days.
