Arakan News Agency
The Myanmar military arrested four Rohingya men in Pweya Gone village in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, without providing any official reason for their detention, and their current whereabouts remain unknown.
According to Arakan Express News, the detainees have been identified as Rawshin (35), Huson Ahmed (37), Hasan (30), and Esop (60), all residents of Pweya Gone village.
Local residents stated that Rohingya communities in Sittwe have faced numerous arrests and repeated interrogations in recent months.
The arrests come as fighting continues between the Myanmar military and Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army) in parts of the city. The Myanmar military has issued warnings to Rohingya communities not to communicate or have any contact with the separatist militia members, amid intensified security operations and ongoing clashes in the area.
Previously, on December 30, the Myanmar military had arrested an official from the administration of Pallin Pyin village, another Rohingya village in Sittwe, as part of a continuing campaign targeting Rohingya communities.
Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, remains one of only three cities still under the control of Myanmar’s ruling military council, which lost control of 14 other cities in the state after Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army) launched a military campaign in November 2023 to take over those areas. This conflict has also severely affected the Rohingya, who have faced violence, forced displacement, and persecution from both sides, in addition to the 2017 military campaign of “genocide” that forced nearly one million Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
