Former NLD candidate targeted in wave of arbitrary arrests by junta in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State

A former electoral candidate from the National League for Democracy (NLD) party was arrested this week in southern Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu town, which has been blockaded by the junta. Zaw Win Myint, 63, had run for state parliament in the 2015 general election and the 2017 by-elections, aiming to represent Ann Township. He was taken from his home in Myit Nar Tan ward by police officers at around 6pm on Tuesday and is being held at the central police station, according to area residents. The reason for his arrest was not known at the time of reporting. Zaw Win Myint wrote Facebook posts opposing the junta immediately following the 2021 coup which ousted the elected NLD administration, but had been living a quiet life with his family in recent years, sources close to him said. “He was arrested at a time when he wasn’t particularly active,” a Kyaukphyu local said. “If you support the NLD, you risk being arrested and prosecuted for your affiliation with the National Unity Government,” he explained, referring to the publicly mandated administration formed in opposition to the coup regime. “If you align with the Arakan Army (AA), charges of illegal association may be brought against you—that’s the situation,” the local man continued, noting that he was in hiding, fearing he too might be targeted for one of the aforementioned reasons. The AA has been engaged in intensifying battles against the military throughout Rakhine State, as well as backing the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in a recent offensive in northern Shan State dubbed Operation 1027, launched on October 27. Together, the three groups make up the Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armed organisations. Over the past month, the junta has closed land routes and waterways in Kyaukphyu, and arrested at least 30 locals in the township, most of whom were accused of having ties to the AA. “The military council has effectively blockaded Kyaukphyu and is making arbitrary arrests. No one feels secure anymore: politicians, and even social workers in the community are being arrested,” the resident explained. On the same day that Zaw Win Myint was arrested, the junta issued a local order prohibiting entry, exit, or fishing in the villages along the sea and river bordering Kyaukphyu. Thousands of people have been without food as a result of the ban on movement. Another Kyaukphyu resident said that people are relying on one another for food, but are becoming “unable to save each other.” “Those who can afford it are leaving town by plane every day,” he said. In Ramree town on the island by the same name, south of Kyaukphyu, battles with the AA broke out on December 18, with the military launching a ground, air, and sea counter-offensive against the armed organisation, prompting residents to flee. The island is the starting point of a nearly 500-mile natural gas pipeline that runs through central and northeastern Myanmar into China’s Yunnan province, making the site strategic to the junta’s own economic interests and Chinese investment. Fighting has also taken place in Pauktaw, northeast of the state capital of Sittwe. An estimated half the town is believed to have been damaged in the resulting fires. Junta troops from Light Infantry Battalion 542 have established positions on a hill in Kyaukphyu town, near the technological college, and in Nga La Pwayt ward, from which they have been firing on the town and the surrounding area. On Wednesday evening, LIB 542 unleashed 11 rounds of heavy weapon fire on Kyaukphyu, while another battalion fired eight more rounds 20 minutes later, according to a statement released the next day by the Brotherhood Alliance.

Former NLD candidate targeted in wave of arbitrary arrests by junta in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State

Locals say ‘no one feels secure,’ as the Myanmar military isolates the town by ground and sea amid intensifying clashes with the Arakan Army in the region

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