Three girls found dead days after abduction from Kachin IDP camp

Three girls who went missing from a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kachin State last weekend have been found dead, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has confirmed. The girls were reportedly abducted from the Jeyang IDP camp, located near the KIA stronghold of Laiza, on February 22. Two of their bodies were discovered on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday, according to KIA spokesperson Col. Naw Bu. “The kids were only 10 years old. They were just walking near the camp when they were picked up,” he told Myanmar Now, adding that one arrest has been made in connection with the case. “So far, only one suspect has been arrested. We still don’t know if anyone else was involved,” he said. Two of the victims, Nang Zein Jee San Mai and La Htaw Ywe Jee, were 10 years old, and the third, Phaung Yam Swet Seng Ein, was 11, he added. The suspect in custody, identified by local media outlet 7Stars News as 25-year-old Ung Sau Doi Awng, is also a resident of the Jeyang camp. He is accused of kidnapping the girls for a ransom of 300,000 yuan, or more than US$41,000. The KIA declined to provide further details on the suspect, citing the ongoing investigation.The girls are believed to have been students of the suspect’s wife, who is a teacher in the camp. However, this could not be confirmed at the time of reporting.The Jeyang camp houses around 8,000 people, who are among the tens of thousands of ethnic Kachin civilians displaced by conflict since the collapse of a ceasefire between the KIA and Myanmar’s military in 2011.Fighting in Kachin State since the military coup in 2021 has also added substantially to the number of people living in IDP camps in the state.

Three girls found dead days after abduction from Kachin IDP camp

A suspect in the case is accused of kidnapping the girls for a ransom of 300,000 yuan, or more than US$41,000

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