Narinjara News, January 12, 2025 

On January 9 and 10, junta forces apprehended and held sixteen displaced Arakanese youths in Kyonpyaw Township, Ayeyarwady Region. According to DVB News, the arrests occurred due to allegations that the young individuals were informants for the Arakan Army (AA). 

The detained young individuals, all in their twenties, were assaulted prior to being taken in a military truck to the 36th Infantry Battalion in Kyonpyaw. 

Narinjara News contacted an Arakanese individual escaping the conflict in the Ayeyarwady Region, who verified the arrests. However, he was unable to specify the precise number of individuals detained or their identities. 

"I can verify that multiple displaced young people from Arakan State, who fled the conflict, have been apprehended in Kyonpyaw Township. Nonetheless, the precise figures and identities remain unclear," he stated. 

The apprehensions took place across two days, with seven people taken into custody on January 9 and an additional nine on January 10. 

An insider connected to the detainees revealed, “Junta forces apprehended them on allegations of being informants for the AA. The captured young men were displaced individuals from Gwa Township who had escaped the conflict. They were assaulted and transported in a military truck." 

The apprehended individuals informed junta forces that they were displaced persons from the Arakan conflict, residing with their families close to the Arakan mountain forest in Kyonpyaw Township. Although they provided the required documents to confirm their status, they were not freed and continue to be detained. 

People displaced from Arakan State, looking for safety in the Ayeyarwady Region, allege that junta forces have conducted numerous arrests, wrongly alleging their ties to the Arakan Army (AA). 

On the evening of December 19, two young men looking for shelter in Myaungmya Town—Ko Lin Aung from Ya Haing Ku Toh village in Gwa Township, and Ko Aung Min Htun from Ywar Thit Kone village—were detained by junta forces under the guise of checking the overnight guest list. 

On December 22, junta forces detained at least 10 additional displaced individuals from Arakan State in Yegyi Township, Ayeyarwady Region. 

The count of Arakanese individuals apprehended in the Ayeyarwady and Yangon Regions is gradually rising, with activists estimating that at a minimum, 300 individuals might have been arrested.