Two midwives among 35 detained by Arakan Army

27 January 2016 — The Arakan Army yesterday released 35 Chin villagers, including two midwives, after they were detained on separate occassions for no obvious reasons.

A group of 23 Chin detainees, together with the two government health employees, Thandar Tun and Mang San Hoih, returned to Tanhtaung village around 5pm.

Tun and Hoih were arrested on Monday by AA soldiers while they were travelling in the area to get children vaccinated against polio as part of the State Health Department program.

Peter Lawilu, from Paletwa Township, told the Chinland Guardian that they had been arrested on their way back to Thanhtaung village from Hung village.

“They didn’t treat us badly. We were detained on the grounds that we might inform the Burma Army of their [Arakan Army] presence in the area,” Tun told the Chin World Media.

He said that the Arakan armed group had also taken away about ten local residents who had been collecting firewood and bamboos, adding: “At present, we are not able to get information about the dates, the places and the number of villagers detained and released because of communication difficulty.”

“Another problem is that some people don’t want to talk about this issue as they fear that they can be punished by AA soldiers,” he added.

Thandar Tun, originally from Arakan State, works as a midwife at Thanhtaung village while Mang San Hoih, from Tedim Township, Chin State, is posted at Hung (Aihsa) village.#