The Government Technical Institute in Thandwe, a sea resort town in southern Arakan State was closed and its students coming to study from other distant townships were sent back home following the incident that took place in nearby Taungup.
A resident of Thandwe said the students from distant areas were sent back home after their school was close on June 4 a day after the incident, using the express vessels.
“As the situation here is worrisome, the students from Kyaukpru, Rambree and other distant places studying in the GTI here were sent back home by express vessels such as Malikha and Shwepraytan after closing their school”, said the resident.
Ko Min Aung, a resident from Taungup, also said the students from his town were taken back to their home by their parents.
“The students from our town studying in the GTI in Thandwe were taken back to their homes in four buses yesterday because the school is closed and their parents worry for them”, said Ko Min Aung.
The school is said to be closed temporarily as a preparation to ward off any untoward problem between the students and Muslims in Thandwe after the incident in Taungup.
Ko Min Aung said the situation in Taungup is calm and under control despite the various rumors spreading in the town.
“Now the situation in Taungup is under control and normal like before. But various rumors are still spreading in the town that include the rumor that the Muslims from Thandwe are coming to the town in buses to attack the people in Taungup as there are Muslims in Thandwe”, he said.
Angry with the rape and murder of 26-year old Ma Thidar Htwe by Muslim youths in Rambree, a group of Arakanese people from Taungup attacked a bus and killed 10 Muslims who came from Thandwe in the bus on June 3. Following those incidents, the situation in Arakan State is still tense.
