Photo: Myanmar regime officials check overnight guest lists in Thabaung Township, Ayeyarwady Region. (Photo: MOI)
At least 20 Arakanese youths were among dozens of civilians arrested by Myanmar's military regime under the pretext of checking overnight guest lists in Yangon's Mayangone Township.
Around 60 junta soldiers and police in military trucks arrived in Mayangone Township and detained about 60 civilians under the pretext of checking overnight guest lists on December 29.
Among the arrestees were at least 20 Arakanese youths including Ko Naing Lin Soe from Minbya Township, and most of them are factory workers and those attending Korean language classes.
"I don't know where the arrestees were taken and their whereabouts remain unknown," said an Arakanese woman close to Ko Naing Lin Soe.
There are concerns about security as the regime frequently arrests civilians in Yangon under the pretext of checking overnight guest lists.
The regime has also forcibly recruited some of those arrested, leaving young people fearful.
"I hear the reports of young people arrested by the regime. Young people dare not go outside their homes due to the regime's arrests," said a 25-year-old woman in Hlaingthayar Township.
The regime has reportedly notified young people through ward administrators in some townships in Yangon, including South Okkalapa, Hlaingtharyar, Dawbon, Botahtaung and Thakayta, to enlist in the military.
"The regime has been checking and arresting people on suspicion since it enacted the military service [aka conscription] law in early this year. Either Arakanese people or other ethnic people are afraid of the regime," said a local man in Yangon's Tamwe.
Amid the military conflict in Arakan State, many locals have taken refuge in Yangon and mainland Myanmar, where the regime is carrying out arrests for various reasons, making it difficult for them to move around.
The junta sentenced Ko Gambari aka Khin Win Maung, a former youth leader of the Arakan National Party (ANP) charged under the anti-terrorism law, to 12 years in prison on November 29.
Ko Gambari was arrested on the night of May 31 at a house in Yangon's Hlaing Township, where he was taking shelter after fleeing fighting between the military regime and the Arakkha Army (AA) in Arakan State.
