A Muslim village head from Buthidaung township in Rakhine state, who asked to be anonymous told Narinjara that he felt deeply sorry for the 13 Muslim Rohingyas who were found dead in Hlegu township of Yangon division, while risking their lives to seek freedom and job opportunities.“ People can no longer bear the crisis they are facing. Everyone seeks freedom and new job opportunities, so they risk their lives to get what they want. They risked their lives in trying to escape from their plight at home to destinations abroad. I am very sad to hear the news that these people died en masse”, he said.
Currently human trafficking rings are targeting and recruiting young and middle- aged people from the Muslim villages: including Minbya, Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships of Rakhine state, with the lure of getting a good job in Malaysia.
The Village head reported that " What we have heard is that smugglers usually take people from the age of adolescence. The traffickers usually take people saying that payment can be done, when they get to Yangon. If they can’t give money and not manage to get past the checkpoints, they leave the people halfway. They often do carry out beatings and demanding money. Some people end up being killed” he said.
The identity of the victims is still under investigation and their names and addresses have not been confirmed at this time.
The bodies of 13 Muslim youths were found dumped on the side of a road between No.7 Highway and Ngwe Nan Thar village in Hlegu township, Yangon division on the morning of December 5.
The Hlegu Township Social Assistance Association took the 13 bodies to the hospital after the police came and inspected them, a member of the association told Narinjara.
“We took the bodies to the hospital. The post-mortem results are not yet known, but from what we can see, they appear to have died of suffocation”, he commented.
He also suggested that possibly they were traveling from Rakhine state to Malaysia via Yangon to Myawaddy in a sealed van,died of suffocation and may have been dumped on the way.
A Muslim social activist from Myebon township blamed the deaths on smugglers who have absolutely no responsibility. He urged relevant government officials to issue national identification cards to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
“We believe that people die because of smugglers. Their priority is to get money, and send people abroad illegally. However, only 1 out of 10 people reached their destinations. 87 people were arrested in Hpa-An last month. 37 of them are underage minors. They all came from Buthidaung and Maungdaw regions”, he said.
In the meantime, local media outlets reported that the regime authorities arrested 78 undocumented Muslims in Mudon township of Mon state around 7:00 AM on December 5th.
Due to the military and political crises in Rakhine State, jobs are scarce, and people are facing hardships in livelihood. Due to these situations, local Rakhine and Muslim youths try to connect with smugglers to go to work in Malaysia via the Thai border.
A person can be charged between 40-lakh and 70-lakh kyats for such illegal journeys, and most of them were faced arrests and imprisonments.
