Myitkyina City, the Kachin State capital, has been rocked by a spate of unexplained disappearances of young and middle-aged men and a 12-year-old child.
A young man who vanished in the second week of December remains missing, and his family does not know his whereabouts, according to a Myitkyina resident.
He said to NMG: “On 11 December, a young man from my neighbourhood went missing. He is under 30 years old and the brother of my friend. We have searched the entire city and filed a missing person report with the police, but we have not received any updates yet. We have also contacted the junta’s Northern Regional Command and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), but so far, there has been no news.”
The man, who lives in Myothitgyi Ward in Myitkyina City, was one of several people who mysteriously disappeared in December.
A 12-year-old boy was also went missing from Myitkyina City on 10 December 2024.
After the boy's family shared about his disappearance on social media they received scam calls claiming he had been kidnapped and demanding ransom money, according to a person close to the child’s family.
He said: “The missing child is the son of a friend of mine. Two days after his disappearance, the family posted about it on Facebook. An hour later, they received a call demanding a ransom of 2 million MMK. The scam caller claimed the child was being interrogated over alleged ties to terrorist activities. The family, overwhelmed with worry, transferred half of the ransom. They said they would pay the other half upon the child’s release, but nothing happened. Since then, they have been unable to contact the caller.”
Also on 10 December, a 20-year-old man went missing after leaving his home in Myitkyina City’s Myothitgyi Ward to go shopping downtown.
Also, a 36-year-old man from Munkhrain Ward in Myitkyina City has been missing for nearly four months and has yet to be found, according to a woman close to the missing man’s family.
She said: “As of 6 January, he has still not been found. He has been missing for quite some time now. His family has filed a missing person report with the police. He left the house, saying he would be back soon, but never returned. In the early days of his disappearance his phone was not in an area covered by the phone network. After about three days, the phone was switched off, and it has remained off ever since.”
Ko Chan David San Lwin, a 17-year-old youth from Shansu (North) Ward in Myitkyina City, is also missing, according to missing person posts shared in Facebook groups related to the city.
Since 21 July 2024 there have been telephone and mobile internet outages in many areas of Myitkyina City. The only mobile phone service access in Myitkyina City is from the junta owned MPT telecoms company and even that is only available in the wards of Lelkone, Kyunpintar, Dukahtaung, and Sitarpu and near to government offices and the MPT office.
Because of these communication blackouts the families of missing individuals face significant hardships in communicating and obtaining information about their loved ones.
