August 18th, 2022
The military council’s administrative mechanism in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State is deteriorating day by day with the daily reports of thefts, robberies and murder cases.
During over seven months from January 1st to August 15th since the coup, 19 stabbing cases, 11 persons who were stabbed to death and eight persons were injured in Sittwe, according to the list compiled by Shwe Myittar Foundation, a social organization.
The number of crimes has increased by around triple compared to that in the previous years.
On August 15th, an 18-year-old girl was stabbed to death in broad daylight near the office of the Arakan State government in Sittwe.
Alcohol drinking in groups and the use of narcotic drugs are rampant in the crowded places like the View Point, Strand Road, the View Point road and the platforms in Sittwe, according to locals.
Due to the current situations, only a very few people go to the BXT Korean jetty, the Point beach, Sittwe hotel beach and Lawkanandar pagoda for recreation on holidays. The residents don’t dare to go to those places freely, locals said.
The rampant increase in the number of thefts and robberies in Sittwe is linked to the fact that the thugs who got the amnesty, the gang leaders and the thugs from different townships settle at the squatting lands in Narzi village, Ywatharyar, the cemetery and beside the railroads, locals criticize.
“An increase in the number of criminal cases is due to easy access to narcotic drugs, higher commodity prices, higher unemployment rate and wider wealth gap. The authorities need to tightly control drug trafficking as many criminal cases are linked to narcotic drugs,” a resident from Sittwe said.
The state council and police should make a massive crackdown on stimulant tablets which are easily available as Sittwe is still under the administration of the military council.
Currently, targeted thefts of motorbikes and mobile phones and the robberies of mobile phones and wallets from the people and shops at gunpoint become rampant.
“As the crimes such as theft, robbery and stabbing occur almost every day, the people in the downtown area don’t dare to go outside alone at night. We have to go outside with the companions. I don’t go outside at night. In the past, we did not even lock the doors when we were at home. But now we have to lock the doors,” Ma Aung Myint Than from Sittwe said.
The main cause of murder cases, thefts and robberies in Sittwe is due to the two types of administration being carried out by the Arakan Army (AA) and the military council. The criminal cases become rampant as those who commit the crimes take advantage of two different administration systems, according to observers.
Sent by Khaing Lu Hla (Yoma Myay)