Four members, including two women, of the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) support group in Thandaung Gyi Township, Taungoo District, Karen State, were arrested by military junta troops and are still detained, according to the group.
The junta arrested the four members in their homes in a village on the Thandaung-Taungoo road in the second week of May. They were charged on terrorism charges and are currently being detained at the Thandaung police station, a group official said.
“They are members who provide health care to the IDPs. I have heard that they are detained on four charges related to inciting violence. We are the only group helping the IDPs in Thandaung Gyi Township. Whenever we try to help an area, they accuse us with various allegations to stop us and wonder why we did not come to them too. So maybe they complained about us,” the official said.
Earlier, the military council had also checked backgrounds of the group’s members, tracked and shut down their mobile phone numbers that they used to receive donations, and confiscated relief goods meant for the IDPs, the IDP relief group said.
Currently, providing assistance to the IDPs in Thandaung Gyi Township has become more difficult due to increasing insecurity, said a source assisting the IDPs.
In Thandaung Gyi Township, armed conflicts have intensified since the military coup. The military junta has restricted the transportation of goods in the area to cut off supply routes for the resistance forces. It has also tightened travel restrictions. According to locals, this has led to more arrests and difficulties in movement.
In late September and early October 2023, junta troops also arrested seven people, including three women from Mya Thar Kone village and nearby areas of the township, accusing them of providing logistical support to the resistance forces, local sources said.
According to data released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) on 16 May, the military council detained a total of 26,688 people across Myanmar in connection with the coup between February 2021 and 16 May 2024.
Sent by KIC