Authorities have arrested eighteen Rohingya Muslims who were hiding out in Dawbon Township, according to 7Day.
On Monday, police received an anonymous tip claiming that ‘illegal Bengalis’ — referring to the Rohingya — were being hidden in two apartment buildings in the township’s Nwe Aye Ward. When they went to investigate, they found two Rohingya women and 16 Rohingya men within the two apartments.
Authorities confirm that they had come to Yangon from Rakhine State, where the majority of the country’s Rohingya population reside.
“They arrived with the help of agents, and were trying to go to Malaysia from Yangon. We’re investigating agents from Rakhine State, and we’re also tracking down the people in Yangon who accepted and housed them,” a Yangon Eastern District police officer told 7Day.
Members of the group are currently being interrogated. Dawbon police have also opened a case against the individuals who helped bring them to Yangon under Sections 367 (“Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt slavery”) and 370 (“Buying or disposing of any person as a slave”) of the Penal Code.
