Kachin aid workers detained, assaulted by Myanmar police

Kachin aid workers are interrogated by Myanmar soldiers and police while on the way to deliver aid to IDPs in Lambraw Yang. Photo: Facebook / Kachin Net
Kachin aid workers are interrogated by Myanmar soldiers and police while on the way to deliver aid to IDPs in Lambraw Yang. Photo: Facebook / Kachin Net

Several aid workers were detained by Myanmar police this week after trying to deliver food and other supplies to internally displaced people in Lambraw Yang, Kachin State, on August 17, Kachinland News reported on Sunday. One of the aid workers reportedly required medical treatment for injuries inflicted by a police officer while in detention.

The two workers were members of the aid organization Myusha Zinlum Hpung (MZH). They had volunteered to join a convoy of eight trucks to deliver aid to people who were displaced by a surprise artillery attack by the Myanmar army on Kasung village, a few miles west of Myitkyina. Victims have reported that there was no rebel presence in the village.

While traveling along the Kamaing-Dumbang highway last Thursday, the convoy was stopped by Myanmar authorities for several hours. Although the aid workers had reportedly already received permission from military authorities in Hpakant to deliver the supplies, the highway authorities searched the trucks and checked their license plates again. 

Four of the trucks, which did not have valid license plates, were let go, while another four trucks, along with two MZH volunteers – Labang Shaing Rip and Yaw Htung – were held by police in Kamaing for further questioning.

For three days, local organizations, including the Peace-talk Creation Group and the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, petitioned for the volunteers’ release, which they finally secured on August 20.

According to Kachinland News, another volunteer named Sarama Kai Ring was also interrogated by Myanmar police, and during her interrogation, she reportedly fell hard on a concrete floor, after which a police officer pulled her hair from behind. She was taken to the Kamaing hospital for treatment for a head wound.

Kachinland News is working to identify the police officer.

A surprise raid by Myanmar’s 381st and 384th Light Infantry Regiments against Kasung village on August 11 wounded several civilians and killed at least one. Nearly all of the 1,100 surviving residents fled to Lambraw Yang, taking little with them. They are taking shelter in churches and are reportedly facing shortages of food, clothing, and blankets.

The Kachin Independence Army has reportedly dislodged the Myanmar army from Kasung village, but the villagers have decided not to return out of fear for their own safety.

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