July 24th, 2023
According to the information provided by the person in charge of the Dawei Information Center, four local farmers from Yae Nge Village in Thayet Chaung township, Tanintharyi Region, were arrested and tortured by the military council. Additionally, one of them is currently in a critical health condition.
Last July 21, a local source reported that, in the morning, four individuals from Yae Nge village who were farming in the fields were arrested and brutally beaten by soldiers from the military council stationed on the Mway Taung Hill.
“The villagers have been facing hard time. There are no job opportunities, and having access to food has become difficult.
In this situation, when the four men ventured to work in the fields, the soldiers caught and tortured .
The soldiers used force and intimidation, warning the residents against entering the village.
The four arrested individuals are U Than Hla Oo, U Kyaw Win, Ko Kyaw Zaya Oo, and Ko Mae Kyaw.
Among them, 50-year-old U Kyaw Win is currently receiving medical treatment due to the illness and the injuries tortured by the military council soldiers.
U Kyaw Win’s health has significantly deteriorated due to the injuries .
” I am still undergoing treatment, and the soldiers labelled the attack as punishment,” U Kyaw Win said.
The military council soldiers have been stationed in Yae Nge village for nearly two months. When the residents attempted to return to the village, the soldiers shot, beat and tortured the villagers, according to eyewitnesses.
As a consequence of the military council’s actions in Yae Nge village, local residents were compelled to abandon their homes, gardens, and seeking, insurrounding woods, refuge in Dawei town.
The ongoing displacement has resulted in difficulties for the locals to access food, particularly worsened by the rainy season, leading to a decline in their overall health conditions.
Health care providers are in need, as known from those who are helping refugee.
“There are more people who are sick particularly in rainy season. Medicines are also needed, and there are no health care providers to provide medical treatment, so they have been asking for help from the other villages managing to eat only what is available,” reported a person assisting war refugees.
The military soldiers responsible for these actions belong to the Light Infantry Battalion (Khamara 402) based in Dawei, numbering more than 40 in strength.
Tragically, in June, a 23-year-old man lost his life when the Military Council opened fire on villagers.
From June 8 to July 24, 2023, the number of residents fleeing the war-torn village has reached approximately 1,000, according to local news sources.
News ~Naw Aeh Nee
