In Ayeyarwady Division, the military junta has detained 20 Rakhine internally displaced persons (IDPs), including women, under the suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), as reported by a local inhabitant of Ye Kyi Township.

The detained IDPs originate from Gwa, Thandwe, and Ann Townships in Arakan (Rakhine) State, escaping the conflict that has occurred since October 2024.

The arrest involves 16 men and four women, all of whom are IDPs fleeing the violence in Rakhine.

On March 9, junta troops and police detained them in their refuge village close to the Phaya Gyi-Tha Paung Road, linking the towns of Tharpaung and Ye Kyi in Ayeyarwady Division.

“They were alleged to have ties to the AA and to have provided information to AA by authority. The soldiers from the military council arrived to capture them at their place of residence. Twenty of them, among whom were women, were taken to the police station following their arrest," a local resident from Ye Kyi Township stated.

The individuals were apprehended in the villages of Mayan Cho and Phaya Gyi close to the Phaya Gyi-Tha Paung Road in Ye Kyi Township and are now detained at the Ye Kyi Township Police Station.

Likewise, on January 22, soldiers from the Artillery Battalion (344) of the military council detained three women and six men identified as IDPs from Gwa and Ann townships, in Mrauk San village located in Ye Kyi Township, under suspicion of having ties to the AA.

Moreover, the military council detained and questioned over 50 local Rakhine residents who were fleeing the conflict in Ayeyarwady Division, specifically in Kyon Pyaw and Ye Kyi Townships during January.

Rakhine IDPs believe that over 100 local displaced individuals from Gwa, Thandwe, and Ann townships in Ayeyarwady Region, escaping conflict in Rakhine, have been detained.