Fifty ethnic Arakan (Rakhine) people being smuggled from Arakan State to Yangon were arrested and detained by the junta near Pyay City in Bago Region.
People from Arakan State who want to leave the state have to employ people smugglers to get them out of the state because the junta has forbidden anyone from leaving Arakan State and blockaded all transport routes, both roads and rivers, joining Arakan State to the rest of the country.
If people want to leave Arakan State by normal transport routes they would have to pass junta checkpoints where they risk being extorted, arrested, conscripted or all three.
Also, the Arakan Army (AA) announced on 22 May 2025 that males aged 18 to 45 and females aged 18 to 25 are prohibited from leaving Arakan State until the situation stabilises. The restrictions were part of the AA’s National Defence Emergency Provision (NDEP) issued on 18 March 2025 which mandates compulsory military service during the ongoing state of armed conflict.
The AA said that the travel ban is necessary to prevent an increasing number of youth from fleeing to avoid recruitment. Only those with critical medical conditions that cannot be treated within AA-controlled areas, or individuals facing life-threatening emergencies, will be granted permission to leave the state, according to the AA. It also said that anyone caught smuggling people out of the state for money would be prosecuted.
The AA has been conscripting men in Arakan State since March 2025.
With so many restrictions in place residents of Arakan State who want to leave the state have to pay people smugglers to take them through mountainous jungle routes and get them through junta checkpoints.
The 50 arrested Arakan people had each paid 1.8 million MMK to three people smugglers to take them from Taungup Township in Arakan State to Yangon City. The smugglers had successfully got the 50 out of Arakan State by taking them along jungle paths. But, when they reached Pyay Township in Bago Region, the junta arrested them.
On 25 June 2025, 30 of the Arakan people were arrested by the junta as the smugglers tried to take them through the Nawaday checkpoint just outside Pyay City.
Despite those arrests, for some reason, the smugglers tried to take another 20 Arakan people through the Nawaday checkpoint just two days later on 27 June. It is not known why the smugglers tried to take the second batch of people through the checkpoint after the first batch had already been arrested. it is possible that the smugglers had sold out all the 50 Rakhine travellers to the junta for a reward.
Four of the 50 arrested people managed to buy their freedom. The four, three women and an elderly man had to each reportedly pay 5 million MMK each to secure their release.
The remaining 46 travellers were taken and held at two junta non-combat battalions’ bases in Pyay City. DMG has found out that some of those 46 have already been conscripted and sent away. The exact number of those conscripted is still unknown. The rest of the arrested are still being held at the two army bases.
A source close to the families of some of those arrested said: “Most of the people arrested were young, mostly in their 20s and 30s. Some older individuals and those who managed to buy their freedom were released, but many others are still being held. We've also heard that some of the detainees have been conscripted and sent to Karen State, though the exact number isn’t clear yet.”
A woman from Taungup Township in Arakan State explained that people being smuggled out of Arakan State are targeted because they often carry large amounts of cash and that the people smugglers will often do nothing to protect them.
She said: “People heading to Yangon have to carry a lot of money with them. The brokers [people smugglers], often promise they’ll handle everything, but when problems come up, they usually don’t take any responsibility. If travellers get caught halfway or even die, there’s nothing they can do. They just have to accept it as their fate.”
The Taungup Township residents who were arrested came from the villages of Tanlweywama, Tanlwechaung, Latpankyun, and Thetkekyun. Most were going to Yangon to find work or continue their education.
