Junta soldiers arrested about 20 people when they raided a dosshouse for homeless people  in Einsheypyin Ward, in Dawei Town, Tanintharyi Region at around 1:00 pm on 26 March.

A dosshouse is a very cheap boarding house that rents out bunks on a daily basis to homeless and poor people seeking cheap accommodation.

Many junta soldiers surrounded the dosshouse, before arresting around 20 people they accused of failing to register as overnight guests.

One of the neighbours said to KIC: “The people arrested included those over 50, as well as women. Most of them had come to Einsheypyin from nearby villages due to the military conflicts and had rented bunks in the building to seek refuge.”

Junta soldiers have now arrested about 40 people in Einsheypyin Ward in the last week under various pretexts, though most were arrested for allegedly failing to register as overnight guests, according to locals.

Those abducted by the junta included war-displaced individuals, migrant workers, and impoverished day labourers, all of whom are still being held in police custody.

Another local said: “In Einsheypyin Ward, there's a trend of building dosshouses for [poor] tenants. These places are mainly occupied by poor, low-income workers because renting a bunk in a dosshouse is cheaper than renting a house. Right now, the people who were arrested are still being held in police custody and haven't been released.”

In the last month the junta has arrested at least 326 civilians in Tanintharyi Region under various pretexts, according to FE5 Tanintharyi, a local monitoring group.