Khaing Roe La — Eight-hundred Muslims who were released in a recent presidential pardon were sent back to a handful of Arakan State townships from Yangon on April 20, according to the state immigration department.

Almost 25,000 prisoners, including the 800 Muslims, were released from several different prisons on April 17 in a mass presidential pardon coinciding with the Myanmar New Year. The 800 Muslims were subsequently brought to Arakan State by Tatmadaw Navy vessels.

Locals have expressed concern over whether the returnees have been screened for potential coronavirus infection. U Soe Lwin from the Arakan State Immigration Department told DMG that the Muslims will be quarantined for 21 days.

“Most of them are from Sittwe, Buthidaung and Kyauktaw townships. They are quarantined in the relevant townships,” he said.

One of the Muslim men who was sent back to Maungdaw Township, Ko Yazar, said he was arrested while working in Yangon because it was difficult to get a job in his township. He asked that the government allow Muslims to travel freely across the country.

“I would like to urge the government to let us travel. We only have a few jobs in Maungdaw. There are lots of job opportunities in Yangon. That’s why I went to Yangon to work. That’s all. I don’t have any other reason,” he said.

Racial and religious discord between Muslims and ethnic Arakanese people in Arakan State has surfaced periodically since inter-communal violence wracked the state in 2012. But overall tensions have eased and relations have improved over time, as evidenced by increasing business transactions between the two communities.

With relatively few job opportunities in impoverished Arakan State, both Arakanese and Muslims often migrate in search of better work prospects in Yangon and other parts of Myanmar, as well as neighbouring countries. But Muslims are often arrested by Myanmar authorities and returned to Arakan State.