The status of a 24-year-old resident of Saittara village in Arakan State’s Myebon Township, who was arrested last year and accused of ties to the Arakan Army (AA), is raising concerns among family members who have not spoken to him for nearly three months.

Ko Nay Win Soe was arrested on November 9 at a military checkpoint in Ann Township while he was returning to his village from Yangon, after visiting a clinic there for health reasons.

“He has been detained for more than two months. But we do not get contact with him so far. His mother has been ill since he was arrested. We are worried about whether he is still alive or not. We want to get in contact with him,” his father U Win Myint told DMG.

The head of Ann Township police station told DMG that Ko Nay Win Soe was not detained there. DMG made several phone calls to Myanmar military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun and Arakan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Kyaw Thura seeking comment on the man’s arrest, but they could not be reached.

Since it removed the Arakan Army from the official list of designated terrorist groups in March 2021, Myanmar’s military regime has released some people who were arrested and accused of having ties to the ethnic armed group.

Fighting in Arakan State has effectively ceased for more than a year, but arrests on accusations of AA affiliation have continued, including Ko Nay Win Soe and Ko Aung Win Naing, chair of a philanthropic association in Taungup town. Like Ko Nay Win Soe, Ko Aung Win Naing is facing trial under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act.