YANGON, Myanmar — Seventy Rohingya people hiding in a truck transporting ginger were
arrested north of
Yangon after the vehicle crashed into a roadside canal, the
Myanmar junta said on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
Rohingya Muslims
in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state are widely regarded as illegal immigrants in
the Buddhist-majority country and have long faced discrimination, restrictions
on travel, and been denied citizenship, health care, and education.
The arrests took
place a week ago, the Myanmar junta said in a statement.
The group of
mostly men were hiding under ginger bags in the truck when it crashed into the
canal, the statement said.
A Bangladeshi
citizen was also arrested, and authorities were searching for two Myanmar
nationals who were driving the truck and riding in the cabin.
Rohingya people
convicted of violating immigration laws can face two years in jail in Myanmar.
Amnesty
International likens their living conditions in Rakhine state to “apartheid”.
A Myanmar
military crackdown in 2017 forced some 750,000
Rohingya to flee Rakhine state for
Bangladesh following widespread accounts of murder, arson, and rape.
Myanmar is
facing genocide accusations at the UN’s top court following the mass exodus.
The southeast
Asian nation has been in chaos since Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government was
toppled in a military coup in February 2021, ending its brief period of
democracy.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
