Approximately 300 youths have been detained in Yangon since the beginning of November, a notable increase on previous months, according to the Rangoon Scout Network (RSN).

An official from the RSN, an organisation that provides on-the-ground information related to the Military Council in Yangon, said: “These figures represent the precise calculations made by the RSN based on reported incidents. The exact number detained remains uncertain, given that additional arrests happened whilst people were doing things like waiting for buses, playing football, etc. When considering these unreported incidents, the total amounts to a significant number.”

The rapid surge in the number of people detained in Yangon since the second week of November has been mirrored by a similar increase in the number of young people going missing. There has also been a commensurate increase in missing person posts on social networks, such as Facebook.

The number of young people disappearing has been increasing every day.

RSN also said that the army is detaining youths as a way to extort money.

An official from the RSN, an organisation that provides on-the-ground information related to the Military Council in Yangon, said: “In recent incidents involving missing and detained youths, the Military Council has engaged in extortion. If you don't approach the authorities to seek the release of the arrested people, the junta will not provide any information about their whereabouts. For the Military Council, it seems to be a matter of either obtaining money or acquiring additional manpower.”

The junta has been detaining youths engaged in all sorts of activities for no apparent reason, including pedestrians, those who are out at night or consuming alcohol outdoors and even people casually playing football.

In some cases, youths managed to avoid arrest by making payments at local police stations or to the army. Reportedly both the army and police have been demanding between 200,000 and 1,000,000 kyats per arrested youth to release them.

The RSN and other civil society groups in Yangon are advising the public to not go out at night, especially to locations associated with the military.

Mizzima had difficulty obtaining personal details of youths who had been arrested and released after payments were made, as people were reluctant to talk, for security reasons.