Rohingya trafficking victims arrested in Yangon

24 October 2016
Rohingya trafficking victims arrested in Yangon
Muslim people gather at Thet Kel Pyin Muslim IDPs (Internally displaced person) camp in Rakhine State near capital Sittwe, western Myanmar on 07 September 2016. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA

Myanmar authorities have arrested 17 Rohingya Muslims who were smuggled from western Rakhine State to Yangon, the Anadolu Agency reported yesterday quoting an official.
The arrest on Saturday night came after a local resident reported to police that “some Muslims” were being sheltered in a house in North Okalapa Township of Yangon, the report said.
A police officer, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media said each had paid 1.1 million Kyats (more than $850) to three human traffickers to smuggle them from Rakhine to Yangon over land through Magway town.