On January 6, at around 9:00 a.m., passengers who were going to Yangon from Sittwe by MAI Airlines were being checked at the exit of Sittwe Airport, when a Rohingya passenger, Maung Aung Kyaw Thuyn, Age (27) years checked by the immigration officers at the airport, who was later arrested for holding a fake identity.
The airline staff interrogated him and found that the real name of arrested one is Mohammad Ayaz, resident of Buthidaung Township. The airport authority arrested Ayaz when he arrived at Sittwe Airport to visit his uncle from Hlaingthary Township.
Media reports indicate that the arrested Rohingya will be prosecuted by the airport supervision staff under the Law Act and the arrest of the chain culprits is being investigated.
A Rohingya from Ukhiya refugee camp said, “Rohingyas are referred as Bengali in Myanmar, despite our existence there for centuries. Our travel right from one place to another place is being strongly denied. We can’t move with Muslim name wherever we want. We have to use Buddhist name for travelling, in school and government offices, etc. So, Rohingyas have to take refuge of fake identity in emergency basis, if required.”
