Locals in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region told RFA that 42 Rohingya, including 26 children, were arrested near a village in Ayeyarwady region’s Myaungmya township,

A Nga Myin Chaung village resident, who declined to be named for security reasons, told RFA the Rohingya came by boat. They were captured on Monday after an unknown woman entered the village and was questioned by the local village administrator, the local said..

“She was arrested near the Nga Myin Chaung administrator’s rice mill in the village at around 1:00 p.m.,” the source said.

“They were taken by the police after being questioned and eating at the village school.”

The group comprised eight men and eight women, along with 18 boys and eight girls under the age of 18.

The group was taken to Myaungmya Police Station and tested for COVID-19, with a man and a woman testing positive, locals said.

Inquiries from locals and Rohingya organizations found they were from five townships in Rakhine State along with three Rohingya from Bangladesh’s Kutupalong refugee camp.

On September 18, a group of 32 Rohingya, including a child, were arrested near Pathein township’s Shwe Thaung Yan beach by military council forces and were sent to Pathein Prison.

Nearly 800 Rohingya who tried to leave Rakhine state by land and water were arrested in different parts of Myanmar, according to data compiled by RFA based on the statements of local residents and local news media, between Dec. 2021 and Sept., 2022,

Fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the junta troops has been intensifying recently in an area where many Rohingya live in northern Rakhine state.