By Mehm Ao:
Residents of Moulmein city and Mudon town in Mon State are chafing at strict curfews set by security forces, following bombings in the state at the end of April. Since last week, residents have been restricted to their homes, and shops ordered to close, by 10 pm; citizens have confirmed that policemen from both cities have begun patrolling the streets as early as 7pm.
3 government workers were injured in the bombing of a government telecommunications center in Kyiakmayaw town, the largest urban center in Mon State’s Kiyakmayaw Township, on April 27th. Investigators have yet to name a suspect.
Sources explained that police patrols frequently pull over travelers for alleged explosive searches, and then use the opportunity to fine vehicle drivers for minor offenses.
“The traffic police take money from travelers going around Moulmein city from about 7 pm until 5 am. First, the traffic police give the reason for [pulling over travelers] that they are searching for bombs, and then tell them that they have no helmet, no driving license, or no mirror, and then they take money [fines] from travelers,” a youth from Moulmein reported.
He added, “At night time, they stop the travelers and pull them out from their vehicles if they suspect them [of carrying explosives]”.
Establishments which frequently reap the majority of their incomes from nighttime customers are also feeling the lash of the curfew’s strictures.
Explained a shopkeeper in Mudon town who runs his business at night, “We sell goods and get our money at night-time, because more people go outside [socialize at this time] including youths who sit a coffee shops on roadsides. Preventing these kinds of rights [to leave home at night] is affecting our income. We cannot get an income due to the ban on those rights, because who will buy our snacks during the daytime?”
Interviewees from both cities were unanimous in their claims that the new curfew has had significant social and economic affects in both cities, troubling everyone from rubber plantation workers, who use the nighttime hours to collect rubber sap, to youths merely looking for a night of entertainment.
A youth from Mudon town complained to IMNA, “If we cannot [go] visiting at night, it is tricky for youths who want to socialize.”
