Concerns over safety of child, two women abducted by ARSA

Incident reported to UN for assistance

Narinjara News, January 5, 2026

A nine-year-old boy and two women, who were taken hostage by ARSA, are facing a critical and dangerous situation, according to two men who managed to escape.

The individuals being held are Maung Wai Yan Lin, a Rakhine national aged 9, along with Daw Soe Soe Khaing, aged 38, and Daw Thandar Soe, aged 32.

The individuals who fled from Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) captivity are Ah Kyaw, aged 39, and Yan Naung Soe, also aged 39. All five persons, which comprise the women and the child, are from Wimala Ward in Maungdaw Township, situated on the western border near Bangladesh.

A source working on their case indicated that they have reached out to the UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) in Dhaka, requesting their intervention because of the urgent threat to the safety of the captives.