A twenty-nine year old Muslim youth in Arakan has been arrested and put in jail after Burmese authorities arrested him for being a computer expert.
According to the agency, Sirajul Haq has been followed by authorities for moths over reports fearing he might use his experience in contacting world press to report Rohingya Muslim persecution in Arakan, Burma.
The young man was put in jail within hours of his arrest, as all computer centers remained closed in Mangdo city over fears they might be arrested as well.
The new arrests were made as Burmese authorities extended a new campaign against computer and mobile users in Arakan, as part of its media restrictions on Rohingya Muslim news in the district.
Described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities, Rohingya Muslims are facing a catalogue of discrimination in their homeland.
They have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.
The Burmese government as well as the Buddhist majority refuse to recognize the term “Rohingya”, referring to them as “Bengalis”.
Rights groups have accused the Burmese security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas following the sectarian violence last year.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been forced to flee their homes in western Burma since June after attacks from Buddhist mobs on their areas.
The violence has displaced nearly 29,000 people, more than 97 percent of whom are Rohingya Muslims, according to the United Nations.
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