Dozens of Muslim villagers in Bago Region have fled their hometown amid religious tensions after Buddhists ransacked a local mosque on June 23.
The source of the problem in Tha Yel Tha Mein village is unclear. It was said to be over the construction of an Islamic school but Muslim residents dispute the claim. Police have now moved in to maintain security.
Myanmar has been the site of serious conflict between the majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities in recent years. Deadly riots in 2012 and 2013 claimed dozens of lives.
No deaths or injuries have been reported in the village, which is about 120 kilometres (about 70 miles) northeast of Yangon and has about 2,000 mostly Buddhist families. But with emotions running high, some 70 people, mostly women, children and the elderly, left on Saturday, while many of the adult men stayed behind to guard property.
They may or may not return. A Coconuts Yangon reporter took these images while accompanying them on the journey.
The first part began in the late afternoon as the families gathered at the riverbank with food and their belongings.
They waited by the riverbank for several hours for a local police chief who was meeting with one of the monks in the village.
A 21-year-old woman named Ma Khin Thway said later that she left because she was scared.
“There was nothing like that in my life,” she said.
Some couples said goodbye at the riverbank before they started loading up the boat.
The wait took a while. The sun went down and the boat still hadn’t departed as they were waiting for the police chief and a police escort.
A police boat accompanied them on the two-hour journey to Thein Zayat, which, like their home village, is also in Bago’s Waw Township.
The journey by boat took about two hours but everyone made it. In these next images, residents are disembarking. Police did a headcount and then they had to wait for cars to take them to a nearby mosque where they spent the night.
Near midnight they arrived at the mosque and slept there. Their next move is uncertain, but the past has sowed traumatic memories that will be difficult to forget.
Sitting in the mosque, U Maw Ni, a 67-year-old farmer, said his son-in-law was still in the village to watch the house.
“We can’t say that it is secure, but we had to leave. I don’t know how long we have to stay here.”
All photos by Aung Naing Soe
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the location of the village from which villagers fled was southwest of Yangon. It is, in fact, northeast of Yangon. The distance from Yangon was also listed incorrectly in miles instead of kilometres. We have added both now.
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