Missing Myanmar activist’s social media accounts silent since reported abduction

KUALA LUMPUR – Social media accounts belonging to Myanmar refugee activist Thuzar Maung have been silent since her abduction on July 4.

Reports in the New Straits Times said she had been inactive online since the date of her abduction from her home in Ampang Jaya.

Thuzar Maung’s last post on Instagram was on June 30 when she congratulated Ko Aung Kyaw Moe for becoming the first Muslim deputy minister in the National Unity Government of Myanmar.

The group of lawmakers have gone into exile since the country’s military coup in February 2021.

“Congratulations Ko Aung Kyaw Moe... First Muslim deputy minister in NUG..,” Thuzar Maung wrote on her Instagram.

Checks on the Facebook page of the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community, a non-profit organisation of which she is the chairperson, also found that it was last updated on June 17.

Attempts to contact the organisation through the phone number listed on the Facebook page were futile.

It is believed that the phone number is Thuzar Maung’s, as the profile picture of the Whatsapp account was of the missing activist.

Earlier today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the government to prioritise a thorough and transparent investigation into the abduction of Thuzar Maung and her family.

They were abducted from their residence in Ampang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, on July 4, 2023, by unidentified men, according to reports from witnesses and CCTV footage.

Those abducted were Thuzar Maung, 46; her husband, Saw Than Tin Win, 43; her daughter, Poeh Khing Maung, 16; and her sons, Aung Myint Maung, 21, and Thukha Maung, 17.

According to HRW, at about 4.30pm on July 4, a car entered the gated community where the family lives.

The driver told the security guards they were policemen, and about two hours later, Thuzar Maung was on the phone with a friend who heard her yell to her husband that unknown men were entering the house before being disconnected.

About 7.10pm, the same car and the two cars owned by Thuzar’s family were seen leaving the compound. Thuzar’s phone and the phones of her husband and children appear to have been immediately turned off, as no calls have gone through since.

CCTV footage at the guard booth captured the licence plate of the “police” car, which Malaysian police have since identified as fake. The footage also captured the black-gloved hand of the driver of one of Thuzar’s cars holding out the gate card to exit the compound.

Vehicle logs show that the same car had entered the gated community on June 19. Thuzar’s colleagues, who entered the house on July 5, said there were no signs of robbery.

Thuzar is a long-time advocate for democracy in Myanmar and refugee and migrant rights in Malaysia.

She also serves as chair of the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and Myanmar Migrant Workers Committee and has worked closely with Myanmar’s opposition National Unity Government.

Thuzar fled Myanmar for Malaysia in 2015 to escape growing violence against Muslims. All five family members are recognised by the United Nations Refugee Agency as refugees in Malaysia. – The Vibes, July 17, 2023