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Human Rights Watch (HRW) this week said Thuzar Maung, 46, her
husband and three children, were feared abducted "in a planned
operation" on July 4, citing witnesses and CCTV footage at the
activist's home in the Malaysian state of Selangor.
"The Malaysian government should urgently act to locate the
family and ensure their safety," HRW Asia director Elaine
Pearson said in a statement on Monday.
Police have opened a missing persons inquiry after receiving a
report on the family's disappearance, Selangor police chief
Hussein Omar Khan told Reuters.
He did not elaborate further but said the investigation would
"investigate any element of crime, including kidnapping."
Malaysia has been an outspoken critic of violence in Myanmar
after the military ousted a democratically elected government in
February 2021. But it has also been criticised by rights groups
for deporting thousands of Myanmar nationals, including military
defectors.
Thuzar Maung, who fled Myanmar for Malaysia in 2015 to escape
growing violence against Muslims, may have been targeted due to
her support for Myanmar's pro-democracy movement, HRW said. It
did not identify who might have been responsible.
Thuzar Maung heads the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and has
over 93,000 followers on her Facebook page, where she frequently
posts criticism of alleged abuses by Myanmar's junta.
Myanmar's embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to
a request for comment.
CCTV footage showed a car entering the gated community where her
family lived on July 4, HRW said. The driver told security
guards they were police, but authorities later identified the
license plate of the car as fake, according to HRW.
About two hours later, a friend who was talking to Thuzar Maung
on the phone heard her telling her husband that unknown men were
entering her home, HRW said.
The same car and two cars belonging to the family were seen
leaving the compound shortly after. Thuzar Maung and her family
members' phones were also turned off, it added.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
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