A group of Myanmar nationals staged a protest on Monday, July 15, in front of the Singapore Embassy in Washington D.C., the United States.

We are protesting demonstrations against Singapore government and Myanmar #Toilet_government for cooperation war crimes in #Rakhine State of Myanmar at Washington D.C, USA. @govsingapore @STcom @ChannelNewsAsia @CNN @FortifyRights @ABC @jakpost @nypost @nytimes @TIME @japantimes pic.twitter.com/XZagpJ1mCs

— Voice of Arakan (@arakan_voice) July 16, 2019

What's the protest about?

The protest was against the Singapore government's decision to deport several Myanmar nationals from Singapore.

Singapore did not mention the number of Myanmar nationals who were deported, but Myanmar media outlet The Irrawaddy reported that six were arrested.

Why did Singapore deport them?

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the deportation on July 10, saying the Myanmar nationals were using Singapore as a platform to gather support for armed violence against the government of Myanmar.

MHA also says the Arakan Army (AA) has been designated as a "terrorist group" by the Myanmar government.

It cited cases in January and March 2019 where the AA admitted to seizing large caches of weapons from police stations, and killing police officers in the attacks.

Singapore's investigations found the Myanmar nationals to have been gathering support for the AA and its political wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA).

One of them was seen arriving in Yangon at about 11pm on July 10.

He was identified by The Irrawaddy as Ko Tin Hlaing Oo, a spokesperson for the Arakanese Association Singapore (AAS).

Two leaders of the AAS were reported by Myanmar Times to be arrested and briefly held by the Myanmar police on July 11 after they were deported back.

MHA stated that it took a very serious view of anyone supporting, promoting, or making preparations to undertake armed violence, regardless of where this will take place, or how the participants ideologically rationalised their actions.

Who are the Arakan Army?

According to Foreign Policy, the Arakan Army was formed by Rakhine nationalists, and positions itself as the legitimate representative of the Buddhist Rakhine people, the largest ethnic group in Rakhine state, which is also known as Arakan.

It is one of the many armed groups fighting for greater autonomy in the Rakhine state.

The Straits Times reported that the Rakhine nationalists had previously sided with the Myanmar military to drive out the Rohingya.

However, fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military has escalated since January 2019.

Another protest to be held

Burma News International reported that another protest will be staged in front of the Singapore Embassy in Japan on Wednesday, July 17.

In response to Mothership queries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) replied:

"(i) MFA is aware that a protest took place outside Washington Mission on 15 July;

(ii) A group from the Arakan American Community delivered a letter to Washington Mission regarding the arrest of some Myanmar nationals in Singapore;

(iii) MFA will convey the letter to relevant authorities;

(iv) MHA has already issued a Statement on 10 July."

Top image via Voice of Arakan's Twitter