Arakan News Update: Various abuses in Pauktaw, Min Bya, Maungdaw and Buthidaung by authorities

Qutub Shah 

RB News 

January 20, 2013 

(Edited by Mayu Thitsar)

Pauktaw: Yesterday, the chief minister of Rakhine State, Hla Maung Tin, went to Dumfara village, Pauktaw Township, where about 8000 Rohingya refugees live. The chief minister said, “All of you must go back to your own homes.” The refugees replied, “Unless our houses are rebuilt and enough security forces are provided, we will not go back there because Rakhines will terrorize us again.” Then the chief minister said, “We cannot rebuild your houses as we don’t have any plan to do.” It sounds that Myanmar government wants to materialize the pre-hatched plan of Thein Sein as he said. “We will keep them as refugees in camps.”

Min Bya: Yesterday, due to the scarcity of medical treatment, adequate food and sufficient shelter a Rohingya, Ali Hussein s/o Basheer Ahmed, 48, from Paik Myaung village tract, Min Bya Township, who was very lethally injured by Rakhines in previous attacks died.

The inhumane security forces from battalion 378 have been tyrannizing over the last Rohingyas from both Min Bya and Mrauk-U Townships, who live nowadays in straitened circumstances, by utilizing various modus operandi. Since June, they have been prevented strictly from moving locally from one village to another. Surprisingly, since yesterday, the security forces began to permit orally to go to neighboring villages snatching 1,000 Kyats from each. In every township, Rohingyas are prevented from moving place to place. They are not allowed to do any agricultural work nor other business activities freely. Subsequently, they suffer from several difficulties. They used to buy their daily needs from some Rakhines secretly. But nowadays Rakhine community leaders and fake monks announce in public especially in Kyauktaw and Sittwe not to sell anything to Rohingya.

Some Rakhines robbed one buffalo from Rustum s/o Mohammed Kasim and two cows from Hamid Huson s/o Amiruddin in Sin Kyi Pyin village, Min Bya Township on January 18, at 9am. Similarly also in Paung Se village, Rakhines robbed four cows from Jamal s/o Mohammed Shafi. Those crimes were committed by Rakhines in the presence of security forces but no action has been taken against the criminals as some percentages of robberies go to their pockets.

Maungdaw: Yesterday at 01:45pm, Nasaka from region 7 entered Thanda village, Zawmatat village tract wearing local Muslim woman and cleric dress [Burqa and Kurta] and arrested two men namely, Amir Hamza s/o Zawlaludin, 50, and Rohimullah s/o Islam, 34, from a coffee shop for no reason. Most of customers were wounded while trying to flee this unexpected and horrific situation. Now the two arrestees are detained at Nasaka lock-up. It is expected that they will be released after extorting money as usual.

Buthidaung: On January 17, the Nasaka from Region 9, Buthidaung extorted 550,000 Kyats from Shafi Ullah s/o Hason from Kaytufara, Thein Taung Pyin, Buthidaung, accusing falsely that he caused problems between people of the village and made quarrel with each other.