By Jonah Fisher

BBC News

January 27, 2017

A government-appointed investigation is due to publish its final report on whether atrocities have been committed against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

With journalists banned from northern Rakhine state, the Burmese government has been trying to counter allegations that its soldiers have been raping and killing civilians.

Readers have told us they would like to know more about Rakhine and what is happening to civilians there.

We asked our correspondent Jonah Fisher, in Myanmar, to tell us more.

Donald Trump and Aung San Suu Kyi have more in common than you might think.

The leaders of the United States and Myanmar are both aged the wrong side of 70, both have much-discussed hair and share a strong dislike of journalists.

Mr Trump's turbulent relationship with the media is covered extensively. Ms Suu Kyi's may come as a surprise.

"The Lady", as she's known here, became famous in the 1990s as an icon of human rights and democracy. While under military-enforced house arrest in Rangoon, reporters took great risks to speak to her, to hear her courageous story of resistance.

Now Ms Suu Kyi is in power, things are rather different.

She has created a powerful role for herself called State Counsellor to fulfil a promise of being "above the President". In practice that seems to also mean "above" public scrutiny.

Ms Suu Kyi now never gives interviews to the Burmese press and carefully hand picks her encounters with international media. There is no regular questioning from MPs in parliament and there has not been a proper press conference since just before the election 14 months ago.

Then there is the propaganda, which is eerily reminiscent of the dark Burmese days of censorship and military rule.

Who are the Rohingya?

On a daily basis, state-run newspapers print articles that denounce the international media for stories that highlight the plight of the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority.

There are about one million Rohingya living in Myanmar and they have been discriminated against for decades. For the last three-and-a-half months, those living in the north of Rakhine State have also been subject to a brutal military crackdown.

Exactly what is happening there depends on who you choose to believe, as the government has kept out everyone who is independent.

Some claim the Burmese army is committing ethnic cleansing, even genocidebut that is rejected by the Burmese army and Ms Suu Kyi, who says it is a counter-terrorism operation to catch the Rohingya militants who started the crisis when they attacked police outposts.

Rare interview

So it was a surprise when last week, the BBC finally received permits from the Rakhine State government to go to the conflict area. We quickly flew to the capital Sittwe and boarded a ferry heading north up the Mayu River, towards the border with Bangladesh.

Four hours, and several Burmese films later, we were in Buthidaung, only 45 minutes from the conflict area.

Unfortunately the authorities were there too. A welcoming party of policemen and security officials blocked our path up the pier and "offered" to take us to the township administration.

Once there we were politely informed that permission for our trip had been withdrawn. Word had reached Ms Suu Kyi's government in the capital Naypyidaw and the order had been given to stop us.

Before we boarded the boat back, a local administrator agreed to do an on-camera interview.

This in itself was a minor triumph. Ms Suu Kyi and her spokesman have rejected all our approaches to speak about Rakhine since the latest crisis flared in early October.

A doctor by trade, Than Htut Kyaw is a Burmese Buddhist who has lived in northern Rakhine State for the last 10 years. Chatting to him, it soon became clear that he, like many Burmese, believes that reports of atrocities being committed against the Rohingya are simply fabricated.

"We have nothing to hide," he told me. "The national government is releasing all the true facts about this situation. The teachings of Burmese Buddhism do not allow raping. It's all just rumours."

Verification challenges

The problem for Ms Suu Kyi is that it is more than just rumours. With journalists and aid workers unable to get access, the Rohingya have taken reporting into their own hands. They have been filming their own testimony on smartphones and sending it via messaging apps to those outside the country.

Over the last few months I have seen a steady stream of appalling videos of women with bruises on their faces saying they were raped, bodies of children lying on the ground and burnt skulls in piles of ash.

Verifying them is difficult but not impossible. Often there are multiple sources from the same location and some organisations have discreet networks of people on the ground. Usually Burmese state media puts out its own version of events.

It's not easy to verify precise numbers, given that people are usually fleeing and have no overall perspective. But those videos are important snapshots that show without doubt that something awful has been taking place.

The response of Ms Suu Kyi and her officials to them has been straight out of the Mr Trump playbook.

What the media says

Firstly they sought to discredit the overwhelming evidence about the Rohingya by focusing on the few occasions when the media has got things wrong.

For example, a piece in the Mail Online which alleged that a toddler being tortured was Rohingya (he was Cambodian) became front page news in state media, even though it was rapidly taken down.

Similarly, interpreting a speech by Ms Suu Kyi to suggest she laughed at the Rohingya issue also caused a huge outcry and a threat of legal action.

At times the propaganda emerging from Ms Suu Kyi's officials has been truly bizarre.

At the beginning of January the State Counsellor's office posted a picture of Sylvester Stallone, the Hollywood actor, dressed as Rambo fighting his way through the jungle. It was used as an example of the fake pictures that the Rohingya are supposedly using to support their false stories.

It is not clear who may have been so stupid as to post it, possibly a lone Facebook user. But focusing on it is a tactic we have also seen in Washington this week, using a mistake from one person to dismiss or distract from the overwhelming evidence of others.

More detailed stories that have appeared on CNN and The Guardian from Rohingya who fled into Bangladesh have been crudely "debunked". For this there is a set formula being used.

Security officials are sent to the featured Rohingya's home village and their family or neighbours are rounded up and asked to sign statements casting doubt on the story.

Could propaganda be stopped?

There are countries, Britain among them, who are giving Ms Suu Kyi the benefit of the doubt, stressing the positive aspects of Myanmar's still impressive move away from dictatorship.

After all, Ms Suu Kyi is still new in office and constitutionally does not control the army or police.

She probably could not stop the military operation in Rakhine if she tried and, whatever her many flaws, all agree she is Myanmar's best hope at present.

The problem is that Ms Suu Kyi could stop the inflammatory propaganda.

Ministries she controls and officials she directly employs are rubbishing the accounts of desperate people and repeating as fact the denials of the Burmese army. That is the same army that has an appalling track record of burning villages and raping women from Myanmar's many ethnic minorities.

Under pressure from abroad, Ms Suu Kyi did set up a commission to investigate the alleged abuses and itis due to report back in the next few days. But it is headed by the vice-president Myint Swe, a former general, and is widely expected to be a whitewash.

The truth about what has been happening in northern Rakhine state may never be truly uncovered.

By Joash Ee De Silva

The Star Online

January 27, 2017

SELAYANG: New Zealand has applauded Malaysia’s commitment to provide semi-skilled training for the Rohingya besides looking at allowing them to work here legally.

It’s Immigration Minister Michael Wood­­house said he discussed a plan to normalise working rights for the community with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and hoped there would be a positive outcome.

“I am very interested and applaud the Ma­­laysian Government and hope it is successful,” he said.

Woodhouse said he understood the concerns of some who feared the move would see more Rohingya coming to Malaysia but did not think that was a significant risk.

On Jan 19, Malaysia announced the move to provide training in semi-skilled areas to about 56,000 Rohingya who are United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholders.

The move would allow them to apply for Temporary Employment Pass (PLKS) to enable them to work.

Woodhouse met several Rohingya who are waiting to be resettled in New Zealand at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)-Tzu Chi Educa­tion Centre here.

Woodhouse also visited the classes at the refugee education centre.

New Zealand now has a refugee quota of 750 per year but will take in 1,000 from 2018.

He added that 15% of the quota had been for refugees from Malaysia and a significant proportion of that were Rohingya.

“The Rohingya are a small but growing cohort in our community and they have settled very well and I expect that to continue,” he said. 

When asked about US President Donald Trump’s move to block the intake of refugees, Woodhouse said there was already “overwhelming” pressure on the situation. 

“Not for me to comment on another country’s decision, but I think the restlessness with the movement of people highlights the importance of screening well and supporting refugees when they come. It is the best way to manage the risk that refugees may pose,” he said.

By Jesmin Papri

BenarNews

January 26, 2017

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh -- Lacking adequate food, shelter and sanitation, many Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar are marrying local men in the hope of achieving citizenship and basic services.

Such marriages are illegal, and often involve polygamy, child marriage or abandonment, BenarNews learned during a recent visit to Rohingya refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh.

Yet both sides see potential advantages – at least at first.

Sultan Ahmed, a 29-year-old resident of Teknaf sub-district in Cox’s Bazar, recently married Samuda Begum, 16, who entered Bangladesh from Myanmar seven or eight years ago and lives in the Muchhni Rohingya camp.

“My first wife has no problem; I have married again as a hobby,” Sultan, a father of three, told BenarNews. “I live with my first wife; I often go to Samuda and give her some money for daily expenses.”

After crossing the border three years ago to escape violence and hunger in Myanmar, Nazu Begum, now 25, married a Bangladeshi man who has since abandoned her.

“I got married with a man from Noakhali with the hope of getting citizenship. Life had been peaceful. But my husband left Teknaf after the birth of two children,” said Nazu, who lives in Kochubunia, a village just across the border from the Maungdaw district of Myanmar.

Her husband’s care for his family “withered away” after his work as a mason in Teknaf dried up, Nazu said. Like Samuda, she remains stateless.

But Nazu, who works as a maid at hotels and homes, has no plans to return to Myanmar. “I will educate my children here and settle here,” Nazu told BenarNews.

‘Our first choice’

U.N. officials say some 65,000 Rohingya Muslims have entered Bangladesh since October 2016, fleeing a brutal military crackdown launched on the minority community in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state after Rohingya militants attacked border guard posts, killing nine officers.

Many women said they fled to Bangladesh with their children after security forces either killed or took away their husbands. In addition, 17 of 54 women BenarNews interviewed in the camps said they had been raped before crossing the border.

But life in Bangladesh is also full of hardship.

Prior to the latest influx, about 35,000 refugees lived in Cox’s Bazar in two UN-registered refugee camps, and 300,000 more in vast settlements immediately adjacent, where many homes are constructed of bamboo and plastic, and roughly 5,000 people have access to a single water source and latrine, a BenarNews correspondent witnessed.

Bangladesh has refused to grant the Rohingya refugee status because it considers them citizens of Myanmar, while Myanmar considers the Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and has denied then citizenship and access to basic services for decades.

Rohingyas are eager for citizenship as a way to escape the camps, gain civic rights and remain in Bangladesh. Families are willing to accept polygamy or much older men for their daughters because they believe the marriage will secure their future in Bangladesh.

“There is no education opportunity (in the camps); (we) have to share a small room with many children. So, the children are arranged marriage as soon as they reach adulthood. Bangladeshi boys and girls are our first choice,” Nur Mohammad, a resident of Leda camp, told BenarNews.

‘Nobody abides by the law’

Yet the path to citizenship is far from guaranteed.

Marriages with non-citizens cannot be registered in Bangladesh. And since the marriage is not registered, authorities cannot take legal actions against men who marry Rohingya women.

“Marrying a Rohingya is an offense, but nobody abides by the law. A Rohingya couple thinks they can stay here legally if one of their children is married with a Bangladeshi national,” Mohammad Ali, a former lawmaker from Teknaf, told BenarNews.

“So, they do not hesitate to settle marriage of a young girl with an aged Bangladeshi man. Such condition is making way for the local men to marry again; this has become a social blight,” Ali said Ali.

“Getting Bangladeshi citizenship is not easy even when they marry the locals; but the procedure is easier if they marry a Bangladeshi,” said Mozammel Haque, president of Rohingya Resistance Committee, a Teknaf-based organization that opposes Rohingya integration into Bangladesh.

If a wife or husband lives with a Bangladeshi spouse, they may be entered onto voter lists or put in line to receive a national identity card, because the two populations are hard to tell apart, locals told BenarNews.

Authorities say they have no data on how many Rohingya are marrying Bangladeshis, or how many achieve citizenship this way.

“We have been trying to stop marriage between the Rohingya and the Bangladeshis; we take measures to stop it whenever we get such tip off,” Ali Hossain, the deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar, told BenarNews.

“But marriage is a matter of mutual understanding and hard to check if done secretly,” he said.

Appeal to FREE Rohingya Detainees from the Immigration Detention Center in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 

Ro Nay San Lwin 

RB Campaign 

January 26, 2017 

In the wake of continuous violence against the Rohingya people of Myanmar’s Rakhine State since 2012, thousands of Rohingyas have fled to nearby countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and even as far as Australia. Thousands have fled to Bangladesh and some of them then reached India. 

Some Rohingya youth in Myanmar felt they were living without a future, unable to continue their studies or support themselves in any way. Many of them managed to gather money by selling their families’ properties to pay the cost of fleeing. Among them, hundreds raised enough money to fund their way to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, getting to King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah by way of obtaining Umrah (Pilgrimage) passports from ‘brokers’ in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan. 

Once they land at the airport their fingerprints are recorded and stored. The aim of these young men is to find some way to earn a living and support their families still suffering in horrible conditions back in Myanmar. 

But for many of these men their dreams do not come true. Since 2013 up until today more than 600 Rohingyas have been detained at various immigration checkpoints and raids in the cities of Jeddah and Makkah.

“Once we were arrested they brought us to the police station and checked our fingerprints. They found our fingerprints in the system saying we were from Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan because we held those passports which were given to us by brokers. So here we are identified as various nationals by the documents recorded at the entry.” said a Rohingya detainee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He has been in Jeddah immigration detention center, known as Semishi, for over 3 years. 

“According to our entry documents in the system, the legal way here is to deport us to those countries but we are not actually from those countries. So whenever the Embassies’ officials came to verify us we told them frankly that we are Rohingyas from Myanmar. The Embassies officials then responded that we should stay here and they told us they can’t take someone who doesn’t belong to their countries. So we remain here in the prison and no one cares about us.” the young man who is in his 20s continued. 

The situation in Rakhine State is getting worse day by day. A few hundred have been killed, thousands of homes have been burnt to the ground and a few hundred women and girls have been raped by Myanmar Soldiers. These events took place as part of clearance operation against the Rohingya which use the pretext of responding to attacks on three Myanmar Border Guard Police outposts on October 9th. The Military’s response has been indiscriminate, disproportionate and observers believe many of the actions by the Myanmar Security Forces amount to Crimes Against Humanity. According to the UN, 65,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh and 21,000 are internally displaced. 

The Rohingyas in the detention center in Jeddah had only one hope: To support their families in Rakhine State. Now they are helpless while their loved ones are killed, raped and displaced. 

Some Rohingyas attempted to raise the issue at a recent extraordinary session meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 19th. The Rohingya who tried to contact them said they were unable to get their appeal letter to the OIC foreign ministers, despite trying every avenue available to them. 

“We appeal to His Majesty the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to help us. We can support our families if we are released and can work here. Our little support will be huge for many hundreds of families in our country,” the man said his appeal is on behalf of all Rohingyas in the detention center. 

Speaking to more than a dozen detainees over the phone I heard the same stories from all of them. 

Although the center isn’t as bad as Myanmar or prison, their feelings toward their families should be heard, recognized and honored. These men should be released. They should be allowed the right to work as the Kingdom had allowed thousands of Rohingya to do before, following genocidal campaigns in Myanmar against them which began in 1978.

According to the detainees, there are more than 600 Rohingyas currently in the detention center. I have obtained many details including the identification numbers of 267 detainees. The men in the center want to provide me more details but they say they can not move freely within the center to gather all of the information which I have asked for in order to help raise their concerns. 

I was able to obtain their room numbers and the number of the Rohingya detainees inside the rooms. According to them 3 in Room A-4, 5 in B-2, 2 in B-9, 6 in B-48, 50 in B-52, 35 in B-53, 21 in B-54, 3 in B-61, 3 in B-62, 3 in B-63, 77 in B-68, 74 in B-70, 36 in B-77, 45 in B-78, 23 in B-79, 3 in G-4, 5 in G-6, 2 in G-7, 4 in G-8, 6 in G-10, 2 in G-28, 32 in G-38, and 14 in G-39. In all of these rooms the total number of Rohingya detainees is 454, yet the detainees said there are more than 150 in three other rooms which they will need a lot of time to obtain exact information on, as these rooms are much further from their own rooms. They explained to me that the room numbers starting with A represents for (ا, Alif), B represents for (ب, Baa) and G represents for (ج, Jimm). 

I am appealing humbly to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of my fellow Rohingyas to release them immediately and provide these innocent people with work permits. With this they can finally support their families and know freedom they have been denied their entire lives. I am willing to cooperate with Saudi government to verify any of their identities. I can be reached by e-mail at nslwin@rohingyablogger.com.

RB Poem

January 26, 2017

That's Me, A Rohingya.

When I was born,
I'm not a baby like you.
Without a birth certificate
I'm like just a dead.

When I'm one-year-old,
I'm not a child like you.
Without a nationality
I'm like just a pet.

When I'm in school,
I'm not a student like you.
Without a Burmese face
I'm like just a future-barren.

When I'm in another village,
I'm not a resident like you.
Having approval for overnight,
I'm like just a loony-bin-detainee.

When I pass over my town,
I'm not an inhabitant like you.
Holding Form-4 authorization,
I'm like just a nomad.

When I'm in university,
I'm not a fresher like you.
Being denied a professional major,
I'm like just an invalid.

When I try to approach with my peoples,
I'm not accepted like you.
Being suffered from apartheid and chauvinism
I'm like just a quarantined.

When I wish to get married,
I'm not a fiance like you.
Having approval for marriage,
I'm like just an alien.

When I intend to repair my earthen hut.
I'm not allowed to do like you.
Facing tangible denials,
I'm like just an invader.

When I arrange a small trade,
I'm not a vendor like you.
Being ongoing restricted and confiscated,
I'm like just a pauper.

When I apply for a civil service,
I'm not a candidate like you.
Receiving a motivated rejection,
I'm like just a segregatee.

When I'm hospitalized in a state-run clinic,
I'm not a favoured-patient like you.
Being marginalized and discriminated,
I'm like just an oustee.

When I bestow to follow belief in,
I'm not a faith like you.
Being restricted for worship and demolished mosques,
I'm like just a non-man-kind.

While I'm of an orchestrated riot,
I'm not a survivor like you.
Without an insurance for safety,
I'm like just a ripe-victim.

When a New Year turns in,
I'm not a civillian like you.
Being under the colorful decades-long operations,
I'm like just an inventory-item.

Even I live in my country where I was born,
I can't name it my own like you.
Without an identity,
I'm like just an immigrant.

Even I breath the air of this sky,
I'm not a human being like you.
Without a reliable undertaker,
I'm like just a loner.

Even I see the sunrise,
I'm not a living-kind like you.
Without a fertile hope for tomorrow,
My life is like just a sandy-castle.

Despite apex of inhumanities
And dire of immoralities
I'm quite surrounded in
My skin remains trembling
Just to feel once the essence of full freedom
My heart remains hoping
Just to walk once like a man in my world

Indeed, no one nowadays is like me.
The only one as alike as
That's surely myself
Perhaps, I'm none other.
Just a Rohingya!

By Akil Yunus

The Star Online

January 25, 2017

SEPANG: The magistrate's court here has dismissed an application by a Rohingya Muslim teenager to set aside a charge of not possessing valid immigration documents. 

The 15-year-old boy, who was arrested in Putrajaya on Dec 11, has been charged under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act for failing to produce a valid UNHCR card.

Magistrate Sharifah Muhaymin Abd Khalib fixed Feb 24 for mention of the case, pending filing of a motion by the accused to the High Court.

Aziatul Afrizan Alias acted for the prosecution while the boy was represented by Collin Arvind Andrew of the Bar Council’s Legal Aid Centre.

Andrew said he would be filing the application to the Shah Alam High Court on Thursday, on grounds that Rohingya asylum seekers, especially children, should not be prosecuted on account of their immigration status.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, he argued before Sharifah that Rohingya children should not be prosecuted even if they are not registered with UNHCR as they are asylum seekers by default.

He cited Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the fourth preamble of the Child Act 2001, which guarantees protection for all children without distinction or exception.

“This includes asylum seeking children, particularly the Rohingyas.

“They have suffered so much hardship coming into this country and must be distinguished from all other unlawful migrants,” he said.

He told The Star Online later that should the High Court allow his client’s application, it would set an important precedent that all Rohingya children cannot be prosecuted based on their immigration status.

Andrew said that the High Court affidavit would be affirmed by the older brother of his client, who is a registered UNHCR card holder.

He added that the Foreign Ministry had been made aware of his client’s plight, taking into consideration the Government’s recent pledge to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya refugees, who are fleeing persecution in their homeland of Rakhine in Myanmar.

By Apriadi Gunawan

The Jakarta Post

January 25, 2017

Medan, North Sumatra -- One month has passed, but Jamal Husein has not received the results of his interview with the team from the United States government.

Jamal is one of the hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar being accommodated in Medan, North Sumatra, who are seeking asylum status and resettlement in the US.

“We are anxious because there is no announcement on the result as of today and I am worried that the plan to send us to the US could fail to materialize,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Jamal was about to leave the Pelangi Hotel in the provincial capital with his child to attend a government-sponsored immunization program. The hotel has served as a temporary residence for Rohingya refugees brought to Medan from Aceh and Pangkalan Berandan, Langkat regency.

Jamal said the refugees had hoped the outcome of the interviews could be announced before the succession of the US presidency.

Now, after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, they have become worried their hopes of setting foot on US soil might have been thwarted.

Husein said the refugees’ anxiety was aggravated by Trump’s campaign, which was strong on anti-immigration rhetoric indicating Trump’s immigration policy will be less welcoming of refugees compared to that of former president Barack Obama.

“We don’t understand politics but we fear President Trump will not allow us to enter the US,” he said. “I am looking forward to staying and living in the US.”

The US, he said, was the preferred asylum destination for a large number of Rohingya refugees sheltered in Indonesia.

“There were 270 Rohingya refugees sent to Medan to take part in the interviews,” he said.

Those who have not been interviewed are scheduled for February, including Mohd. Mas’ud, a Rohingya who entered Indonesia in 2015.

He was optimistic his dream of starting a new life in the US would not be shattered by Trump’s presidency. “A promise has been made and I don’t think the US government will reject us,” he said.

Even if that dream fails to come true, Mas’ud said he would refuse to be deported back to his home country especially after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a 2016 presidential regulation that could allow them to stay in Indonesia.

Another Rohingya refugee, Sofih Alam, however, offered a different view. He said he would be ready to be deported back to Myanmar if the Australian government rejected his asylum.

“As long as the Indonesian government could guarantee my safety in Myanmar, I would not mind being deported back. If there is no guarantee, I’d prefer to stay here,” Sofih said.

The spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia, Mitra Salima Suryono, stated that not all refugees would get resettlement as a solution. Asylum requests submitted by several refugees had been rejected by the destination countries, she revealed.

“We will find alternative solutions for those whose asylum requests are denied, such as by searching for resettlement in other countries,” she said.

Separately, US vice consul for Sumatra, Tamara Greig, stated that the resettlement of Rohingya refugees in the US was organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Thousands of people of Rohingya ethnicity, who are Muslim, have fled Myanmar in recent years as a result of prolonged persecution by local authorities.

Many of them have traveled to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia aboard rickety boats via the Malacca Strait.

BenarNews

January 25, 2017

RB News 

January 24, 2017 

Maungdaw, Arakan – Displaced Rohingya villagers from Wa Paik Hamlet of Kyee Kan Pyin village tract are refusing to settle into new locations where the Government proposed to move them into new model villages. 

Today, January 24th 2017, at 9:30 AM villagers from Middle Hamlet and Wa Paik Hamlet were in a meeting with the Maungdaw Township adminisration at the associate high school in Kyee Kan Pyin village tract. 

In the meeting the township administrators said that the authorities are planning on building a new model village for the villagers displaced from Wa Paik. A villager from Wa Paik warmly welcomed the offer from the administration. 

At the same time another villager from the Middle Hamlet informed the Township Administrator that they were forced to leave their homes by the military and that they were pushed out of their village. The villager said they were now taking refuge in in other villages since they were not allowed to return home. He said all their belongings were lost or looted, including even the wood and pillars used to construct their homes. The administrator responded by saying he would arrange the return of the villagers as soon as he could. 

The villagers from Wa Paik said they felt the administrator intentionally avoided mentioning that the model village would be constructed in a new area, so many in the meeting were very happy with the offer by the Township Administration. The Ministry of Information later posted about the meeting on their Facebook page where they explained that the planned area for the model village would not be in Wa Paik Hamlet but in another location instead. The villagers from Wa Paik lost their homes in arson attacks they attribute to Myanmar Security Forces in reprisal for attacks against the Border Guard Police on October 9th, 2016. 

Details have emerged that the Government is planning on building the model village on the roadside of Kyee Kan Pyin-Zan Paing Nyar, located inside Kyee Kan Pyin village tract, and on the roadside of Kyee Kan Pyin-Kyein Chaung, located in Nwar Yone Taung village tract. These locations are known for salty soil and poor access to drinking water. Realizing this, villagers informed RB News they would not agree to resettle in these locations because of of how difficult it will be for them to live and farm there. They said they will request the government to resettle them back on their own land in Wa Paik village. 

Additional reporting by Rohingya Eye.