Collecting family list, group photos in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State: Since January 2, the Immigration of Maungdaw has been collecting family lists and group photos from villagers of Nasaka area No.6 and 5 of Maungdaw Township, said a local trader elder who did not wish to be identified.

Every year, at the beginning of January, the Burma’s border security force (Nasaka) and Immigration separately collect family lists and group photos of Rohingya villagers in north Arakan.

At present, the immigrations are collecting money from Kyauk Hla Gaar village of Nasaka area No.6 and Nga Kura Village of Nasaka area No.5 for family list and taking photographs.  The rest villages will be carried out soon. 

The immigration personnel have been collecting Kyat 6,000 for reducing off dead body from the family list, Kyat 8,000 to enlist new born child to the family list, and Kyat 1,500 to 2,000 per family for group photo, said a local elder who give money for dead body to remove from family list. 

Besides, they also collect Kyat 8,000 -10,000 per one who wants to transfer from one family list to another because of marriage. So, villagers are forced to pay huge money to the immigration while the villagers have been facing acute poverty on account of jobless and movement restriction.

Nasaka is composed of army, Sarapa (Military Intelligence) police, custom and immigration to oversee all the activities of Rohingya community including--- social, political, religious, economical, educational activities etc.  

A local trader not identifying his name said, “Since 1992, the Nasaka strictly rules the northern Arakan dividing into nine Nasaka areas to depopulate and cripple the whole economy of Rohingya people in Arakan State. This is one of the parts of their policy; otherwise, it is not needed to list and check of the Rohingya community every year excluding the other community.”

A local youth preferring not to be named said, “The present ruling regime, so called Democratic government does not decrease their brutal activities against the Rohingya community.”

According to army’s secret report, there are 0.42% Burmese (Bama), 14.26% Rakhine, and 85.31% Bengali in Buthidaung Township, and 0.1% Burmese (Bama), 6.2% Rakhine and 93.71% Bengali are living in Maungdaw Township. So far, the army calls Rohingya people as Bengali