On
7th Jan 2013, in Aung Sit Pyin village tract, a Rohingya was
arrested and extorted 300,000Ks by a general staff accompanaied by other
six
NaSaKas simply because his 22 year old son had fleed to India.
In
the dead of the night of 7th January 2013, Hala Meah s/o Abdu Shukkur
hails
from Rida, Aung Sit Pyin (Dom Bhai) village tract of northern Kyein
Chaung
(Boli Bazar) village tract was arrested by a general staff, Aung Than
Zaw
accompanied by six NaSaKas of regional subcamp no-24 in Kyein Chaung
(Boli
Bazar) on the pretext that his 22 year old son had fleed to India.
Though
he was handcuffed and intimidated into extortion, no other physical
torture was
reported. However after 12 hours of detention, he was extricated
extorthing
300,000Ks. "Now we can't sleep at night for the fear of being arrested
by
NaSaKas because every night they (the general staff and other NaSaKas)
rampage
through the surrounding villages (Boli Bazar, Dom Bai ...ect) of the
said
camp-24, then they make a raid on every targetted Rohingya houses and
brutal
persecution, hefty money extortion and mass arrest of poor-spirited
Rohingyas
(without ever once being convicted of any crime) have been usually
carried out
by them" said an scholar from Aung Sit Pyin (Dom Bhai) on the condition
of
anonymity.
Actually,
the denial of the citizenship, legal existence, other basic rights and
arbitrary arrest including constant NaSaKa extortion, including the raid
and
rampage through the Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine State are
underlying
reasons behind the exodus of thousands of Rohingyas. But on the contrary
the
government not only shut down their ways to return back home and
confiscates
their possessions but extorts money from their remaining familes or
relatives.
To truely see how the Burmese government treat the Rohingya, one does
not have
to look further than this kind of extortion from a Rohingya just because
his 22
year old son fleed the country.