Nasaka commits sexual insults against women and girls in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Burma’s border security force (Nasaka), are looting valuable goods  from the villagers and also committed  sexual insults against Rohingya women and girls when the male villagers ran away from the village  for fear of arbitrary arrest by the Nasaka personnel, said a local elder preferring not to be named.
“A group of Nasaka personnel of Gudusara Bridge check-post of Nasaka area No.7 of Maungdaw Township enters south Gudusara village every night, under the pretext of searching criminals from the village.”
For instance, on January 16, at around 10:00 pm, a group of Nasaka personnel went to the said village and arrested four villagers without any allegation. However, luckily, of them, three villagers escaped by running away from the Nasaka and the remaining one was taken to their camp where he was detained, so far, the elder more added.
When the three arrested villagers out of four were running away from the Nasaka personnel, they fired to the villagers and injured one of them.
Besides, when the villagers ran away from the village in fear of arrest, the Nasaka personnel tried to loot valuables from the houses, and also tried to rape women and girls in the absence of male villagers.  Many women and girls were raped by the Nasaka in the village, but the concerned relatives of the raped victims did not dare to appraise the matter for fear of retaliation by the Nasaka, said one of the relative of the victims.
Regarding this, villagers appraised the event to the concerned higher authorities, but no action is taken against the criminals, he more added.
“If the matte is appraised to the higher authority, the Nasaka personnel who committed crimes will take revenge to the villagers.”
As a result, the Nasaka personnel are encouraged to commit more crimes against the Rohingya community and the Rohingya villagers become disappointed and are also mentally harassed, said a local businessman.
Why Thein Sein government lets them to do such things against the Rohingya community though the President has been getting supports from international community for some changings in the country, said a local schoolmaster.

Army destroys garden for logs to bake bricks in Maungdaw

Maungdaw, Arakan State:  Army is destroying Rohingyas’ garden to make logs for baking bricks in Maungdaw Township for constructing of an old road which was established by British government during  Second World War-II, said a an elder from the local preferring not to be named. 
“This road is running from north to south of Maungdaw Township. Recently, the government has been constructing this road with the help of bulldozer for mounding and digging the soil for the road.  The army doesn’t take forced labor from the villagers.”
But the army needs logs to bake bricks in the kiln. As a result, the commander of the army went to nearby villages recently and asked them to sell their gardens for cutting logs which were grown by the help of an NGO named CARE--- 5 to 10 years ago. Villagers want to provide them logs for baking bricks from the natural forest, but the commander compelled the villagers to sell their gardens. Therefore, villagers refused to sell their fruit- yielding trees to the commander, said one of the garden owners.
“The villagers had grown--- mango trees, Tarm trees (like mango trees), 81 and 82 trees, orange trees, lemon trees, Zam trees, Kori trees, teak and etc.”
On January 17, twenty acres of mango ( Rin Qay Thi - in Burmese)  garden owned by Molvi Ismail of Kilai Daung village of Maungdaw east was totally cut down by Rakhine villagers into  logs  for baking bricks for road construction though there are plenty of trees nearby mountain, said a villager.
At present, in Kilai Daung village, the concerned authorities are trying to settle 30 Rakhine families which were brought recently to Maungadw from Bangladesh. It is learnt that recently about 200 Rakhine families were brought to Arakan State from Bangladesh, the villager more added.
The village Administration officer of Kilai Daung village is from Rakhine community, so, he is pushing army to harass Rohingya villagers. 
In similar way, there are about 200 acres of garden owned by Gudu Sara villagers, of them 50 acres have been cut down by the Rakhine villagers that were brought to Arakan State from Bangladesh recently, a local businessman said.
A village trader who denied to be named said,” It is a deliberate action against the Rohingya community. There is plenty of wood nearby forest; so it is not need to cut logs from the garden of Rohingyas.”

Who are the Rohingya?

Learn general facts about the Rohingya.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority group from Burma, which Burma's government insists are from Bangladesh and has refused to recognize as citizens.

Origin:
The Rohingya are Muslims native to the northern Arakan region of Burma, which borders Bangladesh. The name Rohingya is taken from "Rohang" or "Rohan," which was the name used for the Arakan region during the 9th and 10th centuries. According to Rohingya history, the group is descended from 7th century Arab, Mughal, and Bengali merchants who settled in Arakan territory. The Rohingya live alongside the Rakhine, a people descended from Hindus and Mongols who make up the ethnic majority in the region.
Language:
The Rohingya language is known as Rohingyalish and is linguistically similar to the Chittagonian language spoken in the southernmost area of Bangladesh bordering Burma. While the language has been successfully written in scripts including Arabic, Hanafi, Urdu, and Burmese, the modern adaptation uses a script based on the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet with two additional Latin letters.
Recent history:

The Rohingya were promised a separate Muslim state when the British reclaimed Burma from Japanese occupation during World War II as a reward for their loyalty. But instead, only those Rohingya that had collaborated with the British were appointed to official posts within the British-controlled colony. By 1947, the group had formed an army and had approached President Jinnah of newly-formed Pakistan to incorporate northern Arakan into a part of the country that would later form Bangladesh. Experts believe that it was this action that led to eventual problems between the Rohingya and the Burmese government, who saw the group as untrustworthy.
When Burma declared independence in 1948, most Rohingya officials were replaced with Buddhist Arakanis who began to institute policies that many of the Muslim group considered unfair. Since that time, ethnic tensions have divided the two peoples.
Political status:
Prior to 1962 the Rohingya community was recognized as an indigenous ethnic nationality of Burma, with members of the group serving as representatives in the Burmese parliament, as well as ministers, parliamentary secretaries, and other high-ranking government positions. But since Burma’s military junta took control of the country in 1962, the Rohingya have been systematically deprived of their political rights.
The Rohingya were declared “non-nationals” and “foreign residents,” according to a citizenship law established by the regime in 1982, and were denied the right to participate in multiparty elections held in 1990.
The Rohingya have been subjected to large-scale ethnic cleansing following the formation of an independent Burma. Since 1948, nearly 1.5 million Rohingya have been forced to leave their homeland to avoid this persecution. Many members of the group have fled to Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, but others communities can be found in the U.A.E., Thailand, and Malaysia.
Approximately 800,000 Rohingya still live inside Burma, while an estimated 600,000 live in Bangladesh, 250,000 live in Pakistan, and 300,000 live in Saudi Arabia. Around 100,000 other Rohingya make up parts of the population of the U.A.E., Thailand, and Malaysia.