The Burmese Border Guard Police (BGP) beat and humiliate local Rohingyas in Maungdaw Township; and extort money from them on daily basis, according to the reliable sources. 

The gang of the BGP is based in ‘Thiho Kyun’ village and led by their Sergeant Min Zaw notorious as ‘Money Extortion Machine.’ He and his subordinates arbitrarily beat and harass the local Rohingyas in ‘Thiho Kyun’ village for ransom.

“On October 2 around 8:00PM, Sergeant Min Zaw and other three BGP personnel broke into the resident of Daw Salimah Khatun in ‘Thiho Kyun’ village. They arrested her visiting son-in-law on allegation that he failed to achieve a ‘Guest-Stay Permit’ (permission that a Rohingya needs to apply if when they visit and stay in other village).

After, he demanded Kyat 4 Million from her to release. Else, he threatened he would file him and send him to prison by accusing him of having connections with *RSO.

Subsequently afterwards, he entered the resident of ‘U Shamshu’ and searched his home. Since he was not present at home at the time, he pulled the shirt of his wife present at the scene and threw two punches at her.

And, he scolded all the family members of the households using racist slurs and left,” said a worried Rohingya in the village.

Besides, he arrested U Aamir Hamza, a community health worker, and took him to the BGP Camp while he was rounding the Thiho Kyun village around 8:30PM on October 3. Although nothing illegal was found with him, he demanded Kyat 6 Million ransom accusing him of possessing Yaba Tablets (WY). The next morning, he released him (Aamir Hamza) on the condition that he would need to pay Kyat 1.1 Million and withheld his (Aamir Hamza’s) motorcycle.

However, Aamir Hamza chose to lodge a complaint against him to the head-quarter of Border Guard Police (BGP) Administration. Although the commander of the BGP at ‘4-Mile-Area’ Camp transferred him (the BGP Sergeant) to another camp on October 5, he extorted Kyat 200,000 from Aamir Hamza to return his motorbike, according to a report by a local source.

*RSO (Rohingya Solidarity Organization) = the former Rohingya armed resistance wing, now non-existent! Burmese authorities frequently use this ‘RSO’ tag to oppress innocent people!