The Burmese Buddhist Authorities vandalized and seized an Islamic Religious School in Maungdaw Township last Saturday morning, the eyewitnesses report.

The Basic Islamic Religious School also known as ‘Madrasa or Makhtab’ located at east ‘Pantaw Pyin (Nol Boinna)’ village in southern Maungdaw was partially damaged by the Komen Cyclone in July 2015. Hence, the religious committee (called GoPaKa) repaired the wall of the school structure/building and some other parts of it in early November.

Having the information of the servicing of the school building, the Border Guard Police (BGP) demanded Kyat 1.8 Million Fine from the village’s religious committee for the mending services though their (the BGP’s) henchmen/middlemen. Else, the Border Guard Police threatened that they would arrest and imprison the members of the religious committee. Thus, the school religious committee unwillingly gave the money to the middlemen to deliver to the Border Guard Police.

However, accusing that the BGP hadn’t received the money, a group of joint-authorities – comprising the head of the BGP from ‘Mangyi Chaung (Faatonza) No.12 Camp; Major Nyein Chan Aye, the commander of BGP from ‘Godusara Bridge Camp;’ the commander of BGP from Three-Mile Camp; along with other BGP Personnel; three staffs from the Township Administration; and a few staffs from the Religious Department — arrived at ‘Pantaw Pyin’ around 9:00AM on November 12. After that, they took the administrator of the village, U Furuk Ahmed, along with them and went to the place of the Religious School.

And they destroyed the Religious School by subjecting some of the locals to forced labour to destroy the religious school. After that, they seized and detained the religious school to prevent the local Rohingya Muslims from enrolling religious classes.

“The School committee gave the money as the fine although the servicing was just  for a school. However, the authorities said that they didn’t receive any money. Either the money might have disappeared in the middle/used by the middlemen who are also the best-men of the village ‘administrator, Furuk Ahmed, or the authorities have lied.

But now, they have damaged and seized the school. We are unable to conduct classes anymore. Here, we don’t have any basic human rights including freedom to education and free-worshipping although we are sons of the soil,” said a local in Maungdaw.

The Burmese (Myanmar) Border Guard Police (BGP) is forcibly collecting woods from the local Rohingyas for a Buddhist Monastery being built in southern Maungdaw, according to the reliable sources.

Major Lin Lin Naing, The Commander of the BGP Camp 18, has promised the Buddhist Sanctuary Committee to donate 12 Tons of Woods to the monastery being built in the Rakhine (Magh) hamlet of ‘Inn Din (Aan Daang)’ village tract, southern Maungdaw. The monastery is being rebuilt for the abbot of the monastery committed an immoral act with a girl in the earlier monastery.

“The Abbot (Chief Monk) of the Monastery in Rakhine (Magh) hamlet of ‘Aan Daang’ village tract had a sexual affair with a local Rakhine girl last August. When the local Natala Rakhines (Rakhines a from Newly Established Model Village) came to know about that, they planned to relocate the monastery.

Soon, the time of the execution of their plan coincided with the election time here. Therefore, the Natala Rakhines approached USDP party and said they would vote for them if they (USDP) provided them money for the monastery to be built. Hence, the USDP gave them Kyat 30 Million for the monastery.

Later, in late November, the Natala Rakhines and the other Rakhines from another hamlet held a meeting and agreed to knock down the current monastery (where the abbot had a sexual affair with a girl) and build a new one at the same place.

The BGP commander, Major Lin Lin Naing, promised them to donate 12 tons of woods for the monastery to be built. So, he has started to force the local Rohingyas to provide him woods to fulfil the promise given. He has ordered in three Rohingya villages — Inn Din (Aan Daang), Thinbaw Kway (Kullon) and Kyauk Pandu (Shitaaf) — to provide him 24 tons of Woods by the end of December.

Other 12 tons might be for his personal use.

He has already received 4 tons but he returned some of them calling them bad quality woods. He’s makig the donations by immoral means by forcing and pressing some other innocent people,” said an elderly Rohingya in southern Maungdaw.

Being poor people making their daily ends meet by working on daily basis, the local Rohingya lumberjacks and loggers face hardships in their daily lives as they have been given ultimatum of gathering 24 tons of Quality Woods by the end of this December.

 A gang of Rakhine (Magh) Buddhist extremists beat up the Rohingya farmers working in their lands in Mrauk U Township last Saturday, occupying their farmlands afterwards, reliable sources report. 

The incident of the gross injustice happened against the local Rohingya farmers of ‘Bu Talong’ village tract in Mrauk U Township. However, the local Burmese authorities came forward to help the local Rohingya victims.

“Some farmers were working in their paddy fields at ‘Shwe Lan’ hamlet of ‘Bu Talong’ village tract last Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile, many Rakhine Magh extremists appeared suddenly and beat them up in gang. They accused the local Rohingyas of not being citizens and being illegal Bengalis. And so they occupied their (Rohingyas’) lands by force” said an eyewitness on the condition of anonymity.

Some of the victims beaten up and whose lands forcibly occupied are:

• Abdu Munaf – 6 Acres of his Land Occupied by Rakhine extremists
• Sirazul Hoque – 1 Acre of his Land Occupied by Rakhine extremists
• Abdul Hakim – 1 Acre of his Land Occupied by Rakhine extremists
• Naeem – 2 Acres of his Land Occupied by Rakhine extremists

The Rohingya people in Mrauk-U (Fatthar Killa) Township are a very small minority surrounded by dominantly hostile Rakhine extremists. They have lost most of their access to livelihoods since the violence began in June 2012. Now, the Rakhine extremists are crippling the remaining aspects of the means of their livelihoods.