A Rohingya man who refused to demolish his own home was shot at head by Myanmar’s Border Police (BGP) in northern Maungdaw on December 25, while the BGP continues to demolish more Rohingya homes across the Maungdaw District reportedly on the order by the Rakhine (Arakan) State Administration, it has been reported.

 

The incident happened at the village of ‘Wa Chein’ (in northern Maungdaw) at around 11 am on Sunday and the victim is identified as Zahid Hussein s/o Aamir Hussein.

“The victim was fortunate enough to escape death as the bullet hit at the left side of his head but lost his consciousness and fell down immediately. He is now in critical condition being treated in the clinic in ‘Taman Thar’ village, according to the reliable sources in the region.

“The BGP ordered the villagers of ‘Wa Chein’ to destroy 30 homes on the pretext that they were not included in the ‘Household Map.’ The villagers didn’t demolish their homes. So, the BGP raided the village on December 25.

“They arrived at Zahid Hussein’s home and ordered him to Demolish his own home. He replied that he couldn’t do so without looking at the situation and would do so only when others do. So, the BGP forced started and torturing him and another BGP man shot him at his head from 5 yards away.

He fell down and became critical. He is now being treated at Taman Thar Clinic”, said a local on the condition of anonymity.

After the incident happened, the BGP forced other six families in the village to demolish their home using threats and terror and then ordered to demolish the remaining.

Some homes demolished at the village of ‘Wa Chein’ belong to the following people.
1) Ali Hussein s/o Noor Hussein
2) Abu Ahmed s/o Noor Mohammed
3) Zahid Hussein s/o Aamir Hussein
4) Abu Alam s/o Sultan Ahmed
5) Mohammed Shafi s/o Abdu Jalil

The numbers of the people becoming displaced are alarmingly increasing and many people are trying to flee to Bangladesh as the BGP forces continues to demolish more and more Rohingya homes across Maungdaw a2nd Buthidaung Townships reportedly acting on the Order by the Rakhine State Administration (controlled by NLD).

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A list of homes and shops destroyed recently at some other villages is as follows.

On December 22, 3 houses were demolished at ‘Zuthar Hali.’ The house owners are:

1) Mohammed Hussein (31), s/o Abul Hussein
2) Fedaan Ali (25), s/o Ghaffar
3) Noor Mustafa (42), s/o Nurul Hoque

On December 22, 2 shops were demolished at ‘Faari.’ The owners are:

1) Inayatullah (41), s/o Halimullah
2) Dolu (40), s/o Abu Nu’man

On December 24, 5 houses were demolished at ‘Maudi’ village. The owners are

1) Zahid Alam s/o Sayed Alam
2) Noor Alam (20), s/o Mohammed Ali
3) Mohammed Sharif (20), s/o Shamim Jalal
4) For Alam (24), s/o Mv Hakim Ali
5) Ayub (25), s/o Sayed Noor

On December 24, six houses were destroyed at ‘Fulaya’ hamlet of ‘Kwan Thi Pin’ village. They belong to:

1) Zafar (30), s/o of Rashid Ahmed
2) Mohammed Rashid (25), s/o Sirajullah
3) Dil Mohammed (50), s/o Rashiduddin
4) Faisal (24), s/o Islam
5) Osman (23), s/o Nooru
6) Mohammed Ayub (25), s/o Noor Mohammed

On December 24, two mosques, two shops and 8 homes were demolished by the BGP at the village of Kyar Gaung Taung locally known as Rabailla.

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Mostly, the BGP have forced the Rohingya villagers to dismantle their own houses and shops at gun-points or by means of using threats of imprisonment. In the occasions when the locals resisted, the BGP themselves have demolished many homes. It has also been reported that the BGP indulge in plundering Rohingya properties and livestocks during their raids on Rohingya villages to destroy homes.

More than 50,000 Rohingya people have already been displaced by the brutal military offensives in northern Maungdaw, a region which has been sealed off from international media and humanitarians, since October 9, 2016. Adding to that, the government actions to demolish more homes are leaving many people without any shelter in this winter and going by the emerging reports, many more people in Maungdaw are trying to flee to neighboring Bangladesh for the safety of their lives.

“On one hand, they unlawfully killed, torured and arrested hundreds of innocent people and raped many women. On another hand, they burnt down thousands of homes. And then, they removed fences surrounding our homes. And now, they are destroying our homes. More people are trying to flee to Bangladesh. Where are the laws and humanity?” exclaimed an elderly in northern Maungdaw, while speaking to Rohingya Vision TV.

The houses and shops being destroyed in the rural villages are not modern buildings that require officials’ permission(s) but traditional country-type structures built of bamboos and woods and covered with ‘Nipa Palm Leaves.’ These widespread destructions of homes are now seen among the locals as yet another attempt of cleansing their (i.e. Rohingya) population through systematic displacement of the people.

The order to demolish homes had only been imposed on the Rohingya community, not on the Rakhine Buddhist community.