Maungdaw, Arakan State: Burma’s Border Security Force (Nasaka) in Maungdaw Township has been collecting money from villagers since February 13 to buy a new motorbike for the Nasaka commander because his current motorbike has become old, said one of the villagers of Pawet Chaung who asked not to be named.

Two days ago, the Nasaka commander of Nasaka Area No. 5 ordered local Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) chairmen to collect 100,000 kyat per village in order to buy a new motorbike for him as his old one is no longer suitable. If the people will see that the Nasaka commander has been riding an old motorbike, the commander will feel ashamed.

In the commander’s area there are 22 villages. If the VPDC chairmen collect 100,000 kyat per village, they will collect 2.2 million kyat total. But actually the village chairmen have been collecting 15,000 kyat per 10 houses (or, Sayin Gaung in Burmese), so they will get 225,000 just from Pawet Chaung village because it has 15 Sayin Gaung.  However, the Nasaka Commander ordered village chairmen to collect only 100,000 kyat per village. What will happen with the additional 125,000 kyat, asked an angry village elder on condition of anonymity.   

The concerned authorities are collecting money from the Rohingya villagers without any consideration of their financial situation. The villagers are now facing many difficulties in collecting their livelihood. This new policy is rubbing salt into their wounds, said a schoolteacher from Maungdaw Town.

In addition, the Nasaka has also been collecting one Taung, or 14 kilograms, of paddy per acre from villagers in Nari Bill since February 14 for their personal rations. The Nasaka personnel are also collecting paddy from salt projects where paddy is not even grown, said a local trader who prefers not to be named.

In a nutshell, the Nasaka officers continue to create many traps to collect money and goods from Rohingya villagers to satisfy their personal needs, as well as to push villagers closer to the poverty line day after day. Their main aim is to cause Rohingya people to become poorer and poorer.

A local youth said, “Why should it be necessary to collect money from the villagers to buy a new motorbike for the commander?”