Army collects money from villagers

An army checkpoint was recently established near the Shwe Zaar bridge in Maungdaw Town. The bridge is used by many Rohingya villagers to cross over to Maungdaw Town, and the army has been collecting Kyat 5,000 per house from the Rohingya residents, but not Rakhine. The army uses the money to cover the cost of its rations, and continues to collect from the villagers despite an acute food crisis caused by authorities preventing Rohingyas from buying food at the market.

The local curfew is also imposed only on members of the Rohingya community, not the Rakhine, according to local residents.
    

Owner buys back his own goats

A local had to buy his own goats back from the army stationed at Nwah Yon Taung School (Hor O Dil in local language), according to a relative of the goat owner. On the morning of August 25, a group of army troops patrolling the village took Zalal Ahmed's two goats.

“The two goats were taken away by the army while grazing in a field near his house.”

When he learned of the loss, the owner went to the army outpost and was allowed to take his goats back only after paying Kyat 1,800, said the relative. 

Nasaka arrests four fishermen

Four fishermen were arrested by Nasaka, the Burma border security force, for fishing in the Naff River on the night of September 4, according to one fisherman's relative on condition of anonymity.

The four men went to the Naff River, which marks the border between Burma and Bangladesh, to fish with nets after receiving permission from the appropriate Nasaka personnel. The fisherman were granted permission after giving authorities two kilograms of fish and paying a per-head fee. However, at 11pm they were arrested and detained at the Nasaka camp and asked to pay Kyat 50,000 each for their release. Unable to pay, the fishermen still remain in the camp.

According to a local elder, the fishermen were identified as Abdu Shuker (40), son of Boshor, Komile (25), son of Dil Mohamed, and Osir Ullah (22), son of Fazal Ahmed. The three men are from Nari Bill village west of Maungdaw Township, while the fourth fisherman, Abul Shama (45), is from Kular Bill village in Maungdaw Township.