“More than 200 security forces made up of Nasaka (Burma border security force), army, police and Hluntin surrounded the village to stop villagers from fleeing and force them to join the government registration program. But most of the (male) villagers have left from their village leaving their properties,” an elder told the Kaladanpress on condition of anonymity.

The area looks like a war zone, with security forces destroying properties and looting homes of anything of value, mostly food and their grain stocks, according to a Maungdaw school teacher.

“The forces (are now) stationed in the village and villagers can’t return. The villagers are staying in the jungle, paddy fields and other nearby villages.”

This has divided families, with elders, women and children sleeping in the villages and the men hiding in the jungle or rice fields, according to the schoolteacher.     

Now Nasaka is loading the remaining residents into trucks and taking them to their Kawar Bill headquarters to finish the registration process. After they are returned home, according to a local businessman who didn’t want his name used.

Both the government and state authorities are forcing Rohingyas to register as Bengali, which implies that they illegally entered the country and not residents of the country for generations. They want to make the area look unstable to the international community, and all the data will be used for the upcoming national census, according to a Maungdaw politician.  

“This is first time in Maungdaw that the authority has surrounded and forced villagers to join their registration program. It’s a total violation of their human rights.”

 Nasaka also recently detained protesting Rohingya villagers who also were resisting the registration process.