After heavy rains washed out transportation routes Arakan state security forces in southern Maungdaw are using Rohingyas as forced labour to clean up the mess.
One villager described how Nasaka made him and 9 others work all day without pay or food on July 2. The locals from Khonza Bill village and surrounding areas had to clear debris from the road that connects the Aley Than Kyaw-Maungdaw highway to the ocean. Many others have complained of being made to work for days.
Forcing Rohingyas to slave away on road works is like rubbing salt in the wound. Severe restrictions that have been placed on them by state authorities’ following last year’s sectarian violence means that most are struggling to survive.
By making them do unpaid labour when they are extremely impoverished is a serious violation of their human rights, said one ex-village administrator who spoke with Kaladanpress on condition of anomonity.
