Both Nasaka (Burma border security force) and the army have been making members of the Rohingya ethnic group do forced labour on paddy fields in Natala villages, according to a village elder that didn’t want his name used. Natala villagers are Buddhists settlers from Burma proper and also Bangladesh. They have been resettled on land once occupied by Rohingya in northern Arakan state.
Rohingya villagers from Khonza Bill and Sommona villages in southern Maungdaw Township were ordered to till the paddy fields on July 6. When they didn’t Nasaka personnel forced them to work the next day using their own livestock.
“We worked whole day in the paddy fields, but we were not given any wage and food,” said one farmer.
Already much of the land that the Rohingya had has been confiscated, pushing them even further into poverty. Rohingya villagers are not allowed leave at night or travel freely. All of the businesses are controlled by state authorities or people from the Rakhine ethnic group. Some families are starving, according to a rights worker.
“We are facing so many difficulties in Arakan state. Whatever the authorities want to do to us, we have to follow, otherwise we will be punished,” a villager told the Kaladan Press Network (KPN).
