Buthidaung, Arakan State: The Buthidaung Tactical Operation Commands (TOC) has ordered an NGO to stop their activities in Buthidaung as of December 1, said a close aide from TOC.
The NGO, GRET (Groupe de Recherche et d'Echanges Technologiques) which works in Northern Arakan for developing food security and agriculture started work in Burma in 1995.
The GRET distributes fertilizer and other chemicals free for agriculture to improve farming and ensure food security. But, the military junta of TOC from Buthidaung issued an order to GRET not to carry out their programme for the local people, especially the Rohingya community in the area.
The TOC of Buthidaung, are selling low quality fertilizer and chemical for agriculture to the local Rohingya community at high prices by force. When the GRET started to distribute the fertilizer and chemical, nobody bought the TOC's fertilizer. So the TOC banned the activities of GRET in Buthidaung, sources said.
"The junta wants to take all our wealth from us providing low quality agricultural inputs which are not able to develop our agriculture products. The junta also takes from us our food making us insecure," said a school teacher from Buthidaung.
When GRET came with agricultural inputs things were bad because of a tense ethnic situation in North Rakhine State. This situation has generated great poverty among the population. The Muslim population in particular is very vulnerable. The food security and poverty reduction project aims to build local agricultural production capacity (by improving access to quality inputs and agricultural services for small and medium family farms) and secure the livelihood of the poorest local population, in particular refugees from Bangladesh.
As a parallel, the project is developing local capacities and supporting the structuring of rural communities. The project beneficiaries are both small and medium family farms and landless farmers and the most vulnerable households. GRET seeks to improve food security for vulnerable populations in North Rakhine State by implementing income-generating activities specifically targeted to the poorest and most disadvantaged populations, taking into consideration issues of gender, environmental protection and sustainability, according to the GRET website.
The agricultural development project in Rakhine State falls within the framework of the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, under the responsibility of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Its objective is therefore to favour an increase in agricultural productivity and the creation of jobs in order to absorb a nearly 30 per cent population growth in the three townships Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung which are targeted. In a tense social context, international organizations' play an important role as mediators, their website also stated.
