Maungdaw: The Burmese border security force, Nasaka, deployed on the western Burmese border in Arakan State, will be transformed this coming April, said a sergeant from Nasaka.

"For the first time last February, the authority announced that all personnel who are age 40 and above must retire from the force and those who do not wish to retire will be allowed to serve in the commissary forces in the Army. During this month, we have heard that the whole force of Nasaka will be transformed in name, uniform, and modern arms in the next month," said the sergeant on condition of anonymity.

He added that the transformation of Nasaka is supposed to coincide with the full transition of power to the new parliamentary government from the current SPDC military regime.

"The new uniforms have already been supplied to our force. They are camouflage in khaki and black. We heard that our forces will also be supplied new arms bought from Russia and that the name of the force will also be changed to be like Border Frontier Force, BGF, that was recently formed on the eastern frontier, after full transition of power to the new parliamentary government by the SPDC government," he added.

For further confirmation, Narinjara has contacted the headquarters of Nasaka in Maungdaw's Kyikanpyin, but the official on duty replied that they are not authorized to speak on the internal matters of the force.

Nasaka was established by the current regime in 1992 with a combination of force forces - army, police, immigration, and customs - to safeguard the country's international borders.

The regime withdrew Nasaka forces from the Thai and Chinese borders after the sacking of former Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt in 2004. Since that time, Nasaka has remained only in western Burma on the Bangladesh border.

According to local residents, Nasaka is notorious for committing arbitrary arrests, extortion, bribery, and human rights violations with impunity against civilians in western Burma's Arakan State.