The number of migrant workers in Maungdaw Township’s resettlement areas has been increasing, and most of them are from Ayeyarwady, Bago and Yangon Regions as well as Myanmar’s administrative city Nay Pyi Taw.

Ko Htun Linn Oo, who comes from Pathein, the capital city of Ayeyarwady Region, said that he came to work in Maungdaw because of higher wages.

“In Pathein, we get just five or six thousand kyats a day, but we can get 10,000 kyats here. Over 20 workers from Pathein are working here,” Ko Htun Linn Oo said.

The region has faced labour shortages because Bengalis from the region fled to Bangladesh, a neighboring country of Myanmar, after the violence in Maungdaw in 2017.

Migrant workers now come to Maungdaw to work on construction sites for renovation projects and resettlement projects for returning Bengalis.

Some of them are working on the construction project for Thae Chaung village near Hla Phoe Khaung camp to resettle returnees.

“I came here with my peers. Daily wages here are higher than Nay Pyi Taw,” said Daw Ma Lone Sein from Popebathiri Township in Nay Pyi Taw.

The renovation and construction projects in Maungdaw include establishing new villages and constructing roads, bridges and houses.