Maungdaw, Arakan State : Over 1,000 acres of farmlands are to be confiscated in Maungdaw Township for Natala villagers to be invited to Arakan State from Burma proper, said an insider of the Township Peace and Development council.

Recently, some members of District Peace and Development Council (DPDC) including DPDC Chairman U Hla Win and Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) Chairman U Khin Maung Tun took a secret decision to seize over 1,000 acres of farmlands from Rohingya farmers for Natala villagers to be brought to Arakan State in the near future.

The TPDC Chairman Khin Maung Tun who assumed office in May went to Rangoon to discuss with higher authorities. He will try to bring over Natala villagers in a short time. The Natala villagers will be handed over the confiscated lands.

A rumor is doing the rounds that some Cyclone Nargis victims from Irrawaddy Delta would be relocated to Arakan State for resettlement, said a schoolteacher who declined to say his name.

The authorities plan to seize 250 acres from Shwe Zarr village tract, 160 acres from Aley Than Kyaw village tract, 450 acres from Bawli Bazar (Kyein Chaung) village tract, 5 to 15 acres from Khari Para, Pandaw Pyin (Nolbonia) Para and other villages in Maungdaw Township .

The Natala villagers will be settled in Kilaidaung (Dou Chee Yartan) village and Shaira Para in Maungdaw Township . Houses for Natala villagers are built by forcing Rohingya villagers into labor, said a trader in Maungdaw town requesting anonymity.

The building of model villages (Natala villages) intensified after the formation of the Nasaka ( Burma 's border security force) in 1992. Over 50 model villages have been set up in northern Arakan.

The aim of the military regime is to cut down the Rohingya population where they are in the majority by setting up Natala villages and calling the Buddhist community over from Burma proper. It has also resulted in the confiscation of lands and forced labor in the Rohingya community, said a village elder.