The Burmese military junta has adopted a new tactic for forced labour in Arakan State to avoid pressure from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the international community, said a teacher from Buthidaung.

"Now the authorities have changed the way it uses forced labour cleverly to avoid international pressure. Many villagers in our area were summoned by authorities to work in government projects with payment. But in reality, the authorities never pay money to them as wages," the teacher said,

Recently, authorities began using this system in the construction of two model villages in Buthidaung Township, 80 miles north of Sittwe. The new villages are Shwe Natala and Shwe Hin Tha.

"Nasaka, Burma’s border security force summoned villagers and carpenters to work on the construction of two model villages near Nyung Chaung Village with wages. The Nasaka officials promised to pay 1,500 Kyat a day to each worker. But villagers are yet to receive any payment since the completion of the village construction," the teacher added.

Many villagers from Nyung Chaung and Do Den Villages in Buthidaung Township were subjected to this new tactic to coerce them into working on construction of the two model villages.

A villager from Nyung Chaung, who worked on the construction said, "The authorities constructed two model villages near Nyung Chaung Village quickly for Burman settlers. They summoned many villagers from the surrounding areas to work on the construction of the villages with payment. I was working there for about 20 days but have not received any wages."

"When we went to the Nasaka camp to ask for our payment, the Nasaka authorities refused us  and then abused and assaulted us. They told us if we could go anywhere to complain. So many villagers, who had worked as labourers on the construction gave up asking for money from Nasaka," he added.

The Nasaka used many villagers in the area for nearly two months to construct 180 houses in Shwe Natala and Shwe Hin Tha, located in southern Buthidaung near the western bank of the Mayu River.

About 179 Burman families from Burma proper arrived to settle in the two model villages on 15 February, 2010, on two ferry ships that travelled from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State. All the families came from Rangoon.

The authorities allocated three acres of farmland and gave two heads of cattle to each Burman family being settled in the village, after confiscating land from local villagers. Besides the time that many spent working without pay, many villagers also lost their land to the two model villages.