Burma's border guard force, Nasaka, is setting up outposts for security purposes at the newly erected fence along the Bangladesh - Burma border in Arakan State, said a source close to ...
Maungdaw: Burma's border guard force, Nasaka, is setting up outposts for security purposes at the newly erected fence along the Bangladesh - Burma border in Arakan State, said a source close to Nasaka.
"Nasaka has been creating extra outposts along the border from Taungbro to Alae Than Kyaw in Maungdaw Township, especially at the entrance of tributary creeks and streams along the Naff River, where fencing cannot be built," the source said.
There are more than 20 such gaps along the Naff River until it wends its way to Alae Than 
Kyaw on the Bay of Bengal in Maungdaw, the source said. Nasaka has deployed 10 to 15 personnel along with a tower and two small buildings with corrugated tin roofs.
The newly built security structures can be easily seen from the banks of the Naff River on the Bangladesh side.
Burma shares 200 miles of border with Bangladesh on the western frontier, along which Burma has built 40 miles of barbed-wire fence since 2009. The Burmese regime claims the fencing is in order to "ward off cross-border narcotic and human trafficking".
The fishing community along the banks of the Naff River in Burma said that the fence has severely impacted their livelihoods. "It is very difficult for us now to fish in the Naff River since the fence was erected here and with the deployment of more Nasaka troops along the river," a fisherman from Aung Bala Village told Narinjara. "We have to fish day or night according to the tides, but it is impossible for us to fish at night with the fence and presence of Nasaka forces. Most of us cannot properly feed our families now," he added.
Despite the regime's claims, drugs such as yaba and amphetamines from Burma, India-made Phensedyl, and marijuana from Bangladesh have been flowing freely across the border with the collusion of Nasaka officers, report cross-border sources.
The sources also said that many Burmese Muslims still illegally enter Bangladesh in search of work because the poor economy and travel restrictions mean they have almost no opportunities for a livelihood in Burma.
