Arakan News Updates: The Ongoing Attempts To Cripple Rohingyas

M.S. Anwar 

RB News 

February 11, 2013 

Maung Daw, Arakan - During the recent uprising of violence against Rohingyas in Arakan, 13 young Rohingya students from the village of Mya Sin Ywa, Laung Doon Village Tract were arbitrarily arrested by the Rakhine authority in Maung Daw. Of them, 11 were sentenced to 10-year-imprisonments on February 5, 2013 and two were released after the extortion of humungous Kyat 14 Millions in total. 

These students were innocent and had nothing with the violence. But the village’s administrator, Maung Maung@ Maung Thein, a Rakhine extremist, charged them with the lame cases and made them imprisoned. It was this chairman in cooperation with the Rakhine authority in Maung Daw, who extorted the 14 Million Kyats from the two Rohingya students. 

Now, again, he in support of the Maung Daw Court has issued an arrest for 27 Young Rohingya Students with the false allegations. As the NaSaKa (Border Security Force) Operation on Rohingya population is due to carry out tomorrow, he (the village administrator) is threatening the young Rohingyas that he will expel them from the family census lists unless each of them gives him Kyat 100000 (in total, Kyat 270000). Now, all of these students are from poor family background and unable to give the ransom amount. Two of them are identified as Noor Basher and Kyaw Min. 

The irony is that the NaSaKa Administrator of Maung Daw, Colonel Aung Naing Oo, has declared that the NaSaKa investigation has nothing to do with the arbitrary arrest warrants issued by Maung Daw Court. That is any person whom such an arrest warrant has been issued against can also take part in the operation. However, in cooperation with the lower level NaSaKas from NaSaKa Area. 5, the village administrator of Laung Doon, Maung Maung@ Maung Thein, started to threaten the young Rohingyas as mentioned above. 

Hence, on one hand, it is a clear rebellion of the order of a higher level officer, i.e. NaSaKa Administrator of Maung Daw, Colonel Aung Naing Oo, and on the other hand, it is an attempt to cripple Rohinya people in the region by expelling the only young Rohingya students. Therefore, they would like to express the danger they are in through this media platform and plead to the higher authority of Myanmar to take the necessary actions.