Rohingya Villagers In U Shey Kya Will Starve To Death Soon: Villagers

RB News 

November 2, 2016 

U Shey Kya, Maungdaw – The Rohingya villagers in U Shey Kya village tract in Maungdaw Township have had all food and aid blocked and are worried if the situation doesn’t change those living inside will be at risk of starvation, malnutrition and possibly death. 

“It is and will be very serious in the very near future for our villagers to stay alive because all the foodstuffs and provisions collected since last year have been looted by the Military and NaTaLa villagers during several raids,” a villager told RB News. 

While they have no source of food aid there are about 15 acres of paddy fields ripe enough to be harvested in a nearby Rakhine village called Kappa Kaung, but on November 1st, 2016, at about 8AM nearly 20 Rohingya went to reap rice from the paddy fields and were told by the Rakhine administrator of Kappa Kaung Vilalge not to harvest the rice. The villagers responded that the land was theirs and that they had cultivated the rice and continued to harvest anyways. 

The village administrator then went back to his village and informed the military based there of the situation. The military then went to meet the Rohingya in the paddy fields and chased them away empty handed. 

Similarly, on November 1st another group of villagers from U Shey Kya went fishing in the morning in ponds on their own lands on the western side of the village near a Rakhine village called Kan Pyin. When the Rohingya began fishing a group of Rakhine from Kan Pyin came out with swords and sticks and chased them out of the area. The Rakhine group reportedly yelled death threats, saying the Rohingya would be killed if they tried to fish there again. The Rakhine group was said to have told them that the Rohingya have no claim to anything because they are not citizens, and that the Rakhine have claim to all of the land. The Rohingya villagers again returned home empty handed. 

With no source of food there is a serious risk for these villagers of starvation, malnutrition and death in the very near future. 

They are in need of humanitarian assistance from the international community and it is apparent the local government and Rakhine villagers will prevent the Rohingya from even attempting to sustain themselves off of the land at this time.

Report contributed by Rohingya Eye.