Burma: More Lands Confiscated in Maungdaw South

Many Rohingyas have been starving from the shortage of food in Arakan State since June of last year.

Visit: The Stateless

(MAUNGDAW, Arakan State) - More than 150 acres of arable lands were recently confiscated from Rohingya Muslims in Burma by the government authority. The land was given to Natala villagers in Maungdaw south, said a local farmer on condition of anonymity.

“They confiscated lands had already been grown winter paddy (paddy after paddy) by the farmers when it was seized by the authority. The seized lands belonging to Rohingya villagers of Sarcombo and Gudusora villages under the Maungdaw south.”

At present, the Natala villagers are tilling the paddy fields again to grow paddy in the fields after destroying previous cultivation by the Rohingya farmers, said a local farmer.

One of the farmers from Maungdaw rural area said, “We Rohingya farmers grow paddy in the rainy and winter seasons in our areas of Maungdaw south to improve rice production. We are now more struggling for our family members as the government doesn’t allow us to do anything.”

The ethnic tensions that erupted last July between the Rakhine Buddhist majority and Rohingya Muslim minority, have been out of control at times. Thousands have been killed.

According to different sources, many Rohingyas have been starving from the shortage of food in Arakan State since June of last year.

Sources also say the Rakhine community gets donations from different quarters of government, but the Rohingya community doesn’t get anything from the government side in northern Arakan.

Since June 2012, Rohingya people have been keeping in their villages and the authority does not give them permission to do anything to support their family members. So they have no jobs and no work to earn money. At this moment, in the southern side of Arakan State, Rohingya people get some relief from NGOs, but it is very inadequate. Meanwhile, Rohingya people on the northern side did not get any relief, said a local elder who denied to be named.

In this situation, the concerned authorities are killing innocent Rohingya villagers, looting property from villagers and also making arbitrarily arrests and extorting money from villagers by various torture and threats. In short, the whole Rohingya community is in a dying position. How they will survive in Arakan State in future?, the local elder more added.

Source KPN

Special thanks to The Stateless

Source: thestateless.com/2013/01/more-lands-confiscated-in-maungdaw-south_29.html#more