Burmese BGP Harass Local Rohingya in Maungdaw

Ro Myo Chit

MAUNGDAW: Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) have been harassing local Rohingya with false allegations in several check-points in northern Maungdaw, reports a villager.

Border Guard Police (BGP) have been forcing every single Rohingya man, woman and even car drivers to show travel documents while crossing Kyee Kan Pyin BGP check-post. After the fighting broke out between AA and Tatmadaw (army) in Arakan, local authority has increased three additional checkpoints in northern Maungdaw to oppress Rohingya. Among them, 3 miles, Tha Yet Oke and Hpar Wut Chaung checkpoints.

“Rohingya need to show NVC or village leave permission letter to BGP each and every time while crossing the BGP outposts,” said a regular traveler.

“In the documents if there is no Muslim name, BGP asked different types of questions with the intent to harass Rohingya travelers such as why there is no Kala name, etc. But these kinds of harassment are not doing with Rakhine passengers,” he added.

Recently dozens of Rohingya were arrested by Burmese authority for attempting to travel to Yangon from Sittwe’s IDP camps. Among them 21 Rohingya were jailed for two years under the Burmese Registration Act (BRA).

“Myanmar authorities should immediately release Rohingyas detained for attempting to travel from Arakan sate to the city of Yangon,” said HRW.

“We can’t travel easily even in emergency due to BGP’s interrogation in checkpoints, when we want to admit a patient to hospital, it takes two hours to reach, though it’s 30 minutes travel distance,”

explains another Rohingya form the area.

The remaining Rohingyas in northern Arakan state have been facing difficulties and restriction of movement even in their own township.

According to U.N fact-finding mission’s recent report, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who remain inside Myanmar face systematic persecution and are living under the threat of genocide.

“This is not a new thing in northern Arakan, since decades, Rohingyas’ restriction on movement have made helpless in their own ancestral land,” he said.

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