Local Buddhists Hinder IDPs’ Return to Their Homes in Maungdaw

MAUNGDAW — Local Buddhist Rakhines hinder the implementation of the plan to return the internally displaced persons from Urban Quarter 5 of Maungdaw to their original places, according to Rohingya Today, though the concerned authorities planned restoration.

Myanmar armed forces in collaboration with Rakhine ethnic and Buddhist religious extremists conducted the cleansing operation after August 25, 2017, against Rohingya in Northern Arakan including Urban Quarter 5 of Maungdaw with many Rohingya being displaced after their houses were burnt, destroyed or looted.

Nearly 400 houses were burnt to ashes in Quarter 5 and less than one-third of them fled to Bangladesh and the rest were displaced to neighboring areas, while Rohingya hamlets in Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 were also seriously affected.

According to the source, Maungdaw Township Administrator U Myint Kyaing has planned to return the IDPs from the northern side of the road in Quarter 5 that comprises 333 families and the opposite side is planned for Buddhists resettlement.

In late February, the current Township Administrator U Ngwe Tun discussed the plan of his predecessor with the administration of Quarter 5, but as the local Rakhines, who seemingly don’t want peace, object the implementation of the return plan, Tun reportedly promised an alternative plan to relocate them in Nwa Yon Taung, a village about 6 miles away from the downtown.

The victims not only express their strong disagreement with the alternative plan for relocation but also doubt the previous return plan of the government, as most of the areas where Rohingya once lived are seen to be used for different projects by the government, the source mentioned.